August 4, 2008
Based on the information presented to date by the SEC and Finra, this exercise appears to be nothing more than a disguised power grab by Finra, using the hammer of the SEC, to recapture revenue lost to insurance companies because variable annuity sales have fallen over the years.
The issue of whether indexed annuities are securities is a Red Herring -- If they were OK as insurance products in the 1990's, what has changed -- except for loss of profits for Finra members???
I urge you to carefully review the following:
1. Sales of the 'wrong' annuity products are commonplace whether done with variable or indexed products -- whether done by registered reps, registered investment advisors, insurance agents, or 'financial planners'. HAMMER THE SELLER, NOT THE PRODUCT.
2. Follow the money trail of the Dateline NBC episode 'exposing' indexed annuity sales: NBC is owned by General Electric which once owned the predecessor company to Genworth, and still has a very tight relationship to Genworth -- and Genworth does not sell indexed annuities -- but Genworth has seen a loss of sales of their variable annuity products. DON'T BE MISLEAD BY THE CROCODILE TEARS OF A COMPANY (GENWORTH) WHO HAS THE POWER OF THE MEDIA TO INFLUENCE GOVERNMENT REGULATORS TO HARM A COMPETITOR.
If improper sales have been made, then sanction the person doing the selling: If someone sold an improper product to a vulnerable consumer, it is not the fault of the product, but of the person doing the selling or recommending.
Hal Reniger