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December 08, 2015

Structured Settlement Broker Circulates Email Suggesting Future Quid Pro Quo With Incentive Trip

by Structured Settlement Watchdog®

A structured settlement broker who attended a recent life insurance company all expenses paid incentive trip to South Africa has unfortunately sent an email that was copied and circulated to many in the industry that suggests that the trip influences where he will place his/her business.  The life insurance company is blameless in this, in my opinion.  It is simply having a sales conference for its leading producers.  Moreover, the Structured settlement watchdog understands that producers would be issued IRS Form 1099 for the value of the trip.

But the production bar for the incentive trip in question is significant.  The thought that qualifying for  an incentive trip could possibly override doing what is best for a client would be both unethical and unconscionable and surely not the sort of business conduct that the company, its compliance department or insurance regulators intend.  Then to memorialize this in a widely circulated email is insane.

What is the wisdom of a broker who wittingly, or unwittingly, possibly taints the rest of the industry and invites needless scrutiny over a trip that a very small number of people qualified for.

Posted at 07:39 PM in Settlement Planning Ethics, Structured Settlement Brokers, Structured Settlement Ethics Questions, Structured Settlement Industry News, Structured Settlement Watchdog® |

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Guide to Structured Settlements 2021

  • What is a Structured Settlement? What You Need to Know
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  • How Do Structured Settlements Work? How Structured Settlements Worktured Settlement Diagram
    How structured settlements work, including 4structures.com® LLC's super helpful structured settlement flow chart/diagram showing how structured settlements fit in with other settlement planning solutions.
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    Treasury Funded Structured Settlements are a settlement option for the most conservative using the OTHER permissible qualified funding asset under IRC 130(d), United States Treasury Bonds in addition to, or instead of, structured settlement annuities. Treasury Funded Structured Settlements can also be used to fund installment sales, also known as structured sales and other non qualified structured settlements.
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  • Structured Settlement Payments | Types of Structured Settlements
    Ways You Can Structure Your Settlement Payments. With a structured settlement you can have more than one type of payment in a single contract. Different types of structured settlement payments can be customized and combined to meet your needs on a stand-alone basis, or in conjunction with other financial products. Diversify your structured settlement, if you wish, by funding with more than one annuity issuer, with treasury funded structured settlements, index linked structured settlement payments and market based structured .
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    Structured attorney fees is a financial strategy that offers a unique way to defer taxes for lawyers and law firms. Lawyers CAN structure their legal fees even if the plaintiff doesn't structure their settlement. There are multiple ways to structure your attorney fees, such as the an index linked structured settlement where payments are adjusted based on upside changes in the S&P 500 with no downside and a cap of 5%. Trial Lawyers may also use a special deferred pay/deferred compensation arrangement, if market based returns returns are desired with no cap. Plan NOW for year end! Put structured attorney fee expert John Darer® on your settlement planning team.
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  • Structured Settlement Quote Lock-Ins | What You Need To Know
    What does a Structured Settlement Lock-In Mean? How do plaintiffs, defendants and insurers benefit from a structured settlement quote lock in when finalizing a settlement? How does the defendant/insurer/court benefit from using a structured settlement lock-in? Where to be careful when using structured settlement lock ins.
  • What Are Structured Settlement Annuities?
    Structured settlement annuities are annuities that can provide one or more customized annuity payment streams in a single contract. Read about structured settlement annuities here.
  • History of Structured Settlements
    Tracing the roots of structured settlements history from 1918, when Congress exempted damages for personal injury or sickness from income tax, to the establishment of structured settlements as a core personal injury settlement planning tool to the present day.
  • What Are Market Based Structured Settlements?
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