Regulatory & Compliance | 12.19.22
Mass. Is Latest State To Require Advisors To Act in Client Best Interest on Annuities
by: Kenneth Corbin
Massachusetts has adopted a rule requiring brokers, advisors and other financial professionals recommending annuities to ensure that those products are in their clients’ best interest, the latest state to advance a model rule backed by insurance and advisor regulatory and trade groups. Susan Neely, president and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers, and Josh O’Gara, president of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, praised the annuity rule for preserving the flexibility to incorporate annuities into clients’ retirement plans while offering needed consumer protections in a product segment that has seen its share of dubious sales practices and predatory behavior. “Unlike a fiduciary-only approach, these measures ensure that all savers, particularly financially vulnerable middle-income Americans, can access information about different choices for long-term security in retirement,” Neely and O’Gara said.
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