NAILBA 29: Stability with an Asterisk

Last year, speakers talked about changes NAILBA had made in response to the effects of the Great Recession on its members and its own finances.

The number of distributors has fallen since the slump began, and consumers are still wary of buying financial services products, but conditions seem to have stabilized, an insurer rep said.

“The distributors that are here are here to stay — I hope,” the rep said.

William Zimmerman, president of LifePro Financial Services Inc., San Diego, a distributor, said

he believes the mood is much better than it was a year ago.

“Business is back,” Zimmerman said.

Conference hotel managers here said they think their business is rebounding, and attendees at a meeting of the International Council of Shopping Centers, New York, said the same thing.

But many at the NAILBA meeting said they worry about what Congress might do to change tax laws and other laws affecting the life and annuity industry.

The NAILBA government affairs committee is presenting a round table discussion today. Speakers will review some recent legislative victories, such as success at keeping the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from getting jurisdiction over indexed annuities, but they also will talk about the delicate negotiations over bringing back the estate tax, the more complicated efforts to extend other 2001 Bush tax cuts, and potentially wide-reaching battles over general tax reform.

NAILBA also is tracking the new arbitration restrictions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and new New York state broker compensation disclosure rules.

Thomas Petsche, president of the Society of FSP, Newtown Square, Pa., said the challenges likely will create opportunities for the well-informed. At a time like this, he said, education is critical.