October 16, 2008
Indexed Annuities are insurance contracts, not securities. Rule 151A will only further confusion for the consumer. If there are abuses in the way that these contracts are marketed and sold to the public, then state regulators need to enhance their own regulatory efforts and enforce them under the full force and effect of state laws, including criminal charges where warranted. Placing these contracts under the self supervision of the securities industry will not enhance best practices nor will it protect the consumer any better than state regulators can. It will only further cloud and muddle the differences between insurance products and securities. What's next? - universal life or term policies as securities too? As a state Registered Investment Advisor, I owe a fiduciary duty to my clients even where insurance contracts are concerned. If I have to affiliate with a broker dealer in order to provide insurance products, then I will return to securities licensing and the lower standard of duty, to know my customer. This lower standard has more bearing on a "make the sale" mentality and motivation than the higher fiduciary standard to think very carefully of what is in the client's best interest before recommending a product.
I urge you to leave indexed annuities under state insurance licensing as a regulatory and disciplinary matter.