2005 07 - JFSP - Guesses, Projections, Promises and Guarantees, Journal of Financial Service Professionals, by Lawrence J. Rybka, J.D., CFP® - 11p
2019 10 - NAEPC JOURNAL - How to Retire in the Magical Retirement Income in the Clouds, Issue 32, by Lawrence J. Rybka, J.D., CFP® - 11p
2019 0529 - Joseph Belth - No. 314 - Indexed Universal Life Policies—The Views of Two Prominent Professionals About the Risks for Buyers - [Lawrence Rybka and Richard Weber] - [link]
2020 02 - VALMARK - Life Insurance In The Client’s Best Interest: Seeing More Clearly in 2020, by Lawrence J. Rybka, JD, CFP® - 11p
If there is a dispute on how a policy was supposed to work or the benefits that were to be provided, it is the policy contract language that controls it, not sales materials or representations by the agent
2021 - Retirementincomejournal.com - Life Insurers face “The Great Call”: Larry Rybka[link]
Description: It is no secret that the press of low yields is forcing additional restructuring moves on life insurance companies. In this video, I comment on both Allstate’s retreat from the U.S. life business and the demutualization and sale of Ohio National.
These recent transactions raise questions for the industry about which companies will put in enough “chips” to stay in the life insurance game...
2022 1122 - Forbes - The Dirty Secret of Life Insurance Quotes, by Cameron Huddleston and Amy Danise - [link]
If you’re shopping for a cash value life insurance policy such as universal life or whole life insurance, buyer beware: The life insurance quote you get might be a lot lower than what you’ll actually have to pay. And what you must pay could dramatically increase over time.
In early 2020, Rybka, Flagg and 10 others sent a letter of support for a proposal to the NAIC to limit what they saw as abuse of AG 49 and create more realistic projections for indexed universal life insurance in order to protect consumers. But the response Rybka said he got was that the NAIC was too far along in crafting its own fix to make a change.
2023 0814 - Not in Barbieland Anymore: Abusive Life Sales May Lead to Jail if Combined with Investment and Tax Advice, Larry J. Rybka, Chairman and CEO at Valmark Financial Group - [link]
<WishList?> - Today, Arthur Postal of Life Annuity Specialist published a story called "Rogue Agents Dubious Indexed Life Investment Schemes Spark Lawsuits" (which you can view if you subscribe) about how a few life-only insurance agents gave advice that had effectively wrecked the financial well-being of hundreds of clients and left hundreds of millions of dollars of damage in their wake.
The common thread was that agents–specifically those who had relinquished their FINRA registration and continued to offer financial advice–used “regulatory arbitrage”, which allowed these agents to keep active state insurance licenses and offer advice with little to no standard or supervision.
The cases referenced in Postal’s article are not isolated. Postal also cites a recently published Stanford Law Review article, which examined data from over 1.2 million advisors with varying levels of regulatory oversight. See Colleen Honigsberg et al., Regulatory Arbitrage and the Persistence of Financial Misconduct., 74 Stan. L. Rev. 373, 792. - 56p
The study shows that those who drop FINRA registration and continue as state-licensed insurance agents (e.g., life-only agents) are “disproportionately likely to proceed under more lenient state-level regulation, thereby exposing investors to harm in the future.”
Comment - Steven S. Zeiger - The IUL posts on LI would never get through compliance with phrases like tax free, no risk of loss, better than your 401k plan, 8% returns, etc.
Larry J. Rybka - Steve exactly the point. There is no compliance. Fixed only agents do not have any review of sales materials or suitability. The article only gave examples of bad producers whose deeds were uncovered by regulators, and litigation apart from insurance regulation. There were another 4 examples this year involving hundreds more clients that did not make this story.
2024 0418 - The Granddaddy of All Premium Finance Litigation, by Larry J. Rybka, Chairman and CEO at Valmark Financial Group - [link]
Stephen C. Baker recently posted about a mega premium finance case that is currently being litigated in New York in the case of Aronson v. Brave Strategies, LLC. Besides involving $150 million of total death benefit across three carriers, what makes this case notable is that it is based on an alleged violation of New York’s Best Interest standard of care. See Stephen’s blog post here.