Notice to Members 99-35

The NASD Reminds Members Of Their Responsibilities Regarding The Sales Of Variable Annuities

Published Date:

SUGGESTED ROUTING

Senior Management
Advertising
Continuing Education
Corporate Finance
Executive Representatives
Government Securities
Institutional
Insurance
Internal Audit
Legal & Compliance
Municipal
 Mutual Fund
Operations
Options
Registered Representatives
Registration
Research
Syndicate
Systems
Trading
Training
Variable Contracts

Executive Summary

National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD®) Rule 3010 requires each member to establish and maintain a system to supervise the activities of each registered representative and associated person in order to achieve compliance with the securities laws, regulations, and NASD rules. Variable life insurance and variable annuities are securities and their distribution is subject to NASD rules. This Notice focuses on deferred variable annuity sales and provides a set of guidelines that are intended to assist members in developing appropriate procedures relating to variable annuity sales to customers.

The guidelines identify areas of concern that NASD Regulation, Inc. (NASD Regulation®) would expect to be addressed in the procedures of members that offer and sell variable annuities. Although the specific procedures described are not mandatory, members should consider supplementing their procedures to ensure that they will be adequately designed to achieve compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.

Questions concerning this Notice may be directed to Thomas M. Selman, Vice President, Investment Companies/Corporate Financing, NASD Regulation, at (240) 386-4533; Lawrence Kosciulek, Assistant Director, Advertising/Investment Companies, NASD Regulation, at (202) 728-8329; or Elliot R. Curzon, Assistant General Counsel, Office of General Counsel, NASD Regulation, at (202) 728-8451.

Background

A variable annuity is an insurance contract that is subject to regulation under state insurance and securities laws. Although variable annuities offer investment features similar in many respects to mutual funds, a typical variable annuity offers three basic features not commonly found in mutual funds: (1) tax-deferred treatment of earnings; (2) a death benefit; and (3) annuity payout options that can provide guaranteed income for life.

A customer's premium payments to purchase a variable annuity are allocated to underlying investment portfolios, often termed subaccounts. The variable annuity contract may also include a guaranteed fixed interest subaccount that is part of the general account of the insurer. The general account is composed of the assets of the insurance company issuing the contract. The value of the underlying subaccounts that are not guaranteed will fluctuate in response to market changes and other factors. Because the contract owners assume these investment risks, variable annuities are securities and generally must be registered under the Securities Act of 1933.

The underlying subaccounts that are not guaranteed are funded by a separate account of a life insurance company that, absent an exemption, is required to be registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Variable annuities assess various fees including fees related to insurance features, e.g., lifetime annuitization and the death benefit. The fees are typically deducted from customer assets in the separate account.

A distributor of variable annuity contracts to individuals is required to register as a broker/dealer under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and become a member of the NASD. The distribution of variable annuity contracts is subject to NASD rules.

Typically, variable annuities are designed to be long-term investments for retirement. Withdrawals before a customer reaches the age of 59 1/2 are generally subject to a 10 percent penalty under the Internal Revenue Code. In addition, many variable annuities assess surrender charges for withdrawals within a specified time period after purchase.

Generally, variable annuities have two phases: the "accumulation" phase when customer contributions are allocated among the underlying investment options and earnings accumulate; and the "distribution" phase when the customer withdraws money, typically as a lump-sum or through various annuity payment options.

The myriad features of variable insurance products make the suitability analysis required under NASD rules particularly complex. NASD Regulation has addressed suitability issues in variable insurance products sales in Notice to Members 96-86. In that Notice, NASD Regulation stated that when recommending variable annuities or variable life insurance, the member and its registered representatives are required to make reasonable efforts to obtain information concerning the customer's financial and tax status, investment objectives, and such information used or considered reasonable in making recommendations to the customer.1 In addition, a recent NASD disciplinary action discussed members' responsibilities under Rule 2310 (Suitability Rule) as they apply to the sale of variable life insurance. (See In the Matter of DBCC No. 8 v. Miguel Angel Cruz.2)

Discussion

NASD Regulation has developed the following guidelines that represent a compilation of industry practices in the supervision of the sale of variable annuities. The guidelines do not mandate any specific procedure. Rather, they are designed to assist members in developing appropriate procedures relating to variable annuity sales practices. The guidelines are not comprehensive and are not intended as a substitute for the member's responsibilities under NASD Rule 3010. Moreover, the Suitability Rule requires an associated person of a member to make an independent determination whether an investment is suitable for a particular customer, taking into account the customer's investment objectives and financial needs.

Customer Information

The Suitability Rule requires members and their registered representatives to make reasonable efforts to obtain information concerning a customer's financial and tax status, investment objectives, and such other information used or considered in making recommendations to the customer.

1. When recommending a variable annuity, members and their registered representatives should make reasonable efforts to obtain comprehensive customer information, including the customer's occupation, marital status, age, number of dependents, investment objectives, risk tolerance, tax status, previous investment experience, liquid net worth, other investments and savings, and annual income. Retention of this customer information can be made in conjunction with the maintenance of basic customer account information that is required in NASD Rule 3110.
2. A registered representative should discuss all relevant facts with the customer, including liquidity issues such as potential surrender charges and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) penalty; fees, including mortality and expense charges, administrative charges, and investment advisory fees; any applicable state and local government premium taxes; and market risk.
3. The registered representative should seek to ensure that the variable annuity application and any other information provided by the customer to the member is complete and accurate, and promptly forwarded to a registered principal for review.
4. When a variable annuity transaction is recommended to a customer, the registered representative and a registered principal should review the customer's investment objectives, risk tolerance, and other information to determine that the variable annuity contract as a whole and the underlying subaccounts recommended to the customer are suitable. The registered principal should compare the information in the account application with other relevant information sources, e.g., an account information form, to check for apparent accuracy and consistency prior to approving the transaction.

