Consumer Groups Fret Over Push to Update Annuity Rules in California

Fiduciary rule vs. best interest: The Labor Department wants to apply a fiduciary standard to rollovers from retirement plans and IRAs into annuities, meaning that rollover annuity providers would have to put the savers’ interests first and possibly face lawsuits if annuity results are disappointing.

The NAIC model, based on an update of an existing model, would require annuity providers to act in a consumer’s best interest, meaning that they would have to provide more explanations and disclosures.

The California consumer group perspective: Life insurers and agent groups support passage of SB 263.

Many financial planner groups and consumer groups, including the Consumer Federation of California and the Life Insurance Consumer Advocacy Center, oppose it.

SB 263, “largely written by insurers, would keep consumers uninformed and vulnerable to being victimized by bad insurance sales practices,” the federation and the advocacy center say.

California’s own rules would still apply to any annuity sales not involving retirement account rollovers, the groups note.

Brian Brosnahan, executive director of the advocacy center, suggested that rules based on the Labor Department proposal, the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest or New York’s rules would be better than SB 263.

The California State Capitol in Sacramento, California. (Photo: Sundry Photography/Adobe Stock)