Weighing an Investment That Promises No Risk
By: Ron Lieber, The New York Times (Oct 2008)
Ron Lieber's "Weighing an Investment That Promises No Risk" discusses the sales pitch used to sell high cost equity indexed annuities to older investors despite the poor performance of EIAs relative to liquid investments in stock and bond mutual funds. The article reports Craig McCann's research into and valuation of EIAs.
SLCG Announces Regions Morgan Keegan Bond Fund Study
By: Securities Litigation & Consulting Group (Oct 2008)
SLCG issued a press release today announcing the distribution of its study of six Regions Morgan Keegan bond funds (RMH, RHY, RMA, RSF, MKHIX and MKIBX) entitled "Regions Morgan Keegan: The Abuse of Structured Finance".
NASAA Submits SLCG's An Economic Analysis of Equity-Indexed Annuities to the SEC
By: The North American Securities Administrators Association (Sep 2008)
The North American Securities Administrators Association submitted an SLCG White Paper, "An Economic Analysis of Equity-Indexed Annuities," authored by Dr. Craig McCann to the Securities and Exchange Commission with a comment letter in support of the SEC's proposal to extend the full protections of the federal securities laws - full and accurate disclosure of all material facts and fair dealing in sales practices - to purchasers of contracts. Read the rule.
SIFMA Calls SEC's Proposed Market Data Order "Fatally Flawed"
By: Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (Jul 2008)
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) commissioned SLCG to prepare an "Economic Study of Securities Market Data Pricing by the Exchanges." The study provides strong support for the assertion that the two dominant exchanges are exercising monopoly pricing power by charging fees for depth-of-book data that are significantly higher than the relevant costs associated with distributing the data.
The Securities and Exchange Commission Issues Equity-Indexed Annuities Rule Proposal
By: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Jul 2008)
The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a new rule which would clarify the status of equity-indexed annuities and would extend the full protections of the federal securities laws - full and accurate disclosure of all material facts and fair dealing in sales practices - to purchasers of contracts whose payoffs were more likely than not to vary with the performance of a security or index of securities. The public is invited to submit a comment on this rule proposal by September 10, 2008. Submit a comment.
Dateline NBC Investigates Equity-Indexed Annuities
By: Chris Hanson, Dateline NBC (May 2008)
Dateline NBC conducted an investigation into the sales of equity-indexed annuities industry including hidden-camera footage of seminars targeting seniors, industry training programs in-house sales calls. The resulting documentary was broadcast on April 13, 2008 and is available in 7 clips at www.nbcnews.com.
Trust & Estates: Custom Bond Valuations
By: Michael Piwowar and Barry A. Nelson (May 2008)
Dr. Michael Piwowar and co-author Barry A. Nelson published their article "Custom Bond Valuations Can Save Clients Money" in the May 2008 issue of Trusts & Estates, the monthly journal for estate planning and wealth management professionals. They explain why individuals who use standard bond valuations based on institutional prices are paying unnecessarily high estate taxes. They show how custom bond valuations for estates containing retail-sized bond positions can generate significant estate tax savings.
Dr. McCann presents to Cornell University School of Law
By: Craig McCann (Mar 2008)
On March 7, 2008, Dr. McCann presented to the Securities Law Clinic at the Cornell University School of Law on a variety of investment products including variable annuities, equity-indexed annuities and debt- and equity-linked structured products.
