Sheryl J Moore

Recently, an insurance company that sells indexed annuities rolled-out a registered indexed annuity. Our office is receiving alot of calls regarding this rollout. For the record:

1. This is a non-event. Registered indexed annuities (RIAs) have existed since fixed indexed annuities (FIAs) have.

2. As of today, there are precisely four registered indexed annuities in the market and 252 fixed indexed annuities.

3. There are only two companies offering RIAs today. There are 43 companies selling FIAs today. 

4. There were already registered indexed annuities available on the market prior to Monday’s product launch. The single insurance company offering these two RIAs has sold precisely $0 of registered indexed annuities for the past three quarters.

5. The company that rolled-out the RIAs on Monday has had RIAs before. They were pulled in 2006 due to lack of sales.

6. This move is not about the SEC and 151A. However, it is smart for insurance companies to have a strategy in the event that we are not successful in overturning the SEC’s ill-conceived Rule 151A.

7. No, I do not see RIAs becoming trendy in the insurance business.

8. Registering indexed annuities, in and of itself, will not help indexed annuities sell better in the broker dealer distribution channel. The reason that B/Ds and many registered reps. do not offer indexed annuities is because of inaccurate information that has been fed to them about these products. If they had the FACTS, they wouldn’t hesitate about offering these safe money products to their clients, registered or otherwise.

9. I believe that the company that launched their products on Monday is among a select few companies that have the ability to be successful with an RIA in their distribution, if any company can right now. Unfortuantely, the inaccurate media on indexed annuities has created a big “roadblock” for most registered representatives. This will be something that insurance companies will have to overcome to be successful with a registered indexed annuity.

Thank you for your time and attention! I always appreciate recognition for the indexed annuity market. sjm