Shares of US life assurers fell sharply yesterday as investor concern mounted over their exposure to the troubled debt and stock markets and Senate majority leader Harry Reid warned a large insurance company was on "the verge of going bankrupt", writes Rebecca Knight in Boston .

Shares of MetLife, the biggest US life assurer, fell nearly 14 per cent to $48.15, and Prudential Financial, the second- biggest insurer, fell more than 7 per cent to $64.80. Shares of Hartford Financial Services Group, the life and property insurer, dropped more than 7 per cent to $38.11, and Genworth Financial shares fell more than 14 per cent to $7.36.