Deferred Variable Annuities and Client Suitability

STOCKBROKER LAW - Posted on February 23, 2013

Deferred variable annuities are investment
products which have features with both insurance

and securities (mutual fund)
characteristics. They may be purchased in non-qualified (non-retirement) type accounts as well
as in tax-qualified, employer-sponsored retirement or benefit plans.

FINRA Conduct Rule 2330 requires that brokers selling these products adhere to FINRA’s new
Suitability Rule 2111 and Regulatory Notice 12-55 and that the customer be informed of applicable surrender
periods and surrender charges, tax penalties if the product is sold or redeemed prior to reaching
the age of 59 ½, mortality and expense fees, investment advisory fees, charges for features of
policy riders, market risk and the insurance and investment components of deferred variable
annuities.

Brokers are also required to make the
determination that the customer would benefit from certain features of deferred variable annuities,
such as tax-deferred growth, annuitization, or a death or living benefit.

We offer a free initial consultation to
purchasers of deferred variable annuities who feel they have been victimized by the sale of these
products to them.

The Law Offices of Timothy J. O’Connor is one of the
only law firms practicing securities law in the Tri-City Capital District of
Albany, Schenectady and
Troy
. We also represent victimized investors throughout the rest of New
York State, including Buffalo, Binghamton, Syracuse, Watertown, Utica, Kingston, New York
City/Manhattan, Long Island, and everywhere in between, as well as in the surrounding states of
Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and New Jersey.