Agents - Snippets - 2000s

  • Q Well, the focus on income payments, what he would get after retirement --

  • A You mean policy loans is what we're talking about.

  • Q All right. The letter refers to income payments, correct?

  • A Um hum. Yes.

  • Q Is there any reference there to policy loans?

  • A No. But that's what they were.

--  Transcript of Testimony of James Barrett, Agent

2009 - LC - National Security Systems  vs. Robert L. Iola, Jr. - Case 3:00-cv-06293-AET-TJB, Document 375, Filed 12/03/09 Page 91 of 117

Grant Taggart Symposium

  • taggart.ce.byu.edu/
  • taggart.ce.byu.edu/continuing
    • The Grant Taggart Symposium is cosponsored by the Society of Financial Services Professionals (FSP), the Utah Chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), and Brigham Young University.
  • 2017 1019 - Van Mueller's thoughts on "The Power of Zero", by David McKnight - powerofzero.com/blog/van-mueller-thoughts-on-power-of-zero
    • I had the privilege of speaking at the Taggart Symposium at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT a few weeks ago and during my stay I got to rub elbows with one of this industry's legends Van Mueller.  
    • Van's made Court or Top of the Table for 26 straight years and has spoken at countless MDRT, Top of the Table, and NAIFA National meetings.  
    • While Van is from Wisconsin like me, I've never had the chance to sit down and chat with him.  
    • When I did so I discovered, to my great surprise, that he is a huge fan of The Power of Zero and has been handing it out to his clients for years.

Bad Apples

  • The easiest way for a large corporation to respond to allegations of fraud or dishonesty is to suggest that there are a few ‘bad apples’ in every organization, but that the company’s policies and practices are honest.
  • Life insurance companies, however, would have a hard time making this argument.
  • A practice, referred to in some locations as ‘misselling’ of insurance policies – “violating industry rules, guidelines and codes of ethics, if not the law” – occurs quite regularly.These practices involve “institutionally endorsed manipulation, deception and sometimes fraud” (p. 994).
  • [Bonk: 2006 – AP -The Institutionalization of Deceptive Sales in Life Insurance. Richard V. Ericson and Aaron Doyle, British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 46, Issue 6, p993-1010]

2007 01 – Criminological Highlights – p.4 – Deceptive sales practices in the life insurance business have become part of ‘normal business’: sales agents are taught by companies how to be deceptive and not get caught., Volume 8, Number 4 – 12p

Robo-Calling

  • 2022 – LC – Dobronski v. Family First Life
    • [re: Robo-Calling]
    • 2:2022cv12039
    • Michigan Eastern District Court
    • 08/31/2022 
    • 2022-cv-12039-00093 
    • Former Judge Mark Dobronski is suing Family First Life and 12 insurance agents for $694,000
    • archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.mied.364249/gov.uscourts.mied.364249.161.0.pdf
      • Doc 1 – Complaint – file:///C:/2023%20ToDo%20Current/Always%20Marco%20-%202024%20=/gov.uscourts.mied.364249.1.0.pdf

        • 26. Congress explicitly found that robo-calling is an invasion of privacy.

        • 27. In regard to such telephone solicitations, Senator Hollings of South Carolina, the primary sponsor of the bill, explained, “computerized calls are the scourge of modern civilization. They wake us up in the morning; they interrupt our dinner at night; they force the sick and elderly out of bed; they hound us until we want to rip the telephone right out of the wall… these computerized telephone calls threaten our personal safety… These machines are out of control, and their use is growing by 30 percent every year. It is telephone terrorism, and it has got to stop….” Sgg In the Matter of Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Actof1991, 17 FCC Rcd. 17459, 17474, fn. 90 (2002), quoting 137 cong. Rec. 30,821-30,822 (Nov. 7, 1991

Sales – Index

#

Back to top

Comments About – Agents

  • MR. GRIGG:  For a company such as Prudential with thousands of agents, most of whom are not very sophisticated, getting the agent to understand the new products and how these products can be used is essential to the success of a new product.

1987 – SOA – Product Development Process — Bringing New Products To Market Quickly And Efficiently, Society of Actuaries – 22p

  • The educational task is huge, and it’s not just with the customers; it’s with our agents also. 
    • I would say to all of you that if you think that you don’t have any customers or any agents who fail to understand what a nonguaranteed illustration really means, you’re kidding yourself.

