For Elderly Investors, Instant Experts Abound

For Elderly Investors, = Instant Experts=20 Abound

Elderly clients thought they had every reason to trust Michael = DelMonico as a=20 financial counselor. After all, the Massachusetts insurance agent had = become a=20 certified senior adviser in 2002, a credential he made sure to advertise = on=20 fliers sent to retirees.

He did not mention how easy it had been to get that title.

He had paid $1,095 for a correspondence course, then took a = multiple-choice=20 exam with questions like, =93Marketing can best be described as:=94 (The = answer:=20 =93The process or technique of promoting the sale or distribution of a = product or=20 service.=94) Like more than 18,700 other applicants since 1997, he = passed.

Insurance companies, eager for sales representatives, embraced Mr. = DelMonico,=20 as they have thousands of other newly credentialed advisers.

The following year, insurers paid him commissions worth=20 $720,000 as his business with retirees = soared.=20

But many of those sales came from steering older Americans into = unwise=20 investments, Massachusetts regulators contend in a lawsuit.

Mr. DelMonico denies all wrongdoing, but one of his clients =97 a = 73-year-old=20 widow caring for a son with Down syndrome =97 said he tricked her into = buying=20 complicated insurance contracts that left her unable to pay dental and=20 home-repair bills.

=93His office was filled with things saying he was certified to help = seniors,=94=20 said that client, Mary Ann St. Clair. =93The only one he really helped = was=20 himself.=94

Mr. DelMonico is one of tens of thousands of financial advisers = working=20 hand-in-hand with insurance companies to market themselves to older = Americans=20 using impressive-sounding credentials like =93certified elder planning=20 specialist,=94 =93registered financial gerontologist,=94 =93certified = retirement=20 financial adviser=94 and =93certified senior adviser.=94

Many of these titles can be earned in just a few days from for-profit = businesses, and sound similar to established credentials, like certified = financial planner, that require years of study, difficult tests and = extensive=20 background checks.

=93The degree isn=92t worth the paper it=92s written on,=94 said T. = Kevin McElreath,=20 a financial adviser in Milford, Mass., who took the certified senior = adviser=20 exam but does not use the credential. For many agents, he said, = =93it=92s a scam, a=20 way to put a title on a business card that impresses gullible = seniors.=94

Many graduates of these short programs say they only want to help = older=20 Americans. But they are frequently dispensing financial counsel they are = unqualified to offer, advocates for the elderly say. And thousands of = them are=20 paid by some of the country=92s largest insurance companies =97 = including Allian= z=20 Life, Old Mutual Financial Network and American Equity Investment Life = Insurance=20 =97 to sell elderly clients complicated investments that economists say = most=20 retirees should never own.

The prize for these insurers and sales agents is a piece of the $15 = trillion=20 held by Americans 65 and older, the largest pool of assets ever amassed = by an=20 aging population, according to the Governme= nt=20 Accountability Office.

As older Americans=92 wealth has grown, so too have programs that = offer quickly=20 earned credentials or that teach agents how to sell to the elderly. The = number=20 of certified senior advisers has increased by 78 percent in the last = five years.=20 More than two dozen such programs now exist, and have enrolled more than = 39,000=20 people over the last decade. As more baby boomers retire, the number of = programs=20 and enrollees is likely to grow significantly, analysts say.

But some of the existing programs, which are often linked to = insurance=20 companies, have taught agents to use abusive sales techniques, = regulators=20 say.

The insurers Allianz, Old Mutual and American Equity have been listed = as=20 sponsors at seminars with names like the Million Dollar Academy, where = thousands=20 of sales representatives were advised to scare retirees by saying, =93I = am all=20 that stands between you and potential catastrophic loss.=94 Other = seminars=20 instructed agents to =93drive a wedge=94 between retirees and their = established=20 advisers.

=93The insurers are happy to turn a blind eye to what salesmen are = doing, as=20 long as they make a sale,=94 said Minnesota=92s attorney general, Lori = Swanson, who=20 is suing several companies, including Allianz, contending their products = are=20 inappropriate.

