i'm a training associate (got life only license) with world

by erickufz » Sat Jun 26, 2010 08:16 pm

Can i sell life insurance to other broker/dealer while with World Financial Group?

Total Comments: 3

Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 03:08 pm Post Subject:

If you are only life insurance licensed, the discussion of "broker/dealer" has no application to you. "Broker/dealer" is related to the sale of variable insurance products, which requires FINRA registrations (Series 6 or 7, and Series 6 or 66 in most states).

Your agent agreement with WFG does not permit you to sell products outside the ones with whom WFG has marketing agreements. To do so is called "selling away" and would violate your agent contract, resulting in your termination from WFG.

What did you want to market that WFG does not have available? Even though WFG pushes primarily EIUL, UL, and VUL policies, there are term and whole life products available from their carriers. Your uplines just won't be happy that you are not pushing the "preferred" products.

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 05:07 pm Post Subject:

For clarities sake...

There is no need to have a series 7 to sell any variable insurance product be it a variable annuity or variable life contract.

I think Max meant and 63 or 66 not "6 or 66". These licenses allow someone to sell outside of their own state, but many states have adopted passing this test as the way to satisfy your certifying your knowledge of the Blue Sky Laws.

Your agent agreement with WFG does not permit you to sell products outside the ones with whom WFG has marketing agreements. To do so is called "selling away" and would violate your agent contract, resulting in your termination from WFG.



That's not excactly the definition of Selling Away. Selling Away is the process of placing business with a different B/D from the one with which you happen to be registered. It can also be stretched to cover referring business to someone who is resigistered at a different B/D than your own (personal feeling is this last example is more a power grab on the B/D's behalf).

Additionally placing business outside of WFG that is not considered a security (variable products for which you would need to be FINRA licensed) such as Whole, Universal, or Term Life, or Long Term Care and Disability insurance or Fixed Annuities (Indexed Annuitied are currently being debated) is not an example of Selling Away, nor is it a violation of securities law, or against the law at all. It might violate the agent's contract that you have with WFG, which could result in termination from them.

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 09:49 pm Post Subject:

Thanks for catching the S63 typo, BNTRS.

There is no need to have a series 7 to sell any variable insurance product be it a variable annuity or variable life contract.



True enough, a Series 6 will work all by itself, but in some WFG offices here in CA, the associates are encouraged to get the Series 7 license so they can become RIAs. Why? I don't know. They don't promote mutual funds with their Series 6s, what are they going to do as "money managers" for their clients otherwise?

Selling Away is the process of placing business with a different B/D from the one with which you happen to be registered.



While this is one example of "selling away," FINRA also defines selling away to include private securities transactions without the knowledge or consent of one's B/D. And firms that I have represented in the past included the concept of even giving portfolio allocation advice to a client whose account (such as a 401(k) or IRA) was at another B/D in its definition of "selling away." So I may have overstepped the "legal" bounds in describing the sale of standard life products as "selling away", but I don't think I violated the "spirit" of the concept.

Additionally, some insurance companies or organizations do use the term "selling away" in the context of selling any insurance products from another company not authorized by one's agent contract. When the company learns of the new appointment by another company, they either politely ask one to sever the new tie, or they unceremoniously terminate one's contract.

I don't know enough about the inner workings of WFG to say they use the term as such, but I do know that they do not allow their reps to market any non-WFG-approved products.

That hasn't stopped some WFG (or their WMA predecessor) reps from selling clients unregistered promissory notes, which caused WMA to end up in regulatory hell several years ago across many states' lines, leading to the shopping/acquisition of the organization to Aegon.

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