ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER AXA Equitable AXA, a massive international financial company, is among the largest insurance companies on the planet. Operating through a large number of subsidiaries and brands in various countries around the globe, AXA owns a significant portion of the life, health, and property insurance policies held by consumers […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Understanding the Risks of Annuities FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, has made waves by fining Prudential Annuities Distributors, Inc., the wing of the financial giant Prudential that’s in charge of selling and managing the company’s annuities, for failing to prevent a theft of $1.3 million from a […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Unlicensed Insurance Brokers Our Santa Clara annuity fraud attorneys can tell you that seniors are already at risk when dealing with licensed brokers. High commissions, surrender penalties, hidden costs and fees: there are any number of dangers even when buying an annuity from the “safe” sources. However, the […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER FINRA Ban’s a Broker for Improper Variable Annuity Sales FINRA, the financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is meant to help keep investors safe in the market for financial products. While many of their high-profile actions involve fines and corrections against major companies, they are also empowered to take actions […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Why Do Annuities Have a Bad Reputation? If you’ve been looking into an annuity, it’s almost certain you’ve come across a lot of sources warning you away. Why is that? On the surface, an annuity can make sense: purchasing an annuity now can save money on taxes, provide […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Are annuities as stable as brokers claim? Annuity companies spend a great deal of time, energy, and marketing dollars to build the reputation of their product as a rock-solid investment. They’ve banked on this in their campaign to sell indexed annuities, products that make the impossible claim of […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The New Landscape of Fee-Based Annuities As the Department of Labor’s new rule comes into effect, requiring insurance and annuity salespeople to act as fiduciaries, financial companies are scrambling to adapt. One way that some companies are trying to deal with this change is to find a loophole […]

The Waiting Game: Why Insurance Salespeople Push Whole Life Insurance There are innumerable options available to a person looking at purchasing a life insurance policy. Universal, indexed, term, etc. While there are issues with many of these types, one in particular has drawn the ire of financial advisors and life […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Prudential, Jackson National, and the future of the annuity As the Department of Labor requires more insurance brokers to act as fiduciaries, and as FINRA continues its investigation into variable annuities, it’s clear that the increased scrutiny is having a bit of a shriveling effect on the market […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Understanding the details of Variable Annuities Variable annuities, considered by some financial advisors to be among the most complicated and least understood product of its kinds, have come under increased scrutiny in 2016, as FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, has declared its intention to investigate them more […]