Variable Annuities are Still Being Recommended — Despite Ohio National Fallout
February 13, 2019 by Rita Raagas De Ramos
It appears many top retirement advisors who recommend variable annuities to their plan sponsor clients haven’t soured on the product despite the wider ramifications of Ohio National Financial Services’ decision to terminate its variable annuities selling agreements with broker-dealers and stop paying trailing commissions.
Surveyed in December by FA-IQ sister publication Ignites Research, most of the top retirement advisors who provide variable annuities as an investment option for their plan sponsor clients said they will continue to provide the product as an option.
Around 71% of the 80 of the Financial Times’ Top 401 Retirement Advisors surveyed said they won’t reconsider their stance on the product despite Ohio National Financial Services’ recent actions and subsequent questions on the reliability of variable agreement selling agreements.
On September 28, Ohio National sent a letter to broker-dealer firms informing them it was terminating its variable annuities selling agreements effective December 12, and that it would no longer pay trailing commissions stemming from annuities already sold.
Click HERE to read the full story via Financial Advisor IQ.
