In mid March, JPMorgan Chase & Co. unveiledthe LifeMetrics Index, part of the LifeMetricstoolkit that includes software that can be used to developmortality projections. The index was developed for the use ofpension plans, sponsors, insurers and reinsurers to help determinelongevity risk. The toolkit is free and publicly accessible atjpmorgan.com/lifemetrics. “What the index does is it gives asnapshot on mortality and longevity today and what it will betomorrow–in the context of what the growth has been in the past,”explains Guy Coughlan, managing director and global head of pensionasset liability management at JPMorgan. The index is the second ofits kind: In December 2005, Credit Suisse releasedthe Credit Suisse Longevity Index. “We've hadinterest from insurance companies looking for an independentlyverifiable source to check their own actuarial assumptions. Frompension funds and from the reinsurance sector as well,” notesCaitlin Long, a managing director and head of the StructuredSolutions group within the US Financial Institutions Group (FIG) ofCredit Suisse.