Dear IMSA Friends:

I trust you are all having a great 2009.  There’s lots going on, so let’s get to it.  We try to keep this update short and focused on IMSA issues.  We know you are busy and don’t want to make you wade through lots of stuff, so we’re trying out a short Executive Summary to help you see what’s of interest and what’s not.  Please read on.

Executive Summary:

·    IMSA Board Member Makes Headlines:  Vaughan Named CEO of NAIC
·    Kalis to Serve on the 2009 IMSA Standards Development Committee

·    Highlights from IMSA Today  January 23, 2009
·    Best Practice of the Month and some examples from top companies.

·    Flash Survey: Onboarding Of Independent Agents From Large IMOs

·    What’s Happening at the Kenneth J Kalis Company? Stats on web-site.

·    Did You Know?  Services offered and some recognition from Best’s

·    Non-IMSA close:  A generic story with a specific, timely reference.

Quote of the Month:

"John Hancock is proud to attain national ethics recognition from IMSA," said Jim Gallagher, global compliance chief for John Hancock. "Our vision is to be the most professional life insurance company in the world, providing the very best financial protection and investment management services tailored to customers in every market where we do business. We commend IMSA for their hard work in promoting industry standards."  

Dr. Terri Vaughan Named CEO of NAIC

 IMSA Board of Directors Member

On January 15, 2009,  Dr. Terri Vaughan was named CEO of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).  As a result, IMSA will lose a key member of its Board of Directors, Drake University will lose its Robb B. Kelley distinguished professor of insurance and actuarial science and the Principal Financial Group will lose a director.

Vaughn will surely be missed at IMSA.  "IMSA congratulates Terri Vaughan on her appointment, as both her experience and knowledge will prove invaluable in the face of marketplace challenges and anticipated regulatory changes," said IMSA President & CEO Brian Atchinson. "Her five years of service on the IMSA Board as well as her leadership on IMSA committees and initiatives has strengthened the organization and advanced the interests of consumers, companies and their distributors."

I will surely miss her “get it done” leadership she showed in leading last year’s effort to streamline and update IMSA’s decade old membership process.  The challenge was a huge one, to make the process less redundant for long-term member companies, to design a streamlined and accelerated requalification process for former members and to recognize companies efforts in other areas without undermining the overall rigor of the IMSA assessment process.

This would be a daunting task under any circumstances, but Dr. Vaughan was given a committee of executives from very large companies, others from companies no longer IMSA members and some Qualified Independent Assessors to work with.  Also an important presence in the committee was the IMSA staff and CEO whose role was to report to IMSA’s Board of Directors and assure an outcome meeting their guidelines.  As you can imagine, the interests, goals and charges of these individuals were not always congruent, the group was large and the time-frame short.  Our committee meetings were in New York and Washington and meeting time was very limited, yet through all of this Vaughan kept our agendas on course, listened carefully to different view points, added value through her own insights and experience and led the group to the desired results.   (See the article below for highlights of the changes now reflected in a 2009 edition of the IMSA Assessment Handbook available to member companies at the IMSA website at www.imsaethics.org)

Dr. Theresa M. Vaughan’s credentials and experience are not only impressive but deep.   She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. in managerial science and applied economics from The Wharton School, has taught at Temple University and Baruch College, City College of New York and then at Drake.  She also was a consultant in risk management at Tillinghast.  Vaughan is a CPCU, an associate of the Society of Actuaries, an associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. She is co-author of two college textbooks: "Essential of Insurance: A Risk Management Perspective" and "Fundamentals of Risk and Insurance."

Among her many accomplishments she has supervised professional development programs for the insurance industry, regulators and consumers and supervised the provision of agents' licensing exams to various states.

Before returning to Drake, Dr. Vaughan, was Iowa’s longest serving insurance commissioner and the youngest person inducted into the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame.  She served as president of the NAIC in 2002, and has been particularly active in the NAIC's regulatory modernization efforts, international affairs and coordination with banking and securities regulators, both in the United States and internationally. She also led development of NAIC's market response to 9/11, including work with Congress and the U.S. Treasury on the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002.