—  Walter Miller, Prudential

1991 – SOA – Illustrations, Society of Actuaries – 20p

  • Bob Wright (Virginia) said the Society of Actuaries report referred to the fact that companies said they had no control over what agents did.
  • Chair of the LDWG – Life Disclosure Working Group – (A) – NAIC  —  [BonkNote] 

1994-4, NAIC Proceedings

⇒  1991-1992 – SOA – Final Report* of the Task Force for Research on Life Insurance Sales Illustrations, Society of Actuaries  —  [BonkNote]  —  142p

  • My Correspondence with Lafayette Life
    • On June 21, 2019, I sent a letter by regular mail to Bryan Chalmer Dunn, the president and chief executive officer of Lafayette Life. I asked several questions about the relationship between Yellen and Lafayette Life. I asked for a response by the close of business on June 28.
  • Text of July 2 Email from Planck to Belth
    • Lafayette Life’s products are sold through independent agents and independent marketing organizations.
      • Our role is limited to providing life insurance policies and annuity contracts.
      • We do not endorse or sponsor any selling system nor do we develop, advertise or promote the marketing content or materials for any selling system.
      • We do not inquire about, attempt to determine, or identify in our systems whether any independent agents appointed to sell our products are users of any specific selling system.
    • Please be assured that Lafayette Life makes it clear through our contracts with those selling our products and disclosures to our customers that our life insurance policies and annuity contracts are insurance products.
  • General Observations
    • Lafayette Life appears to take no interest in or responsibility for the methods used by the independent agents who sell its policies.
    • Further, I think the same can be said about many if not all other companies that sell their policies through independent agents.
    • In my opinion, this is a matter of serious concern, for two reasons.
      • First, sales methods may be deceptive, misleading, or otherwise unfair to consumers.
      • Second, companies and state insurance regulators may find it difficult to police the sales methods used in the field by independent agents.

2019 0712 – Commentary – Joseph Belth – No. 322: Pamela Yellen-Her Unbelievable “Bank-on-Yourself” Wealth-Building Strategy – [link]

Agent – Turnover Rate

  • 1993 1228 – NYT – New Refunds for Misled MetLife Customers, (discussing the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s involvement in such practices) – , by Michael Quint – [link]
    • Metropolitan will move back toward more central control through the training of new employees, Mr. Kamen said.
      • In the company’s sales force of 13,000, turnover is high enough to require the training of about 4,000 to 5,000 new people each year. Under the new policies, training will still take place locally, but will follow more closely a model designed by headquarters.

Sales Strategies

  • Bob Wright (Virginia) said the Society of Actuaries report referred to the fact that companies said they had no control over what agents did.
  • Chair of the LDWG – Life Disclosure Working Group – (A) – NAIC  —  [BonkNote] 

1994-4, NAIC Proceedings

⇒  1991-1992 – SOA – Final Report* of the Task Force for Research on Life Insurance Sales Illustrations, Society of Actuaries  —  [BonkNote]  —  142p

  • My Correspondence with Lafayette Life
    • On June 21, 2019, I sent a letter by regular mail to Bryan Chalmer Dunn, the president and chief executive officer of Lafayette Life. I asked several questions about the relationship between Yellen and Lafayette Life. I asked for a response by the close of business on June 28.
  • Text of July 2 Email from Planck to Belth
    • Lafayette Life’s products are sold through independent agents and independent marketing organizations.
      • Our role is limited to providing life insurance policies and annuity contracts.
      • We do not endorse or sponsor any selling system nor do we develop, advertise or promote the marketing content or materials for any selling system.
      • We do not inquire about, attempt to determine, or identify in our systems whether any independent agents appointed to sell our products are users of any specific selling system.
    • Please be assured that Lafayette Life makes it clear through our contracts with those selling our products and disclosures to our customers that our life insurance policies and annuity contracts are insurance products.

2019 0712 – Commentary – Joseph Belth – No. 322: Pamela Yellen-Her Unbelievable “Bank-on-Yourself” Wealth-Building Strategy – [link]

  • Speaking from my IMSA experience, there’s a lot of emphasis on internal replacements, replacement activity, trying to meet those definitions, and track that activity, but beyond that, not much is captured in the applications.
  • But at some companies that I’ve talked to, there’s a real concern about funds coming from a lump sum paid out of a 401(k) plan.
  • The concern is that these are qualified monies, and that somehow a broker/dealer/sales agent rolls them into a non-qualified variable annuity.
  • That would really be ripe for some kind of abuse because you’re probably not helping out that customer.
  • So you have to go through a litany of questions with the customer, like:
    • “Is this the right time to buy this annuity?
    • Are you fully funding your 401(k)?
    • Are you in your deferred comp plan at work?”
  • We need to determine the right choice and order of priority for some of those kinds of issues.
  • Regulators make a comparison with the existing insurance program to determine if a company is really looking at the customer’s profile.
  • [Bonk: IMSA = Insurance Marketplace Standards Association]

—  Dana Rudmose, not a member of the sponsoring organizations, is Director of KPMG Peat Marwick in Columbus, OH

1998 – SOA – Market Conduct: A New Actuarial Frontier, Society of Actuaries – 20p