West Virginia Annuity News

Attorney General Swanson Files Suit Against Allianz Life

Attorney General Swanson files suit against Allianz Life for Selling Unsuitable Deferred Annuities to Senior Citizens Suit Alleges Agents Misled Seniors Regarding Lengthy Terms of Annuities, Hefty Surrender Penalties, and “Bonus” Payments

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson filed a lawsuit today against Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America for selling deferred annuities to senior citizens that were unsuitable for seniors’ financial needs. The suit also alleges that the insurance company did not adequately disclose that seniors could have their limited savings tied up for as long as 15 years, could not cash in their annuities early without paying hefty surrender penalties, and that payments advertised as “immediate” bonuses were not payable for up to 15 years.

“Allianz and its agents aggressively marketed deferred annuities to seniors without regard to the suitability of the sale and without disclosing that seniors’ limited savings could be tied up for years,” Swanson said. “It is wrong for a company to mislead seniors into tying up their retirement savings in unsuitable investments in order to generate commissions,” she said.

Swanson noted that the sale of unsuitable, long-term annuities to senior citizens using aggressive and deceptive sales tactics has recently drawn significant national attention. (See, e.g., attached articles.) She said her office was reviewing other companies’ annuities sales practices for evidence of unsuitable sales and/or deceptive marketing. Read more at ag.state.mn.us

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	Did You Know?
	A variable annuity has two phases: an accumulation phase and a payout phase. During the accumulation phase, you make purchase payments, which you can allocate to a number of investment options. For example, you could designate 40% of your purchase payments to a bond fund, 40% to a U.S. stock fund, and 20% to an international stock fund. The money you have allocated to each mutual fund investment option will increase or decrease over time, depending on the fund's performance.