I first met her in Iowa where she was addressing an industry group as Commissioner.  At the time, I was serving on an IMSA committee that was looking at documentation for IMSA assessments.  My question to her was,  “Would any type of documentation give IMSA companies relief from state market conduct exams?”  She used an analogy of a state financial exam to make her point.  When states do a financial exam, they can’t give companies a “pass,” but the extent and rigor of the exam will depend on how good a job the company has done in its financial reporting.  If the books are in good order and well organized and complete, the state will spend a lot less time and resources than if the records are shoddy, minimal or chaotic.  Her suggestion was that that logic would also apply to market conduct exams.

I took that bit of advice and made sure that our assessment process includes the precise and thorough documentation that will demonstrate to any regulator the complete extent and findings of our assessment work, and I am grateful to Dr. Vaughan for her thoughts on this.  My hope is that her experience, expertise and management skill will help the NAIC meet its objectives in a very complex regulatory environment and that her deep knowledge of IMSA and its value will have a significant impact in encouraging ethical market conduct as well as IMSA membership.

Dr. Vaughan will begin her new duties on February 18, 2009 and will be based in Washington, D.C.  We wish her well in her important executive role and look forward to positive influence at a time when it is very much needed.  "Terri Vaughan brings a depth of knowledge and experience that can't be matched," said Iowa Insurance Commissioner Susan Voss. "She is well-respected by those in the insurance industry  and within the regulatory community. We are very fortunate to have her on board at this critical time for state-based regulation."  Amen!

Kalis to Serve on the 2009 IMSA Standards Development Committee

IMSA has invited Ken Kalis to serve of the 2009The Standards Development Committee.  The group of member company representatives and Qualified Independent Assessors will consider recommendations offered by the Compliance Committee and Standards Advisory Committee for possible development of new and/or updated standards to be incorporated into the IMSA qualification process.  The Committee will hold at least three meetings during 2009 to develop recommended modifications to existing IMSA standards as well as the possible introduction of new standards applicable to the IMSA qualification process.

Wednesday, March 4

Wednesday, April 22

Wednesday, May 20

Thursday, September 8

   We look forward to working with the group and to great things for IMSA in 2009. 

Highlights from

IMSA Today                                                          January 23, 2009

Market Conduct & Compliance Survey Results Now Online

Don Walters of IMSA recently presented at the Understanding the Securities Products of Insurance Companies seminar offered by the Practicing Law Institute (PLI), where he conducted an interactive survey about current compliance issues. 40% percent of respondents cited supervision and monitoring of independent producers as the biggest compliance problem facing the life insurance industry today. Full survey results are available online at www.IMSAethics.org in the Members section.

During the presentation, Don was joined by Jim Mumford, First Deputy Commissioner of the Iowa Insurance Division, who underscored the important work that IMSA has done to improve marketplace practices and to assist regulators in working collaboratively with the industry to develop regulations that acknowledge leading practices already in place.

In related news, the group of regulators that participated in IMSA’s Annuity Suitability Supervision and Monitoring project (OH, IL, PA, IA, NH, MO, and OR) along with other regulators (including CT, FL and NJ) met last week to identify a list of acceptable practices for supervision and monitoring of annuity suitability. Once the regulators’ suggested list of acceptable practices is provided to IMSA, the Annuity Suitability Supervision and Monitoring Working Group will review the list submitted by the states and work with them on next steps.

Annuity Suitability – AARP & IMSA to Host March Summit

IMSA and AARP have agreed to co-host an annuity suitability summit meeting in Washington, DC during the first week of March to bring together representatives of IMSA-qualified companies, regulators, consumers, and distributors to discuss, among other issues, acceptable supervision and monitoring practices to demonstrate compliance with the supervision requirements of the NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation. IMSA will provide more detailed information concerning this important industry event within the coming days.

Indexed Annuities - 151A Litigation in Process

Last Friday, The Coalition for Indexed Products, a group representing indexed annuity companies and distributors, filed suit in federal court opposing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 151A (scheduled to take effect in January, 2011). According to National Underwriter, The Coalition alleges in the suit that the SEC exceeded its authority under the Securities Act of 1933 by attempting to regulate EIAs as securities, and that the agency has violated the federal Administrative Procedures Act. IMSA takes no position on this issue but will continue to update you on this important industry development.

Assessment Handbook Templates En Route

The 2009 edition of the IMSA Assessment Handbook, as well as a series of new Helpful Tools developed to support the Qualification, Requalification, and Reinstatement processes, is available in the Member and Assessor password-protected sections of www.IMSAethics.org. For your ease of reference, hard copies have been mailed to all IMSA-qualified companies and assessors. Please contact John Dohmen at JohnDohmen@IMSAethics.org or (240) 744-3023 with any questions you may have.

