I received an e-mail from an AXA advisor who is trying to move some of a 1 man DB plan's assets into an annuity contract. I don't have a problem with the annuity being int he plan, but the Contract agreement has provisions that AXA is requiring the Actuary and the TPA to agree to by signing the contract.

My actuary has refused to sign the agreement, and I can understand why. I've never seen anything like this before, and I'm wondering if anyone else has ever seen anything like this before?

You betcha -- just a few months ago. For your record, I am an EA.

Mutual of Omaha said they wouldn't bid until I signed their undated form that did not even have their logo or name and address on it. I.e., virtually a blank sheet of paper. I told the agent we've provided the Plan documents to MofO and it is incumbent upon MofO to price their annuities based upon it. If they wouldn't go for it, we'd just have to seek another insurer. They bid.

An EA is required to sign IRS Form 5500 Schedule B, in certain cases the PBGC premium payment forms, and PBGC 500 certification of a plan's sufficiency upon termination. We are not required by law to cover insurance companies derrieres.

Wow. I had never heard of such a thing until this thread.

I'd be willing to wager on one thing - I'll wager that there are a lot of insurance companies who will be glad to take the annuity premium without this foolishness about a sign-off by the EA.

We recently took over a plan where the AXA broker, who also happened to be an EA, purchased annuity contracts without the clients approval. Once the client figured out what happened they asked AXA to return the money. No can do said AXA and the client was forced to hire an attorney who finally convinced AXA that it was in their best interest to return the money. Add to this the fact that the actuary only purchased contracts on the 3 HCEs and completely ignored the other participants.

Proceed with caution.

Had a very similar experience with a Metlife variable annuity contract recently and I also refused the sign as the EA even though they kept pressuring me. They had language in there that made me feel like they were forcing me into a fiduciary role on the plan assets. I did not sign and eventually the client decided not to use them. I'm not sure if it was Metlife's language, or the broker, that wasn't obvious.

What is it that the actuary is agreeing to when they sign?