WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, CHIP HILTON?
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Investment Management Roundtable Discussion – Personal Estate Planning
The topic of insurance often causes glazed eyes in some readers not immersed in the industry, but insurance was a hot topic coming into the 89th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature. Interest stemmed not only from ongoing...more
At the NAIC Spring National Meeting, the Illustration Subgroup and the Suitability Working Group reported that they are building out the following additions...more
On April 21, New Jersey became the 50th and final state to adopt the Best Interest standard for annuity transactions. The new New Jersey standard is based on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)...more
Regulators are growing concerned about the delegation of various insurance company functions, prompting a closer examination of third-party vendors. Several groups within the National Association of Insurance Commissioners...more
At the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Summer 2024 National Meeting, the Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee received a report of its Life Actuarial (A) Task Force and a presentation on indexed...more
Regulators Hit Jackpot: Off-Channel Communications - Several years before announcing the first “off-channel” communications enforcement action, the SEC and FINRA cautioned broker-dealers and investment advisers about...more
On November 29, the NAIC Index-Linked Variable Annuity (A) Subgroup (ILVA Subgroup) issued a proposed actuarial guideline to clarify the application of NAIC Model 250, Variable Annuity Model Regulation, and NAIC Model 805,...more
New York-licensed insurers that write life and annuity products should consider possible balance-sheet implications for in-force variable business — including the ability to establish certain reserves over five years...more
As the year of COVID-19 closes, NAIC groups are adopting their charges for 2021. Especially notable are the following: LATF’s Indexed Universal Life Illustration Subgroup will: This group will finalize its white paper on...more
It looks as if 2021 will be a busy year as states move to implement the NAIC 2020 revisions to the Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (Model 275), or other duty of care measures. The below chart outlines the...more
When last we left the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB), the board was considering comments on the first exposure draft of proposed changes to Actuarial Standard of Practice No. 2 (ASOP 2), now titled “Nonguaranteed Elements...more
The NAIC Virtual Summer National Meeting marked that it is time to get back to school for a number of annuity and life disclosure and illustration initiatives. Both regulators and insurers will need to sharpen their pencils...more
The NAIC and the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission (“Compact”) are cooking up various initiatives that will impact life and annuity issuers. Below is the spread of the different issues....more
While everyone may be growing weary, the work to revise the state insurance standard of care for annuity transaction recommendations is not quite finished. ...more
On February 13, 2020, the NAIC Executive Committee adopted revisions to the Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (#275) (Revised Suitability Model), which incorporates a best interest standard of conduct for...more
Life insurers bid farewell to a fairly moderate year of class action litigation. Although several class actions were filed against life insurers in the last quarter of 2019, the filings were reflective of the litigation...more
On December 30, 2019, the Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee approved a revised Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (Revised Suitability Model), ending a flurry of activity over the past year....more
Arizona jumped out front of the pack with the introduction of Senate Bill No. 1557, titled "Annuity Transactions; Requirements," which would amend Arizona's suitability requirements for annuity transactions. Senate Bill No....more
The End or the Beginning for Suits Over Disappointed Index Interest Expectations? Security Benefit Life Insurance Co. and Guggenheim Partners recently secured an important victory in a class action challenging a fixed...more
Like a game of whack-a-mole, new or existing NAIC groups are being tasked to consider the various regulatory issues that are popping up from insurance innovation....more
Actuaries and Insurers Take Note - The Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) has exposed for comment significant proposed changes to Actuarial Standard of Practice No. 2, “Nonguaranteed Charges or Benefits for Life Insurance...more
The NAIC and states are reviewing whether to flush those provisions of state anti-rebating laws that inhibit innovation in the insurance industry. The NAIC Unfair Trade Practices Act (#880) prohibits offering any premium...more
With M&A activity for life insurers or blocks of in-force business poised for a possible spike, acquirers of life businesses should consider factors that are peculiar to, or disproportionately affect, the life and annuity...more
The Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) exposed wholesale changes to Actuarial Standard of Practice No. 2 - Nonguaranteed Charges or Benefits for Life Insurance Policies and Annuity Contracts (ASOP 2), which has not changed since...more
As index universal life (IUL) and index annuity product innovation sprints ahead, regulators, running to catch up, are considering whether changes are needed to the NAIC’s Actuarial Guideline 49 and to its Annuity Disclosure...more