Allianz, Old Mutual and American Equity, whose revenues last year = were a=20 combined $163 billion, said they investigate the backgrounds of all = agents,=20 screen all sales to consumers to make sure they are appropriate, and = have=20 terminated representatives using improper sales methods. Those companies = said=20 they were not aware of abusive methods taught at any seminar they = endorsed.

In a statement, Allianz said the company did not tolerate = misrepresentation.=20 =93Allianz is a leader in education opportunities and quality for = agents,=94 the=20 statement reads. Fewer than half of 1 percent of its customers have ever = complained, according to the company.

Old Mutual, in a statement, said any evidence of sales agent = misconduct,=20 without exception, results in immediate termination.

Nonetheless, complaints over sales of insurance products have soared. = In=20 particular, grievances have stemmed from annuities, which are insurance=20 contracts that offer buyers monthly or yearly income in exchange for one = large=20 lump-sum payment and are designed to appeal to anyone worried they might = outlive=20 their savings.

Over one-third of all cases of financial exploitation of the elderly = involve=20 annuities, according to the North American Securities Administrators=20 Association, a group of regulators. Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed = against=20 insurers over annuity sales to the elderly. A judge in Minnesota ruled = this year=20 that just one class-action suit, against Allianz, could encompass as = many as=20 400,000 plaintiffs.

In interviews, sales agents who have been accused of wrongdoing said = they=20 followed the guidance of insurance companies.

=93I did what I was told,=94 said Mr. DelMonico, before declining to = discuss the=20 lawsuit against him. =93If it was so wrong, why did everyone let me do = it for so=20 many years?=94

Products With Rich Commissions

Annuities are among the insurance industry=92s fastest growing = products, with=20 sales increasing 30 percent since 2001, to $182.8 billion last year, = according=20 to the Insurance Information Institute.

Regulators say annuities that begin paying immediately are often = sound=20 investments for retirees. A 73-year-old customer of one popular annuity, = for=20 instance, is guaranteed to begin immediately receiving $252 a month for = life, in=20 exchange for a $30,000 payment. If the buyer lives more than 10 years, = that=20 income is greater than the original amount paid.

But the vast majority of annuity sales do not offer immediate = payouts.=20 Instead, they require buyers to wait as long as 10 years to begin = receiving=20 benefits. Such contracts, known as deferred annuities, made up 97 = percent of all=20 annuity sales last year.

Financial experts say deferred annuities are a good option for = wealthy=20 elderly investors looking for ways to transfer savings to their heirs = while=20 avoiding large tax payments. But for retirees living off their savings, = most=20 deferred annuities are a bad choice, experts say, because elderly buyers = are=20 likely to die before the contract begins paying out.

Deferred annuities, however, offer sales agents the richest = commissions,=20 which is one reason so many of them are sold every year, regulators say. = Selling=20 a $100,000 deferred annuity, for example, typically earns a sales = representative=20 $9,000, though buyers are prohibited from touching much of their money = for 10=20 years. Annuities with shorter tie-ups carry much smaller commissions. =

=93An annuity that pays a fixed immediate income offers seniors a lot = of=20 security,=94 said Jean Setzfand, director of financial security with AARP,=20 formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons. =93But a = deferred=20 annuity is almost always a bad idea for a retiree.=94

Those concerns, however, have not stopped many insurance agents from=20 aggressively selling deferred annuities.

Some of those agents have been trained by organizations that require = only a=20 few days of classroom instruction.

For instance, the 1,200 people who have enrolled in the certified = retirement=20 financial adviser program spent only four days in a classroom, according = to a=20 spokesman. The president of that program, Larry Klein, was fined = $150,000 in the=20 mid-1990s by securities regulators after persuading an 83-year-old blind = woman=20 to speculate on New Zealand=92s currency.

Mr. Klein, in an e-mail message, said the charges against him were = untrue and=20 that it was =93idiotic=94 to assess a course based on its duration.

Short Seminars Used for Training

The Society of Certified Senior Advisers, which gave Mr. DelMonico = his=20 credentials, is a for-profit company that has trained 24,000 enrollees = since it=20 was started in 1997. Its founder, Edwin J. Pittock, is a former mutual = fund=20 executive who was twice suspended by the Securities and Exchange = Commission. Mr.=20 Pittock declined to return phone calls, though a representative said all = regulatory actions were settled without admission of wrongdoing.

