Commision On annuities

[pebble head]

Looking for the Top Annuity IMO/FMO/MGA? This is it

Eric Palmer
Brokers Alliance, Inc.
Toll: (800) 290-7226 x 103
[email protected]

Eric Palmer is a F*&^$% JOKE! The guy is like 27 years old and says he's been in the business for 9-10 years BUT doesn't know SQUAT! I have personally dealt with this guy and I know some agents who have used him. He drags his ass while his clients monies take a beating, doesn't know how to work clients from all workplaces and I would NEVER recommend using him for business. If someone else has had a different experience with him, then you got lucky. I know enough about this business to know not to mess with him!

 

[Brokers Alliance]

I work with Eric Palmer and he is very professional. Busy, yes, but professional and knowledgeable. If he was anything like you described, I would not work with him. But, that is not the case. We actually do a lot of business.

 

[padthaiforlunch]

... He drags his ass while his clients monies take a beating, doesn't know how to work clients from all workplaces ....

I never go through an fmo to submit an app for annuities. If I need a spia quote, paperwork, etc. I deal directly with the carrier.

Wherever I can, I contract directly with the carrier. There is no underwriting with an annuity, and I really don't need to listen to some punk kid try to school me on how annuities work and then call me up an quiz me about my marketing and what works, so he can share it with others.

Since fmo's are a required contracting conduit for most carriers, I am looking at the following in an fmo:

1. co-op ad dollars
2. Good, proven marketing

If anyone knows an fmo with a good co-op program, please let me know.

And if brokers alliance wants to answer this, tell me what you are going to do for me in exchange for your override.

 

[SmartMoney]

I work with Eric Palmer and he is very professional. Busy, yes, but professional and knowledgeable. If he was anything like you described, I would not work with him. But, that is not the case. We actually do a lot of business.

Im curious as to how Brokers Alliance were able to become the official sponsor of this forum over other FMO/IMO's? My guess is $$$

The "we do alot of business" thing hardly ever equates to doing a good job. Your matra should be focusing on the best way to service the clients or agents you work with so that you never hear feedback from agents like above...

my dirty rotten 2 cents...

 

[Brokers Alliance]

I respect everyone here. If anyone would like to call me during regular business hours, you are welcome to. Whatever is discussed will remain private and you will not be placed on any call list or email list.

Thank you.

1-800-290-7226 x-120

 

[SmartMoney]

We get an average of two requests per week from IMO's FMO's MGA's etc... to advertise on the forum. Many of these are even members of the forum and can tell you that they were turned down.

If you look at other insurance websites and insurance publications it is obvious that there are a lot of these people advertising. We could make a lot more money if we went the route of opening the forum up to some of these other advertisers.

We leave thousands of dollars per month on the table, because we do not expand our advertising base and there are current and active members who can attest to that.

The reason why I approached Brokers Alliance (Yes, I approached them, they did not approach me) to be the official and exclusive forum FMO sponsor is because they came highly recommended from some people whose opinions I value highly.

I stand by them as an excellent FMO and I know some people who were critical of the idea of having them sponsor the forum are now actually using them. This does not speak at all about some of the other FMO's that hang around here, most are very high quality and I am happy that they have the opportunity to develop some business from the forum by posting and contributing. Multiple advertisers in this niche is simply not the avenue we are currently pursuing.

It costs nothing but a few minutes to give them a call and see if they can add value to you and help you make more money, which is what a successful FMO does. Why not give them a call!

Thank you for your clear answer. I was curious as to WHY they were choosen mostly. Im not trying to spew venom as some posters choose to.

 

[Brokers Alliance]

He drags his ass while his clients monies take a beating

pebble head, I am trying to make sense out of your response here.

First of all, if an agent sends a client annuity app to Brokers Alliance (which has never been a requirement), Eric scrubs it and if no other information is required, he sends it over-night courier to the carrier. No one would, or does "sit on money."

Secondly, if the agent sends the client app directly to the carrier, the carrier scrubs it to see if any other information is required.

