August 30, 2008
Dear Sirs:
I understand the SEC wanting to regulate Fixed Index Annuities because of underlying securities. However, a good example of them being Fixed is the last few years of a down market where the annuitant did not LOSE any money. This obviously denotes an insurance aspect to the annuity. Therefore this product should be represented by insurance agents without the burdensome regulation of licensing and regulation of the SEC.
I do believe on a compormise. A safety net for Fixed Index Annuities is to require all companies to publish there past returns since inception of each productl, so consumers can better evaluate each program on its own merit. This would be similar to histories of all insurance product, though no promise of future results.
Donald E. Ridinger
Ridinger Financial Services