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January 25, 2012 In this issue:
New Fidelity & Guaranty Life Agent Suitability Guide Helps You To Ensure Appropriate SalesAt Legacy, we strive to provide you with a variety of products and tools to help you make solid recommendations to customers who want to purchase fixed annuity products. As part of this effort, Legacy and Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company are introducing a new tool—Fidelity & Guaranty Life’s Agent Suitability Guide—to assist you in determining whether one of the carrier’s annuities offered through Legacy is suitable for your prospective clients. While each case is unique and reviewed independently, the guide outlines factors that could trigger concerns about the suitability of a Fidelity & Guaranty Life annuity. We encourage you to review the Agent Suitability Guide to help you understand Fidelity & Guaranty Life and Legacy’s commitment to good sales practices when selling annuity products. It should also help you to ensure your clients’ applications get processed as quickly as possible. If you still have questions, you can speak with either your Wholesaler or Legacy Relationship Manager. Reminder: Annuitization Under Settlement Options 7, 8, and 9 May Take 30–45 DaysSettlement Options 7, 8, and 9 on American National Insurance Company’s BenchMark RelianceSM fixed annuities can be a great solution for clients seeking to qualify for state benefits such as Medi-Cal or Medicaid. However, it’s important to manage clients’ expectations by reminding them it may take 30–45 days after contract issuance to finalize annuitization and issue the first payment under one of these options. As you know, Legacy products are not immediate annuities, so the effective date of the annuity is not also the effective date of the annuitization. For details on these BenchMark Reliance settlement options, see the Producer Guide to BenchMark Reliance Settlement Options 7 and 8 and Producer Guide to BenchMark Reliance Settlement Option 9 on the LegacyNet® BenchMark Reliance product pages. Send All Administrative Services Mail to Dell’s Lincoln OfficeAs a reminder, all New Business, Licensing & Contracting, and Policyholder Services correspondence must be sent to Dell’s Lincoln, NE, address.
New State Approvals AnnouncedAdvanceMarkSM “Light” Version in NV—Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company’s AdvanceMarkSM LT (the “light” version of AdvanceMark) is now available in Nevada, featuring lower surrender charges that meet the state’s new standard non-forfeiture requirement. Although AdvanceMark LT commissions are lower than original AdvanceMark, they are still quite competitive, with GA-level commission up to 6.25% (see the Compensation Schedule for details). In addition to AdvanceMark LT, Fidelity & Guaranty Life’s AmeriMarkSM Freedom 7-year products as well as PHL Variable Insurance Company’s CommandMarkSM LT fixed annuities are available in the state. The original AdvanceMark as well as Fidelity & Guaranty Life’s AmeriMark Freedom 12-year products and American National Insurance Company’s BenchMark RelianceSM were withdrawn in Nevada, effective January 1, 2012. Income Freedom RiderSM in MA and MN—Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company’s Income Freedom RiderSM is now available in Massachusetts on AdvanceMarkSM LT and in Minnesota on AmeriMarkSM Freedom 7 and 7 SE. CA Producers: Avoid Returned Business—Take Your Suitability Training!Reminder to California Producers: If you haven’t already taken your product-specific training, please do so today! As of January 1, 2012, any annuity applications submitted without completion of the required new suitability training will be returned. Also, please note that in addition to product-specific training, American National Insurance Company requires training on significant changes to California’s suitability rules. See the LegacyNet Annuity Training page for details. A revised suitability form, LEG11-06, for PHL Variable Insurance Company and a new suitability form, 4465-CA, for American National Insurance Company is required in California for all applications, as of January 1, 2012. In addition to Fidelity & Guaranty Life’s standard Suitability Acknowledgement Form—already required in California—Producers must now complete and submit a Suitability Acknowledgement Form (SAF) California Supplement, ADMIN5656, with every Fidelity & Guaranty Life annuity. The California requirements also call for completion of an eight-hour DOI-approved annuity training course prior to solicitation as well as four CE credits in annuity training prior to license renewal every two years. These requirements are not new, but if you haven’t already taken these courses, please do so as soon as possible. Check That Premium Check!Speed business by ensuring your client’s premium meets the product’s minimum and maximum premium limits. Our carriers are unable to accept premium below the product’s minimum, and premium above the product’s maximum must first be approved by the carrier. If you are unsure about a product’s premium limits, consult the product-specific training, Quick Reference Sheet, or sales guide—all of which are available on our LegacyNet® secure website! As always, thank you for your business. Have questions? Call Marketing Field Support at 888-457-0431. |
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