Posts belonging to Category Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities



Will Alternative Investments Fuel the Next Financial Debacle?

 

Investors are being sold more and more alternative investments and large broker-dealers are ramping up to supply that demand, according to the Wall Street Journal (“Alternatives Get a Boost”). The trouble is that most investors do not fully understand these products and their brokerage firm advisers do not fairly explain the risks and problems associated […]

Investors Lose Big in Variable Annuities that Invested in Hedge Funds

 

At least a half a dozen independent broker-dealers sold variable annuities reportedly issued by Sun Life Financial, Inc. that lost substantial monies investing in hedge funds. The hedge funds, which used a combination of put and call options to bet that the S&P 500 stock index would not vary outside of a certain range, lost […]

SEC Sanctions MassMutual for Variable Annuity Abuses

 

MassMutual failed to disclose risks associated with certain Guaranteed Minimum Income Benefit riders (specifically its GMIB 5 and GMIB 6 riders) and must now pay $1.65 million to settle SEC charges that it misled variable annuity investors.

Insurance Companies Raise Red Flags on Certain Alternative Investments

 

The recent actions of errors and omissions insurance carriers should serve as a major red flag to investors. Many of these carriers are refusing to issue coverage for sales of certain alternative investments. In other words, these carriers have determined that the risk of loss associated with the sale of certain alternative investments is too […]

Investors Urged to be Careful When Considering Variable Annuities

 

Variable annuities have long been criticized as one of the worst investment choices ever. Complicated, costly, and Illiquid by virtue of surrender penalties, variable annuities offer investors less benefit than traditional investments that can bought without the expensive insurance company wrapper, according to many experts.

New Scams Threaten Investor Nest Eggs

 

New types of scams are posing threats to investor well-being. The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), a group of state securities regulators) has identified four new types of fraud to go along with the 6 persistent fraud threats that round out their Top Ten Threats to Investors.

Southern Company Employees Targeted in Investment Scam

 

A recent arbitration action filed by the Atlanta law firm Page Perry, against Investors Capital Corporation (ICC) seeks to recover losses suffered by five former employees of a Georgia Power plant in Rome, Georgia, arising out of the actions of ICC’s broker, Henry Wilder Bailey of Watkinsville, Georgia, who handled the retirement nest eggs of […]

Many ‘Safe’ Investments Aren’t So Safe

 

Wall Street is adept at adjusting its marketing to the times and is never at a loss to pitch products, including those designed to play on investor fears. After all, that is what securities salespeople do. Many investments that Wall Street is currently calling “safe”, however, are actually both too risky and too costly, as […]

Alternative Investments Are No Investment Panacea

 

Financial advisers need to know that dangers lurk in the complex world of alternative investments and they must disclose these dangers to their clients. At present, many investment advisers are under pressure to sell alternative investments and are doing so in greater numbers than ever before. Alternative investments can include virtually any investment that is […]

Selling Unsuitable Products To Seniors Is Not Only Wrong, It Can Land You In Jail

 

The Wall Street Journal reported that a California insurance agent, who sold an equity indexed annuity to an 83-year old woman with dementia, has been convicted of felony theft and ordered to serve 90 days in jail. Glenn Neasham, who once enjoyed an annual income of $500,000 from selling such products, now seeks donations to […]