We would love to hear from you. Click on the ‘Contact Us’ link to the right and choose your favorite way to reach-out!

wscdsdc

media/speaking contact

Jamie Johnson

business contact

Victoria Peterson

Contact Us

855.ask.wink

Close [x]
pattern

Industry News

Categories

  • Industry Articles (21,131)
  • Industry Conferences (2)
  • Industry Job Openings (35)
  • Moore on the Market (413)
  • Negative Media (144)
  • Positive Media (73)
  • Sheryl's Articles (799)
  • Wink's Articles (352)
  • Wink's Inside Story (273)
  • Wink's Press Releases (123)
  • Blog Archives

  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • August 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • November 2008
  • September 2008
  • May 2008
  • February 2008
  • August 2006
  • Response: Scott Brown's Financial Regulation Failure

    July 20, 2010 by Sheryl J. Moore

    PDF for Setting it Straight with William A. Jacobson

    ORIGINAL ARTICLE CAN BE FOUND AT: Scott Brown’s Financial Reform Failure

    Mr. Jacobson,

    I am an independent market research analyst who specializes exclusively in the indexed annuity and indexed life markets. I have tracked the companies, products, marketing, and sales of these products for over a decade. I used to provide similar services for fixed and variable products, but I believe so strongly in the value proposition of indexed products that I started my own company focusing on IAs exclusively. I do not endorse any company or financial product, and millions look to us for accurate, unbiased information on the insurance market. In fact, we are the firm that regulators look to, and work with, when needing assistance with these products.

    I am contacting you, as the author of a blog that was published at http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/07/scott-browns-financial-regulation.html, “Scott Brown’s Financial Regulation Failure.” This article had numerous inaccurate and misleading statements about indexed annuities in it. I am contacting you in response to these inaccuracies, to ensure that you and your readers have accurate, unbiased information on these products in the future.

    First and foremost, indexed annuities have not been referred to as “equity indexed annuities” or “EIAs” since the late 1990’s. The insurance industry has been careful to enforce a standard of referring to the products as merely “indexed annuities” or “fixed indexed annuities,” so as not to confuse consumers. This industry wants to make a clear distinction between these fixed insurance products and equity investments. It is the safety and guarantees of these products which appeal to consumers, particularly during times of market downturns and volatility. Your help in avoiding any such confusion is so greatly appreciated.

    Second, indexed annuities are not “complex products,” they are merely fixed annuities with a different way of crediting interest. If you can understand that you have the ability to deposit your money with an insurance company, defer taxes on the monies until you begin taking income, receive 10% withdrawals of the account value annually without being subject to penalties, and have the ability to pass on the full account value to your beneficiaries upon death- then you can understand nearly every indexed annuity sold today.

    Indexed annuities do not “sound too good to be true.” They are an ideal product for risk-averse savers who are looking for the minimum guarantees associated with fixed annuities, but greater upside interest potential.

    I’m interested to see your evidence that indexed annuities “get paltry returns.” Did you just pull this out of thin air? It is absolute bologna. I have actual policyholder annual statements on my desk, showing one-year gains as high as 47.65%! What is more- these products protect their purchaser’s payments from declines due to market fluctuations; NO INDEXED ANNUITY PURCHASER HAS EVER LOST A PENNY AS A RESULT OF MARKET DOWNTURN. This is a value proposition that millions of Americans wish they had after March of 2008.

    Further illustrating how little you know about indexed annuities, purchasers are not “locked into the product typically for ten years or more.” There are indexed annuities with surrender charges as short as three years- did you know that? Every indexed annuity permits penalty-free withdrawals of 10% of the annuity’s value annually. Some even allow as much as 50% of the annuity’s value to be withdrawn in a single year. In addition, 9 out of 10 indexed annuities provide a waiver of the surrender charges, should the annuitant need access to their money in events such as nursing home confinement, terminal illness, disability, and even unemployment. Couple this with the fact these products pay the full account value to the beneficiary upon death, and I think that you’ll see that consumers have tremendous access to their cash value when they purchase indexed annuities. These are some of the most liquid retirement income products available today!

    The average first-year surrender penalty on indexed annuities is 10.61%. This percentage declines annually after the first year, so I would hardly say that “surrendering the product results in large penalties.”

    Indexed annuities commissions are also different than you perceive them to be. The average street level commission on indexed annuities as of 2Q2010 is 6.35%. Keep in mind that this is a one-time commission paid at point-of-sale, whereby products such as mutual funds pay consistent, generous commissions. In light of this, I think you’ll agree that indexed annuity commissions are quite fair.

    The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been trying to regulate the sales of these products to increase their fee income and job security. It has nothing to do with perceived “sales abuses.” Once my firm provided the SEC with proof that sales abuses in this market were nominal, they changed the premise of their proposed rule 151A to be “risk” as opposed to “investor protection.” To see the proof on how few sales abuses there are in this market, see the below data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s Closed Complaint Database on annuities:

    TOTAL INDEXED ANNUITY COMPLAINTS FOR 2006: 187

    TOTAL INDEXED ANNUITY COMPLAINTS FOR 2007: 235

    TOTAL INDEXED ANNUITY COMPLAINTS FOR 2008: 220

    TOTAL INDEXED ANNUITY COMPLAINTS FOR 2009: 148

    Based on our research, this results in average annual complaints as follows:

    AVERAGE INDEXED ANNUITY COMPLAINTS PER COMPANY 2006: 4.35

    AVERAGE INDEXED ANNUITY COMPLAINTS PER COMPANY 2007: 4.12

    AVERAGE INDEXED ANNUITY COMPLAINTS PER COMPANY 2008: 3.86

    AVERAGE INDEXED ANNUITY COMPLAINTS PER COMPANY 2009: 3.29

    So, not only have complaints on these indexed annuities declined annually for the past three years, but the average has declined consistently for the past four years. Conversely, variable annuity complaints (which are overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission) have always been greater than the number of indexed annuity complaints, and have risen in recent years. Certainly, we do strive for 100% customer satisfaction in the insurance market, but I would contend that an average of only 3.29 complaints annually, per company, is quite reasonable and not indicative of “abusive” sales.

    For your information, the court vacated the SEC’s rule 151A, it is no longer “being challenged in court.”

    In the future, if you need accurate information on indexed insurance products, I encourage you to reach out to my firm. We are always more than happy to supply anyone with FACTUAL information on indexed annuities and indexed life.

    Thank you.

     

    Sheryl J. Moore

    President and CEO

    AnnuitySpecs.com

    LifeSpecs.com

    IndexedAnnuityNerd.com

    Advantage Group Associates, Inc.

    (515) 262-2623 office

    (515) 313-5799 cell

    (515) 266-4689 fax

    Originally Posted on July 20, 2010 by Sheryl J. Moore.

    Categories: Negative Media
    currency