New Group to DOL: Hands off Fixed Index Annuities
September 22, 2017 by N/A
A new lobbying group has sprung up to contest the inclusion of fixed indexed annuities under a provision of the DOL fiduciary rule. So reports ThinkAdvisor.
The group, the Fixed Annuity Consumer Choice Campaign, is circulating a petition urging DOL secretary Alexander Acosta to delay implementation of the best-interest contract exemption until July 1, 2019, and to “fix the treatment of fixed indexed annuities,” the publication says.
Thus far, the petition is approaching 2,000 signatures. Fixed indexed annuity advocates want to make sure the product isn’t lumped in with other securities under the BICE, the controversial mechanism that would open advisors to lawsuits alleging a fiduciary breach. Other types of fixed annuities are not included under the BICE.
The different treatment “creates an unlevel playing field that inherently disfavors fixed annuity providers and products,” FACCC says on its website.
“Placing FIAs in BICE would have severe adverse repercussions for consumers by limiting choice in the IRA marketplace and would violate the spirit of the Harkin Amendment, which was adopted by Congress to distinguish regulatory treatment of FIAs from securities products,” the site says.
