Credible “experts”
April 26, 2010 by Sheryl J. Moore
Team,
I want to present to you that in the years that I’ve been serving as an expert in the indexed life and indexed annuity markets, I have seen dozens of so-called “experts” come and go. (I’m not saying this in defense of my products and services, as we never have to want for business. I am presenting this topic merely as a warning to those who are new to the market, and unsuspecting of these self-proclaimed and uncredentialed “authorities.”)
The indexed annuity market is a mere 15 years old. Indexed life has only existed for 13 years. They are both rapidly-expanding markets in terms of companies, sales, and interest. This presents major opportunities for people looking to make money off of those that are less knowledgable about the products.
The most infamous example of this that I can lend is that of the owners of an index annuity illustration website. Let’s just call it www.XYZPremium.com for example, as I do not want to call-out the owners and compromise my own professionalism.
These people have posted product information that is completely inaccurate about indexed annuities in a variety of forums. They moderate blogs that are unsolicited by any insurance company compliance personnel. They have developed a simplistic grading formula for indexed annuities that ignores some of the most important product features. They are unprofessional in their dealings with the insurance industry. They purport to be illustration software developers, but no one can validate that they have the credentials necessary to conduct aforementioned development (the industry has been unable to validate that the owners even have a college degree!). As a former illustration software developer, I caution you that you must have very technical expertise and legitimate credentials to have a credible product. Beware of these “experts.”
On the indexed life side, someone recently presented a new website to me. Let’s just say it is XYZDigest.com. The individual that runs this website cannot provide any legitimate credentials to support the claim that they are a “Nationally Reknown Expert on Indexed Life.” (Hint: being an agent doing IUL personal production does not in-and-of-itself make one an expert.) Another thing that is disturbing about this “expert” is the fact that they have a tendency to promote the companies that pay them above all others. Lastly, this person is NOT an expert on these products. Not only can they not run neck-and-neck with me on IUL, but they are on their first lap when I am at the finish line. Be careful of this “expert” as well.
The bottom line is that there are alot of people out there looking to get paid. Honestly, I do what I do because I love it. I could be making millions if I wanted to use my expertise in the sales of these products. Unfortunately, my desire to do what is RIGHT instead of what is PROFITABLE is always at the back of my mind.
Everyone deserves to have access to information and to understand the products that they sell. For that reason, you can continue to rely on myself and my staff to provide you with TRUE EXPERTISE at a reasonable cost. You can always rely on our accuracy, timliness, and credibility. If you ever have any questions, please let us know. Thanks again for your business! sjm
