Subject: File No. S7-14-08
From: Andrew Thomas
Affiliation: Registered Investment Advisor- California Financial, LLC

July 18, 2008

The SEC should definitely bring index annuities under its jurisdiction.

1. The product itself is rarely in the best interest of the client.

2. The surrender charges are high because the commissions are high.

3. If the SEC capped the commissions on Index Annuities at 1%, sales would drop by 95%. The agents selling these products were never doing it for their clients in the first place. They were doing it for the 8% commission.

4. Index Annuities and Variable Annuities make sully the reputation of the entire financial industry. When the government makes the threshold so low for an advisor to play with a client's life savings, it weakens the entire nation.

5. Forcing thousands of insurance agents across America to become securities licensed would increase the financial literacy of these individuals. When they have more arrows in their quiver, they will realize that recommending an index annuity will be low on their list of options for every client.