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The head of the National Association for Fixed Annuities hopes this will be a year when the group can focus more on making the annuity industry stronger and less on fighting off problems in Washington.
NAFA is a Washington-based group that represents 80 fixed annuity issuers and independent marketing organizations. The IMOs, in turn, work with about 200,000 financial professionals who help clients buy fixed annuities.
Andrew Payne, NAFA's new chairman, talked to Chuck DiVencenzo, NAFA's chief executive officer, about his priorities in a conversation that was posted last week on YouTube.
"I think 2026 is going to be a pretty big year for NAFA," Payne told DiVencenzo. "This is maybe one of the first years when we can start playing a little offense."
The U.S. Labor Department was trying to impose a tough fiduciary rule on the individuals and companies helping retirement savers roll cash from 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts into fixed annuities.
Now, the federal courts have blocked that effort, and "we can start to maybe think about some other things," Payne said.
Payne, the general counsel at CreativeOne, an Overland Park, Kansas-based financial services firm. said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and "potentially, FINRA," are now joining state insurance regulators and the Labor Department and "getting their toes wet a little bit in terms of their thoughts on regulation of this product."
"So, we've really got to put some focus on that bucket," Payne said.
But Payne said he also hopes to work on market expansion projects, such as outreach efforts and efforts to work with other groups to develop and promote new technology standards.
"I don't want to be in charge of the locomotive, but I want to lay the track that everyone can follow," Payne said.
NAFA will give members a chance to talk to people on Capitol Hill about fixed annuities at an event in Washington in June, Payne said.
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