The society=92s course lasts three and a half days, according to = recent=20 participants, and includes uplifting lectures, overviews on the = sociology of=20 aging and exercises including peering through vision-blurring lenses to = get a=20 sense of how some clients=92 eyesight can falter.

=93It really opened my empathy for what seniors go through,=94 said = Rick=20 Hoogendoorn, a real estate agent and former financial adviser in = Victoria,=20 British Columbia.

Regulators, however, are more critical of such programs.

=93There are limitless combinations of words getting invented to = convey an=20 expertise in senior finances,=94 said the Massachusetts securities = regulator,=20 William F. Galvin. =93Most of them seem designed to trick seniors into = listening=20 to swindlers.=94

A representative for the Society of Certified Senior Advisers said = the=20 program=92s courses and questions were written and evaluated by experts. = In a=20 statement, the company said its training was intended to supplement, not = substitute for, professional credentials and education. The organization = began=20 asking titleholders in March to disclose to potential clients that = =93the C.S.A.=20 designation alone does not imply expertise in financial, health or = social=20 matters.=94

Despite that disclaimer, the company has trained thousands of = insurance=20 agents and other financial advisers. And about 100 companies, many of = them=20 insurers, endorse the certified senior adviser designation, said Dan = Danbom, a=20 spokesman for the group.

=93Insurers and financial service companies are big supporters of the = C.S.A.,=94=20 he added.

Until last month =97 after the group was contacted by a reporter =97 = the Society=20 of Certified Senior Advisers did not verify employment histories, or = whether=20 applicants had criminal records or even high school degrees, a = representative=20 said. So when Mr. DelMonico applied in 2002, the group did not know he = had been=20 fired by one employer for selling an unauthorized annuity and left = another after=20 he was accused of forging a client=92s signature, an allegation he has = denied.=20

Soon after he received his designation as a certified senior adviser, = Mr.=20 DelMonico started displaying it in ads and on letters inviting retirees = to=20 seminars over free chicken lunches, according to Massachusetts = regulators.

At those meetings, Mr. DelMonico told retirees that they were = perilously=20 close to financial calamity, according to Masschusetts regulators and = attendees.=20 He warned them that the stock market=92s ability to offset inflation was = =93a big=20 lie,=94 according to documents collected by those regulators. Banks = contained=20 =93weapons of mass destruction,=94 read one handout.

But annuities, Mr. DelMonico noted, offered guaranteed returns, = attendees=20 said. At the time, he was authorized to sell annuities offered by Old = Mutual,=20 Allianz, the American=20 International Group, John Hancock Insurance, Jackson National = Insurance,=20 Pacific Life Insurance and more than two dozen other companies, state = records=20 show.

Mr. DelMonico=92s script, Massachusetts regulators say, used = materials from=20 another training company, Piece of Pie Strategic Coaching, a Minnesota = company=20 that had listed Allianz, Old Mutual and more than a dozen other insurers = as=20 =93partners=94 or =93carriers=94 on the company=92s Web site.

That Web site was changed to remove mention of insurers after the = company was=20 contacted by a reporter. A Piece of Pie executive said the company=92s=20 relationships with insurers were through an intermediary.

There are hundreds of companies like Piece of Pie that teach sales = agents how=20 to find retirees willing to buy annuities. Many of them are paid by = insurance=20 companies that count on such organizations to recruit and train = independent=20 sales agents. Allianz, for instance, relies exclusively on 155,000 = independent=20 agents working through 300 outside organizations, all of them receiving = a=20 payment when an annuity sale occurs.

Allianz said it did not endorse Piece of Pie, although the insurer = continues=20 to work with a company affiliated with the program.

Piece of Pie was founded by Michael Kaselnak, who was fined by = regulators in=20 2001 for selling improper financial products.

Mr. Kaselnak said that Mr. DelMonico quit Piece of Pie about three = months=20 ago, after he was sued by Massachusetts regulators, and that the Piece = of Pie=20 program focused on ethical business practices.

Old Mutual, Allianz and American Equity say they endorse only = training=20 programs that are committed to ethical sales tactics and that their = support is=20 often limited to providing speakers or marketing materials. But they = acknowledge=20 that they cannot always police how agents present themselves.

