Significant achievements of the insurance products practice in product development, regulatory matters, and transactions include the following:
Product Development
- Represent insurers on the development of product features that limit exposure to investment risk
- Represented the first underlying fund that the SEC permitted to adopt a 12b-1 fee
- Served as counsel on the first syndicated-style (IPO) offering of a variable annuity contract
- Served as counsel on several of the earliest multi-manager funds in the industry
- Counseled on fund-of-funds and master-feeder structures for insurance products
- Advised on complex guaranteed benefit riders
- Counseled on development and reorganization of pension platforms
Regulatory
- Took the lead in resolving issues raised by the SEC staff on asset allocation services rendered through variable contracts
- Served as securities counsel in the rehabilitation of a major life insurance company and the transfer of variable annuity assets and restructuring an annuity contract. This type of transaction had been unprecedented
- Obtained leading no-action letters in the insurance arena, including letters permitting: (1) variable life illustrations with hypothetical interest rates in excess of 12% to be given to institutional investors, and (2) an insurance fund to institute performance-based variations in advisory fees
- Counseled many insurers and underlying fund groups on methods to change funds on a product platform, including substitutions, fund reorganizations and other methods
- Played a leading role with the SEC and industry groups in the development of the summary prospectus and its application to underlying funds
Transactional
- Helped major insurance complex integrate fund, variable product and pension platforms from several acquired insurers
- Conducted due diligence on variable products, mutual funds and regulated entities for clients who were acquiring insurance company complexes
- Conducted due diligence and counseled insurers on acquisition of investment advisers and fund groups and integration of regulated entities and mutual fund complexes