macca
Anti-Ameriprise
   
Offline
Friends don't let friends use Ameriprise!
Posts: 4685
Summer-Rockies, Winter-beach
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"Give me one sales force in the country that doesn't have goals and incentives to produce numbers, INcluding Vanguard."
AMP, I have told you time and again, it's not THAT you sell, it's WHAT and HOW you sell.
For example, YOU are pretending to be a 'financial advisor' while pushing an inappropriate product on people without a clue how it works or what the costs are. That's WRONG!!
Another example of wrongdoing...about YOUR firm):
" NASD RULES 2110, 2310(A), 2310(B), 3010(A), 3010(A)(2), 3010(B)(1), 3110(A), IM-3110(B) - WITHOUT ADMITTING OR DENYING THE ALLEGATIONS, THE RESPONDENT MEMBER CONSENTED TO THE ENTRY OF FINDINGS THAT, THROUGH REGISTERED REPS, OMITTED MATERIAL FACTS WHEN SELLING VARIABLE ANNUITIES INTO QUALIFIED PLANS - FAILED TO ORALLY DISCLOSE THAT VARIABLE ANNUITIES DO NOT PROVIDE THE BENEFIT OR ADVANTAGE OF TAX DEFERRED EARNINGS WHEN PURCHASED IN QUALIFIED PLANS, FAILED TO ORALLY DISCLOSE THAT TAX DEFERRAL IS NOT JUSTIFICATION FOR PURCHASING VARIABLE ANNUITIES IN A QUALIFIED PLAN; FAILED TO EXPLAIN COSTS AND FEATURES OF VARIABLE ANNUITIES, FAILED TO DIFFERENTIATE ADEQUATELY VARIABLE ANNUITIES FROM MUTUAL FUNDS; FAILED TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES ADEQUATELY WHEN TRAINING REPS AND OMITTED MATERIAL FACTS REGARDING QUALIFIED ANNUITIES IN DISCLOSURE DOCUMENTS AND SALES LITERATURE; THROUGH REGISTERED REPS, RECOMMENDED IN CERTAIN INSTANCES THE SALE OF VARIABLE ANNUITIES INTO QUALIFIED PLANS WITHOUT HAVING A REASONABLE BASIS FOR BELIEVING THE RECOMMENDATIONS WERE SUITABLE AND FAILED TO DETERMINE THAT CUSTOMERS HAD A NEED FOR A BENEFIT OFFERED BY A VARIABLE ANNUITY, OTHER THAN TAX DEFERRAL, WHEN RECOMMENDING THE PURCHASE OF THE PRODUCT; FAILED TO TAKE CORRECTIVE ACTION IN A TIMELY MANNER WHEN IT BEGAN TO ADDRESS APPROPRIATENESS OF SELLING VARIABLE ANNUITIES INTO QUALIFIED PLANS; FAILED TO ADDRESS ADEQUATELY REVIEW OF VARIABLE ANNUITY AND VARIABLE LIFE INSURANCE TRANSACTIONS, FAILED TO PROVIDE REPRESENTATIVES WITH ADEQUATE SUITABILITY GUIDELINES, FAILED TO OBTAIN INFORMATION CRITICAL IN MAKING A DETERMINATION OF SUITABILITY AND CONDUCTING RELATED SUPERVISORY REVIEWS, INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR ITS BOOKS AND RECORDS, INFORMATION REQUIRED TO BE OBTAINED BY THE FIRM'S PROCEDURES; FAILED TO HAVE ADEQUATE PROCEDURES FOR VARIABLE PRODUCT EXCHANGES; FAILED TO ESTABLISH ADEQUATE PROCEDURES FOR REVIEW OF CUSTOMER ACCOUNT ACTIVITY ON A PERIODIC BASIS OR FOR THE HANDLING OF CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS.
Do you see how THIS kind of selling is BAD?
Another example:
"New Hampshire regulators accused American Express Co.'s financial-advisory unit of defrauding customers by giving its sales force secret incentives to sell poorly performing in-house mutual funds, rather than investments from competitors. AEFA awarded bigger bonuses for selling the proprietary funds, investigators said. E-mails collected by the state show supervisors praising advisers who sold American Express funds and chiding those who didn't. In one sales contest, AEFA offered advisers free one-year leases on Mercedes-Benzes as prizes for promoting a new in-house fund. The New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation said in an administrative complaint that the American Express unit violated state and federal securities laws requiring advisers to act in clients' best interests and to disclose conflicts of interest that could taint their recommendations. The agency, which investigated practices from 1999 to 2003, asked a hearing officer to impose penalties of up to $17.5 million, including restitution.... The complaint, which provides an unusually detailed look at incentives offered to sell in-house funds, comes at an inopportune time for the company. Earlier this month, American Express said it planned to spin off Minneapolis-based AEFA, which analysts value at about $10 billion. NH regulators are attacking the integrity of the unit's signature product: financial plans that the company promotes as tailored to customers' needs but that regulators say were used primarily to push American Express mutual funds. "AEFA had a pervasive sales culture that was established and managed with one thing in mind -- to push American Express products and other products that in many cases benefited American Express at the expense of its clients."
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