July 11, 2008
As a agent of of a very large life insurance company. I was able to sell equity index annuity to my clients in the past. Do to the possiblity of the SEC ruling that it is a security and the NASD treatment of the ruling, my clients do not have access to these types of products. If you rule that they are a security investments, our Broker Dealer will have full control on which EIA products and companies will we be able to write with. At present, that answer is none.
This has hurt my clients ability to purchase this product.
This product is and excellant product for a person who wanted to gain in the markets up swings without any downside market risk. As the market has gone down in the last year, having this type of product available for the conservative investor or the old client would help them avoid the 10, 20 or 30% loss that may have occurred in their funds recently.
The aspect that the product can't lose if the market goes down and can only go up, does not make it a security.
My personal opinion is the major insurance companies and broker dealers want to control the cashflow that went to other companies, not into investments with them and thus this is why they are pushing for this ruling.
SEE THROUGH THIS
This is a good product for the consumers and should be treated as a fixed annuity. Suggest to the insurance companies and broker dealers that are complaining that if they want part of the business, they should develop their own product.