July 29, 2008
As a former "educated" Series 3 License Holder and a current "educated" Insurance Agent, I am oppossed to rule 151a by the SEC.
I have read the majority of the comments entered thus far. It seems that the majority of the people that have commented in favor of this ruling are Series 7 License Holders. Many of these individuals seem to be upset that some of the money under their management has moved to the safer Fixed Annuity vehicle. Some of the Series 7 License Holders would like you to believe that a simple Licensed Insurance Agent is uneducated. Insurance Agents must take continuing education classes on Fixed Annuities and Ethics in order to sell this product in many if not all States. We must re-take this class in order to continue selling this product. I take more classes and attend more product education seminars as an Insurance Agent than I ever did when I was Series 3 licensed.
It also appears that the only Companies that are in favor of this change are those that would be receiving the right to be the exclusive sellers of the Fixed Annuity. This appears to simply be a large corporate money grab that you are allowing yourself to facilitate.
Rule 151a is claiming that this will protect the client. My past experience has been that no matter what license from which regulatory agency that a representative has, if they are selling for only one or only a few companies they are selling what is best for them and their company and not what is best for the client. Most of those so called SEC licensed and educated individuals are selling what their company has told them to sell. They also have no more understanding of the products they sell due to their licensing than an insurance agent does with their licensing. The only way that any company captured licensed salesperson can properly represent the clients best wishes is to have the ability to walk out the door if the company they represent does not have the best product for that client.
This leaves the Independent representative as the only true client representative with the ability to offer the client what is in the clients best interest. When a financial representative has the ability to sell many varied products from many different companies they can then shop for their client based on what their client is truly looking for and not what the company is pushing. When a financial representative is working for only one or two companies then they are placing their round pegged customers into square holes. Often, they are only selling what their "research team" at the company has told them to sell. Often that so called "research team" is touting what will work for the companies bottom line and calling it research. I have personally seen many clients lose a great deal of money doing what SEC regulated Series 7 and Series 3 brokers "research teams" told them to do.
The Executive Summary produced by the SEC contains inaccurate information. The SEC obviously does not understand how a Fixed Annuity works and has worked very hard to mis-guide the public as well. For an agency that is suppossed to be protecting the public I am basically horrified by this summary and the apparent blatent lies the SEC has chosen to tell in order to support their own (not the public's) interests.
This proposed change by the SEC, a so called "regulatory agency" (Insurance is also highly regulated), touting their so called reason as protecting the "publics best interest", is nothing more than a badly disguised money grab by the securities companies with you playing the part of the playground bully.
Sincerely,
Nancy Jasa
Former Series 3 licensed representative that made the educated decision to quit selling for companies that told me what to put my clients into because it would help their bottom line.
Current Independent Insurance agent with the ability to shop companies and products for my clients best interest and a professional relationship with 2 Financial Advisors to refer my clients to when they need a risk based product that I have chosen to not be licensed to advise them on nor sell to them.