New York Annuity News

New Washington State Law Defines Variable Annuities as Securities

Securities regulators in Washington state will for the first time be able to handle complaints from investors about variable annuities, under a law signed recently by Governor Gary Locke. The legislation (Senate Bill 6483), signed March 22, was unopposed by Washington lawmakers.

“This new law is good for investor protection and makes sense for consumers, particularly since most variable annuities are marketed as investments,” said Deborah Bortner, Director of Washington’s Securities Division.

Sales of variable products have increased dramatically over the past decade and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Association of Securities Dealers Regulation, Inc. (NASDR) have both stepped-up regulatory scrutiny of variable products.  In particular, regulators worry that investors aren’t being told about steep surrender charges and the high sales commissions agents often earn when they move investors from annuity to annuity 

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	Did You Know?
	A variable annuity has two phases: an accumulation phase and a payout phase. During the accumulation phase, you make purchase payments, which you can allocate to a number of investment options. For example, you could designate 40% of your purchase payments to a bond fund, 40% to a U.S. stock fund, and 20% to an international stock fund. The money you have allocated to each mutual fund investment option will increase or decrease over time, depending on the fund's performance.