NAVA and IBM join to standardize VA sales

The model aims to create an industry standard to streamline the process of selling VA contracts and simplify compliance.
JUN 30, 2008
NAVA Inc., the Association for Insured Retirement Solutions, is teaming up with IBM Corp. of Armonk, N.Y. to make the first model available for NAVA’s straight-through-processing-standards initiative for variable annuities. The STP model aims to create an industry standard to streamline the process of selling VA contracts and simplify regulatory compliance. The standards include automated processes to ensure annuity sales suitability, uniform processes for e-signatures, electronic forms, privacy policies and records management. STP-compliant annuity sales processes will give the industry "seamless interoperability" between distributors and insurance carriers, improving "in good order" business, providing customers with greater transparency and improving the overall consumer experience, the Reston, Va.-based insurance industry association said in a statement. Currently, STP implementations are under way at several providers, including Fidelity Investments of Boston, LPL Financial of Boston, Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. and Morgan Stanley, both of New York, National Planning Holdings Inc. of Santa Monica, Calif., Pershing LLC of Jersey City, N.J., Raymond James Financial Inc. of St. Petersburg, Fla. and Wachovia Securities LLC of St. Louis.

Latest News

Voya expands advisor managed accounts to add private market assets
Voya expands advisor managed accounts to add private market assets

Voya Financial adds private equity, credit and real estate options to its AMA program, building on support for looser federal investment rules in retirement accounts.

With executives leaving, Osaic’s Reid now in the spotlight
With executives leaving, Osaic’s Reid now in the spotlight

Shannon Reid, president of Osaic and the network’s number two executive, has plenty of challenges, industry executives said.

Investors sue crypto fund and platform, alleging $1.5 million never returned
Investors sue crypto fund and platform, alleging $1.5 million never returned

Auditors flagged the commingling. The COO allegedly knew. Investors kept getting the pitch

Wells Fargo nabs $1.7B RBC advisor team, loses two teams to LPL
Wells Fargo nabs $1.7B RBC advisor team, loses two teams to LPL

The advisors on the move include two brothers leading a family practice in Connecticut, and a husband-and-wife tandem working with business owners in the West Coast.

Most potential business successors think there's a plan – but owners say otherwise
Most potential business successors think there's a plan – but owners say otherwise

Business owners and their heirs may be making assumptions instead of having conversations, creating challenges for succession planning, according to new research.

SPONSORED Who builds the income when the pension disappears?

Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income

SPONSORED Why direct indexing stopped being optional

Direct indexing is on pace to outgrow ETFs and mutual funds. Northern Trust's Ken Lassner explains why the advisors who get it wish they had started sooner.