Despite being nullified by legislation and remanded judicially, SEC Rule 151A left a permanent mark on the annuity world. As 2011 gets under way, state insurance departments will quickly enact additional oversight rules to help ensure suitable sales to protect consumers. In order to achieve this, states will incorporate specific annuity courses into their required training regimen, and will also require the insurance companies to verify that the producers selling their products are knowledgeable on each specific product.
Depending on your state, these requirements may already be in place. As of Jan. 10, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma had enacted such rules. Both the continuing education and product-specific training (PST) requirements and deadlines vary by state. You can keep up-to-date on your state by visiting www.annuityEDU.com. Carriers will be unable to accept your business if you do not complete the required CE course and PST by the date your state specifies.
If the states adopt the language of the NAIC Model, you will be required to complete a PST course for every carrier you represent before recommending any annuity.
In this monthly column, the National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA) will provide essential information about fixed annuity product features, regulation, tax issues, and industry news. We invite you, the reader, to send us any questions that you often hear — or that you may have yourself. Submit your questions to ASJeditor@AgentMedia.com with the subject line "Fixed Annuity FAQ" to have your problems answered here.
The National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA) is a national trade association exclusively dedicated to promoting the awareness and understanding of fixed annuities — including income, declared rate, market value adjusted, and indexed. You can follow NAFA on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nafausa.
For more exclusive annuity coverage, visit ASJ's Annuity Resource Center.
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