Full Commission Disclosure

[TedBernstein]

I can't see how it is more professional for them to know your commission.

Again... no substantive (factual) reason has been given to disclose what our comp is to our clients. Show me how it will benefit anyone...

The marketplace is very smart. In the business market, the jumbo case market and in some parts of every other market, there are sophisticated consumers who want to understand the relationship between built-in commission and performance, returns and price. These consumers want to understand the value proposition. Do commissions affect price, early year surrender value, length of surrender charges? Disclosing commissions is more information, relevant information. Providing more information is always viewed as beneficial by the consumer. Once commissions have been disclosed, the opportunity to put them in perspective exists. If they are inconsequential to the acquisition of which product to purchase, that is also an opportunity to offer valuable information to the consumer.

 

[goillini52]

The marketplace is very smart. In the business market, the jumbo case market and in some parts of every other market, there are sophisticated consumers who want to understand the relationship between built-in commission and performance, returns and price. These consumers want to understand the value proposition. Do commissions affect price, early year surrender value, length of surrender charges? Disclosing commissions is more information, relevant information. Providing more information is always viewed as beneficial by the consumer. Once commissions have been disclosed, the opportunity to put them in perspective exists. If they are inconsequential to the acquisition of which product to purchase, that is also an opportunity to offer valuable information to the consumer.

You forgot to give yourself a thumbs up Ted.

 

[somarco]

Commissions are a non-issue except among those who fail to understand product pricing in a competitive market.

So called "consumer guru's" tout the benefit of buying from NFP entities because their pricing is lower.

Problem is, there is no statistical data to prove that assumption.

No load and low load equity products do not automatically outperform those with more traditional compensation structures. Same is true for life insurance and annuities.

The professional advisor will be compensated fairly for their time, one way or another, whether there is full disclosure or not.

"Health care reform", a true misnomer, focused on carrier retention charges which include, among other things, commissions. The idea was, by limiting the amount of overhead margin the cost of health insurance would come down.

Of course we know that did not happen.

But what did happen was, administrative RIF's, outsourcing, lower quality customer service and reduced agent compensation.

But premiums rose, in most cases dramatically, while everything else suffered.

This idea of govt creating a better consumer experience through regulation is just plain nuts.