Subject: File Number S7-14-08

September 1, 2008

Secretary
Securities and Exchange Commission

I am a licensed insurance professional. I am writing to you because I do not support the adoption of proposed Rule 151A, which would classify most indexed annuities as securities. I urge you to withdraw the proposal.

I might add that I do not currently sell indexed annuities, nor am I licensed to sell securities. The focus of my practice is employee benefits. However, I am writing because of my concern that the SEC is acting outside of its range of authority. I believe that people who promote unsuitable sales and engage in misleading sales practices should be aggressively prosecuted and subject to meaningful sanctions. However, concerns about suitability, disclosure and marketing methods, however valid, are not the relevant criteria for determining whether a financial product is or is not a security. Properly structured indexed annuities do not share the same investment risk as investment products such as mutual funds and individual stocks, since with an indexed annuity the risk of a downturn in the related index rests with the issuer of the product and not the consumer.

In my opinion indexed annuities should continue to be treated as insurance products, and the state insurance regulatory structure is the appropriate means for addressing the concerns raised by the SEC. The professional organization I belong to, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, is committed to working with the NAIC and state insurance commissioners towards the goal of having every state adopt and vigorously enforce the NAIC’s model regulations on annuity suitability and disclosure. I also support NAIFA’s recommendation that a state regulatory body be designated to develop standards for indexed annuity product design so that inappropriate indexed annuity products would be prevented from reaching the marketplace.

For these reasons, I urge the SEC to withdraw the proposed rule. Thank you for your consideration of my views on this matter.

Allan Berg