Product Information

5. The registered representative should have a thorough knowledge of the specifications of each variable annuity that is recommended, including the death benefit, fees and expenses, subaccount choices, special features, withdrawal privileges, and tax treatment.
6. To the extent practical, a current prospectus should be given to the customer when a variable annuity is recommended. Prospectus information about important factors, such as fees and expenses and the illiquidity of the product, should be discussed with the customer.
7. Under NASD Rule 2210, the registered representative may only use sales material that is approved by a registered principal of the member.

Liquidity And Earnings Accrual

Lack of liquidity, which may be caused by surrender charges or penalties for early withdrawal under the Internal Revenue Code, may make a variable annuity an unsuitable investment for customers who have short-term investment objectives. Moreover, although a benefit of a variable annuity investment is that earnings accrue on a tax-deferred basis, a minimum holding period is often necessary before the tax benefits are likely to outweigh the often higher fees imposed on variable annuities relative to alternative investments, such as mutual funds.

8. The registered representative should inquire about whether the customer has a long-term investment objective and typically should recommend a variable annuity only if the answer to that question, with consideration of other product attributes, is affirmative. In general, the registered representative should make sure that the customer understands the effect of surrender charges on redemptions and that a withdrawal prior to the age of 59 1/2 could result in a withdrawal tax penalty. In addition, the registered representative should make sure that customers who are 59 1/2 or older are informed when surrender charges apply to withdrawals.
9. The member should develop special procedures to screen for any customer whose age may make a long-term investment inappropriate, such as any customer over a specific age. Based on certain contract features, some customers of advanced age may be unsuitable for a variable annuity investment.

Income, Net Worth, And Contract Size Thresholds

10. Members should establish procedures to require a principal's careful review of variable annuity investments that exceed a stated percentage of the customer's net worth, and any contract in which a customer is investing more than a stated dollar amount.

Investment In Tax Qualified Accounts

Some tax-qualified retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans) provide customers with an option to make investment choices only among several variable annuities. While these variable annuities provide most of the same benefits to investors as variable annuities offered outside of a tax-qualified retirement plan, they do not provide any additional tax deferred treatment of earnings beyond the treatment provided by the tax-qualified retirement plan itself.

11. When a registered representative recommends the purchase of a variable annuity for any tax-qualifie d retirement account (e.g., 401(k) plan, IRA), the registered representative should disclose to the customer that the tax deferred accrual feature is provided by the tax-qualifie d retirement plan and that the tax deferred accrual feature of the variable annuity is unnecessary. The registered representative should recommend a variable annuity only when its other benefits, such as lifetime income payments, family protection through the death benefit, and guaranteed fees, support the recommendation.
12. A member should conduct an especially comprehensive suitability analysis prior to approving the sale of a variable annuity with surrender charges to a customer in a tax-qualified account subject to plan minimum distribution requirements.

Variable Annuity Replacements

13. The member firm may decide to develop an exchange or replacement analysis document or utilize an existing form authorized by a state insurance commission or other regulatory agency. If such a document is used, then (consistent with the requirements of various states) it should be completed for all variable annuity replacements and should include an explanation of the benefits of replacing one contract for another variable contract. The document also should be signed by the customer, the registered representative, and the registered principal.
14. The registered representative and the registered principal should determine, based on the information provided by the customer and their own knowledge of the product features, that replacing the existing contract with a new contract is suitable for the customer. Consideration should be given to such matters as product enhancements and improvements, lower cost structures, and surrender charges.
15. The member firm should consider developing compliance systems, such as computer programs, when available, that can monitor and identify those registered representatives whose clients have a particularly high rate of variable annuity replacements or rollovers. These compliance systems should provide the firm with "red flags" that the firm can investigate to determine whether some of these replacements are unsuitable.
16. A retail member should adopt other measures reasonably designed to ensure that replacement sales activity by its registered representatives complies with NASD rules. Members that "wholesale" variable annuities are reminded that they are also subject to NASD rules, and that they should avoid marketing strategies that are designed primarily to encourage inappropriate replacement sales. Upon reasonable request and to the extent practical, wholesale members should assist retail broker/dealers in monitoring the replacement activity of their customers.

Endnote

1Notice to Members 96-86 also listed specific factors that could be considered when recommending variable annuities and variable life insurance contracts. These factors are:

  • a representation by a customer that his or her life insurance needs were already met;


  • the customer's express preference for an investment other than an insurance product, the customer's inability to appreciate fully how much of the purchase payment or premium is allocated to cover insurance or their costs, and a customer's ability to understand the complexity of variable products generally;


  • the customer's willingness to invest a set amount on a yearly basis;


  • the customer's need for liquidity and short-term investment;


  • the customer's immediate need for retirement income; and


  • the customer's investment sophistication and whether he or she is able to monitor the investment experience of the separate account.

2 Complaint No. C8A930048 (NBCC Oct. 31, 1997)