Upcoming Meetings

Some upcoming industry events in which you may be interested include:

February 18               “Boomeretirement” PREP Partnership Road Show in Washington, D.C.

February 19               Communications & Outreach Committee Conference Call

February 22-24          2009 NAVA Marketing Conference in New York, NY

February 25               IMSA Board of Directors Meeting

February 26-27          Complying with the Evolving Framework of Insurance Regulation Conference in New York, NY

February 27-

March 1                      National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C.

March 5                      “Boomeretirement” PREP Partnership Road Show in New York, NY

To submit comments or to cancel your email subscription at any time, please contact Jennifer Kalita at JenniferKalita@IMSAethics.org.

Best Practice of the Month – January 2009

Back in June of 2008, we shared some best practices IMSA companies have used to show their commitment to the IMSA Principles and Code.  This month, we’re looking at some ways to make that commitment clear to the public.  One of the ways I first noticed the first practice I’m going to mention was that every time I would do a google search on IMSA, (our insurance IMSA, that is) the names of a few companies would turn up.  These companies make a practice of mentioning their IMSA membership in every press release they make.

Another best practice in this regard is highlighting IMSA membership on the company website.  Some companies have just displayed the IMSA logo, while others have spelled out the IMSA Principles, and others still have made direct links to their commitment to business integrity.  In these days of uncertainty and public distrust, your IMSA membership can be a powerful tool to build trust, customer loyalty and your company’s reputation for integrity.

Finally, very few companies take full advantage of the news exposure they get when renewing their membership.  Often the press releases contain only congratulations from IMSA’s CEO and President.  Your CEO and President are missing a chance here to let the public know they care about ethical market conduct.

Founded in 1868, Pacific Life provides life and health insurance products, individual annuities, mutual funds, group employee benefits, and offers to individuals, businesses, and pension plans a variety of investment products and services. A FORTUNE 500^® company, Pacific Life counts 25 of the 50 largest U.S. companies as clients¹ and is a member of IMSA (Insurance Marketplace Standards Association), whose membership promotes ethical market conduct for individual life insurance and annuities. For additional information about Pacific Life, including its current financial strength ratings from A.M. Best, Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor's, and Moody's, visit the company Web site at www.PacificLife.com

Pacific Life is an Equal Opportunity Employer

John Hancock Life & Health Insurance Company Achieves National Ethics Recognition

Four Existing IMSA-Qualified Companies Qualify for IMSA Renewal

updated 5:27 p.m. ET, Wed., Jan. 28, 2009

BETHESDA, MD - John Hancock Life & Health Insurance Company has attained qualification in the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association (IMSA), the leading independent standards-setting and compliance solutions organization for the life insurance, annuity and long-term care insurance marketplace.

In addition, IMSA congratulates the following John Hancock companies for completing the rigorous, independent review of their marketing, sales and compliance practices required every three years to qualify for renewed IMSA membership:

--  John Hancock Life Insurance Company

--  John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A)

--  John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York

--  John Hancock Variable Life Insurance Company

"John Hancock is proud to attain national ethics recognition from IMSA," said Jim Gallagher, global compliance chief for John Hancock. "Our vision is to be the most professional life insurance company in the world, providing the very best financial protection and investment management services tailored to customers in every market where we do business. We commend IMSA for their hard work in promoting industry standards."

"IMSA qualification is a tangible demonstration of a company's ongoing commitment to high standards of ethical business practices and fair and honest service to customers," Atchinson said. "We applaud these companies for their dedication to exemplary business practices."

IMSA is the premier standards-setting and compliance solutions organization for the life insurance, annuity and long-term care insurance marketplace for individually sold products. Qualified companies commit to maintaining high ethical standards and to being fair, honest, and open in the way they advertise, sell and service their products. For more information and a list of IMSA-qualified companies, visit www.IMSAethics.org.

About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial Corporation

John Hancock Financial is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation (the Company), a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and in most of Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$385 billion (US$364 billion) as at September 30, 2008.

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '0945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.

The John Hancock unit, through its insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States. John Hancock offers a broad range of financial products and services, including life insurance, fixed and variable annuities, fixed products, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, long-term care insurance, college savings, and other forms of business insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at www.johnhancock.com.

For information, contact:
Jennifer Kalita
240-744-3021
© MarketWire 2009