Regulators assert that insurance companies use independent sales = agents=20 because they hope to escape responsibility for the unscrupulous tactics = they=20 know are used.

=93If insurers would cut off these companies, this behavior would end = tomorrow.=20 Instead, they just close their eyes or say it=92s not their fault when a = supposedly rogue sales agent misbehaves,=94 said Jim Nelson, an = assistant=20 secretary of state in Mississippi. =93It=92s scandalous that the = insurance companies=20 are working with these marketing organizations.=94

Many elderly buyers of annuities agree, and say they have been = treated as=20 callously by their insurance companies as they were by deceptive sales = agents.=20

Before Mrs. St. Clair accepted an invitation to one of Mr. = DelMonico=92s=20 seminars in 2002, she had never balanced her checkbook. Her husband died = of=20 colon cancer six months earlier. Though she had raised five children, = including=20 a son with Down syndrome, she knew almost nothing about her family=92s=20 finances.

Mrs. St. Clair soon asked Mr. DelMonico to handle her $75,000 = savings.

=93All these insurance companies had trusted him, so I knew that I = could trust=20 him, too,=94 she said. =93And when he became a certified senior adviser, = I felt=20 good, because he had gone to school for a long time.=94

Mr. DelMonico transferred much of Mrs. St. Clair=92s savings into = deferred=20 annuities sold by Old Mutual. Those contracts, which were impossible to = cancel=20 without paying large penalties, prevented Mrs. St. Clair from receiving = the=20 annuity=92s payouts for five years, unless she paid significant fees. =

In October, Mrs. St. Clair=92s dentist told her she needed a $3,200 = bridge=20 replacement. The same week, repairmen said she needed a new furnace and = gutter=20 work that would cost a combined $6,500.

She contacted Old Mutual and explained she had never intended to buy = the=20 annuities.

=93I am 72 years old and need access to my money now,=94 she wrote, = according to=20 a copy of her letter given to The New=20 York Times. She wrote that the contracts were never fully explained = to her,=20 a claim Mr. DelMonico denies.

Old Mutual initially denied her request. An executive told her they = had=20 contacted Mr. DelMonico and were siding with his account that the = annuities were=20 sold properly.

Such rebuffs to complaints are common, regulators and plaintiff=92s = lawyers=20 say.

Dozens of lawsuits against insurers contend that those companies = failed to=20 adequately supervise sales agents who sold inappropriate annuities to = aging=20 clients and then did not act when buyers complained.

Allianz, Old Mutual and other insurers, in court filings and = interviews, say=20 they spend millions of dollars supervising sales agents and = investigating=20 consumer complaints.

=93We=92ve gone above and beyond what regulators require to make sure = these=20 things are sold appropriately,=94 said Tom Burns, chief distribution = officer for=20 Allianz Life.

When Old Mutual learned that Massachusetts regulators had sued Mr. = DelMonico=20 in March, the company cut its ties to him and refunded Mrs. St. = Clair=92s money.=20 Old Mutual was not named as defendant in that suit.

Mrs. St. Clair said her complaints alone should have spurred the = company to=20 action.

=93How many other seniors have been tricked into these things but are = ignored=20 when they complain?=94 she asked.

In a statement, Old Mutual said the company had no documentation of=20 misconduct by Mr. DelMonico until regulators filed their suit, which = contained=20 evidence that he had lied.

Tougher Rules Introduced

In contrast to companies like Old Mutual, some insurance companies, = and some=20 state regulators, have changed the rules governing how annuity sales = agents can=20 behave.

This year, Massachusetts prohibited most financial advisers from = using titles=20 like certified senior adviser unless they were recognized by an = accreditation=20 organization or the state. Last year, MetLi= fe=20 and Genworth Financial, two of the largest insurers, told sales agents = they=20 could not use the designation of certified senior adviser.

But in most other states and at most insurance companies, sales=20 representatives can use any title they choose.

For his part, Mr. DelMonico, while he awaits the outcome of his case, = is=20 still approved to sell annuities by American Equity and more than two = dozen=20 other insurers, according to state records.

=93I just got my insurance license renewed in Rhode Island,=94 Mr. = DelMonico said=20 in an interview. =93Business is still pretty=20 good.=94

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