DOL rule puts a damper on Cerulli’s VA sales forecast
November 29, 2016 by Warren S. Hersch
Industry speculation has been rife for months that the U.S. Department of Labor’s new fiduciary rule would reduce sales of retirement products. Among them: individual retirement accounts, fixed indexed annuities and variable annuities.
In respect to the last, a new report from Cerulli Associates lends credence to the gloomy forecast. The November 2016 edition of “The Cerulli Edge: U.S. Monthly Products Trends,” forecasts “declining sales” owing to the conflict of interest rule’s myriad requirements, including point-of-sale disclosures.
Variable annuities are particularly vulnerable because so many of the products are subject to the Labor Department’s purview. More 6 in 10 (61 percent) of variable annuity transactions 2015 were qualified plan product sales.
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