NAFA Meeting Convenes at Critical Time for Fixed Annuity Industry; Business Leaders and Regulators Slated to Address Tough Issues

Now reporting from Scottsdale…

I’m in Arizona this week to attend the National Association of Fixed Annuities annual Annuity Summit. NAFA Executive Director, Kim O’Brien, and her team have put together a program of very high quality. This meeting is occurring at a pivotal moment for the fixed annuity industry.

Speaking of interesting (and timely), Aviva’s President of Annuity Sales and Distribution, Mark Heitz, will deliver his vision for tomorrow’s fixed annuity marketing and product strategies. Mark will present the keynote address on Wednesday.

On Thursday morning it’s ING’s , Harry Stout, President of the company’s annuity business, who is slated to deliver a morning keynote address. Harry will be speaking about synergies between IMOs and B-Ds in terms of the marketing of indexed annuities.

Both Harry and Mark are strong leaders in the fixed annuity business; their views matter.

My old buddy, Richard Kado, of Canada’s Genesis Financial Products, will talk about the latest in fixed annuity product development. This is something about which Richard is truly an expert. He contributed to the invention of something called the equity-indexed annuity.

One of my interview subjects, Beacon Research’s Jeremy Alexander (see Industry Leaders & Innovators), will deliver the latest fixed annuity industry data. It’s going to be fascinating to see what the numbers reveal about the current marketing environment.

And Lincoln Financial Group’s, David Kittredge, will keynote on the topic of “The Income Revolution.” Regular readers of this blog will know that this is a subject near and dear to my heart. I’m anxious to learn about Lincoln’s take on the issue.

Although the event here in Scottsdale is dedicated to a focus on fixed annuities, NAVA’s General Counsel, Mike DeGeorge, will deliver, “A View of the Industry from the Variable Side.” Discovering NAVA’s perceptions of the fixed annuity world is something to really look forward to. After all, the two product philosophies have borrowed a bit from each other.

Two additional sessions hold special interest, in my judgment. The ACLI’s, Carl Wilkerson, will talk about ongoing task force initiatives. I need to learn exactly what’s in development here. And Iowa Deputy Insurance Commissioner, Jim Mumford, will explain where the regulators are headed. It will be good to know the direction.

All in all, and excellent program is about to be unveiled here in the land of Saguaro Cacti. It’s more than likely that some interesting insights will be revealed over the next two days.

©Copyright 2007 David A. Macchia. All rights reserved.