November 14, 2008
My name is Brad Blackburn, and I am a member of the Financial Planning Association. I support the proposed rule. I have been in the insurance and investment industry for eleven years. I have obtained the CLTC, LUTCF and CFP® designations. I have witnessed several transactions dealing with equity indexed annuities that have been in my view unethical. All of those situations have involved elderly clients and agents that are not licensed to handle investments. Fortunately, I have been able to stop a couple of those transactions from happening. In all the situations that I have seen, the agents have failed to disclose material information including surrender charges and length of surrender period. I believe most consumers are often mislead regarding the benefits of an indexed annuities. Most of the agents that handle equity indexed annuities are not licensed to offer any other type of investment. Therefore, they do not offer the client other options that may be more beneficial to them. I think the proposed rule is fair.
Brad Blackburn, CFP®
Financial Consultant
Dyadic Financial Management, LLC