If no other information is required, and if the funds require a transfer or 1035, etc., it is the carrier's responsibility to immediately send a Ceding Letter (internal transfer form) to the Mutual Fund, 401(k), Bank or whatever/whoever is holding the funds, as a request for release.

Once the entity receives this Ceding Letter, they contact the insurance carrier (sometimes) and the client (always) with a Conservation Letter that is an attempt by the entity to keep his/her money in the account, instead of moving it out. The client then signs the form, fax it back to the entity, and the entity will then move the money.

This process takes time and during this time, the agent, the FMO (if there is one) and the carrier have no control of the market - that is if the vehicle being transferred is a Variable Annuity, EIA, Mutual Fund, Bond, Money Market or whatever. In other words, the value of the fund/annuity/CD/Money Market could fall or rise during this period; and, there is not a thing anyone can do about it. If I am not mistaken, I believe the entity where the money is being held (account), has up to 45 days to respond.

I am not saying that this is the exact scenario of your experience, but I am saying that it serves no purpose for any FMO to hold onto a client's application, unless the agent is being appointed simultaneously and there are some outstanding issues that have yet to be resolved.

Honestly, things can happen and mistakes can be made on any level. However, the charge of incompetence is not credible.

Nevertheless, pebble head, I do wish you success in your career.

**SmartMoney, I appreciated the PMs exchanged.

 

[Charpress]

An interesting and pretty complete picture of the annuity application submittal process.

Nobody in my experience ever sits on an app, except maybe me at times because I'm basically lazy. If I feel that an app may have problems, I'll send it through my FMO first. Otherwise 95% of the time it goes FedEx to the insurance company. I track what happens on the insurance co. Website and they usually get the transfer request out the next day also overnight. If the transfer needs a Medallion stamp, it may delay things by one day.

In these bad market times, I make sure people understand that if they really want to avoid further losses during this process (mainly conservation period), then they can always direct their broker to liquidate. This will stop further losses and will probably make serious conservation less likely. The client needs to understand that whether the market goes up or down during this period is a total crap shoot. I have quite a few people right now who call me almost hourly as the market is up or down to ask how the transfer is going. When it is going down, I hear "Hurry up before I lose more." When the market is going up, I hear "Maybe we should hold off and see if I recover some of my losses." You just can't win in this game.

Since I have a broker platform, I am seriously considering suggesting to people that we do a broker-to-broker transfer that takes only a couple of days and without any conservation efforts. That way I control things and I can offer to liquidate without commissions once I have the account over. However, I have some reservations about doing this for probably obvious reasons.

 

[Brokers Alliance]

In these bad market times, I make sure people understand that if they really want to avoid further losses during this process (mainly conservation period), then they can always direct their broker to liquidate. This will stop further losses and will probably make serious conservation less likely. The client needs to understand that whether the market goes up or down during this period is a total crap shoot.

Excellent post, Charpress. All agents should learn this. This does accelerate the process.

 

[pebble head]

Look, it doesn't matter to me if you have had success working with Eric Palmer. What concerns me is what Eric has done for "ME". "MY" experience was nothing short of AWFUL and the client lost a TON of money due to his laziness on this particular case. Maybe others at Brokeralliance are better and more concerned about clients money, BUT I will never know because transactions are now carried out by me and me alone. The reason I went to brokersalliance in the first place was because I didn't know a particular product as well as I wanted to because my contract with this new company was so very new. I trusted in Eric to get the job done and he promised me for MONTHS that he would handle the job and not to worry about it. In the meantime the stock-market went further and further down while he dragged his feet all the while still assuring me things were almost completed. Well, after TEN'S of THOUSANDS of hard earned dollars lost we were still at square one! I then got the job done myself with a carrier I know well and VIOLA it took me less than 10 days to get things processed. AGAIN, I would NEVER recommend Eric Palmer for anything except janitorial work here at my house. If he did this to me, I would be willing to bet he's done this to someone else. Not trying to offend anyone, I'm just simply sharing my experience with the guy.