GIC CONCERNS - General American's liquidity crisis prompted Weiss Ratings to take a look at other insurance companies with guaranteed interest contracts (GICs) that are easily surrendered by investors...the same scenario that led to General American's downfall. According to Weiss, the following insurers have the largest percentage of their GICs subject to easy surrender:

• Security Mutual Life of NY
• Integrity Life
• RGA Reinsurance Co.
• John Hancock
• Jackson National
• SunAmerica Life

NO MORE EQUITABLE - We're sad to report that, effective September 3, the Equitable name will be no more. AXA Group, the company's majority shareholder, has decided to change the name to AXA Financial. While a well-known company throughout Europe, AXA has little name recognition in the U.S. As a result, a $40 million ad campaign will be implemented in order to promote AXA Advisors, the company's renamed agent sales force.

MEDICAL PRIVACY - Despite giving itself a deadline and having three years to act, Congress has failed to enact legislation protecting the privacy of medical records. As a result, according to an Associated Press report, currently it would not be against federal law for private medical information to be sold to pharmaceutical companies, passed to employers or sold by a hospital clerk to a malpractice lawyer. While there is widespread agreement on the need for federal legislation to protect the privacy of medical records, sharp disagreement persists in Congress on whether to limit damages if records are improperly released and on whether new privacy rights would include teens who get medical care on their own if there is no state law requiring parental involvement (that medical care would include abortions, which has led to the stalemate). Since Congress missed its deadline, the Department of Health and Human Services is now required to issue regulations on medical privacy. Those regulations, however, aren't expected to take effect until February and will cover only electronic records, not paper files.

UP 5.2% - According to the Hay Benefits Report, the average increase in health care premiums was 5.2% for 1998-99, up 1.7% over last year's modest 3.5% increase. The culprit: prescription drugs, which increased an average of 15% over the previous year. Without the prescription drug increase, the average health care increase for 1998-99 would have been just 3.7%.

M&A RESULTS - Conning & Company reports that insurance merger and acquisition activity as measured by transaction value has declined 71% to $30.9 billion in the first half of 1999, as compared to $107.9 billion in the first six months of 1998. Reasons: pricing is down for acquisitions by domestic companies and the tenuous status of the H.R. 10 financial reform legislation has kept some potential purchasers on the sidelines. While American companies may not be willing to pay premium prices for acquisitions, the same can't be said for European companies wanting to enter the American market. They appear willing to outbid domestic companies and pay premium prices. More information on the study ("Mergers & Acquisitions and Public Equity Offerings Midyear 1999 Review: A Tough Act to Follow") is available at http://www.conning.com.

SIMPLER LICENSING - Under H.R. 10, Congress could create a universal application process for agents and brokers, but only if a majority of states fail to agree on their own system in the next three years. Industry experts predict the states will come through in time and the federal mechanism will never be created. Let's hope there is some relief because the current system of multi-state licensing is a real hassle.

VOWING TO FIGHT - Jackson National recently lost a Mississippi lawsuit that accused the insurer of misleading three policyholders about "vanishing premiums." Get ready for this. The jury awarded the three policyholders about $23,000 in compensatory damages and a whopping $32.5 million in punitive damages. The lawsuit was filed after the three policyholders responded to a newspaper ad by an attorney soliciting life insurance purchasers to sue their insurers. The lawsuit itself was the company's first notice of a complaint. Jackson National has said it will fight the punitive-damage award. We wish them success.

WHILE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT - MetLife has agreed to pay at least $1.7 billion to settle allegations of deceptive sales practices over a 15-year period. The proposed settlement would cover some 4 million current and 3 million former policyholders. Based on the Jackson National verdict, MetLife's $1.7 billion seems a bargain.

LAST ONE...WE PROMISE - Allstate, Geico and State Farm have been sued for $100 million by seven customers who accuse the insurers of failing to fully pay for medical expenses and lost wages after an automobile accident. One plaintiff is suing because State Farm reduced his benefits claim by $87 after a fender bender.

SERVICE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PRICE - That's the conclusion drawn from a recent J.D. Power and Associates study of online investors. Customer service accounted for 26% of a "satisfaction score," higher than any other factor, while fees and commissions came in lowest, at 7%.

SMALL GROUP INSURANCE ONLINE - Intuit's Quicken InsureMarket is still trying to stay up with InsWeb in the fast-moving game of insurance e-commerce. They just inked a deal to help Hartford Life provide group life and disability insurance to small businesses via the Internet.

NEXT CHARITABLE TARGET? - According to Investment News, the IRS formed a task force in June to investigate the use of charitable family limited partnerships and is expected to take a position on the controversial estate planning tool soon.

ONE-STOP SHOPPING - The American Banker reports that a new study by Synergistics Research indicates consumers would buy auto, home and life insurance or investment products from their bank. In the "somewhat likely" and "very likely" to purchase categories, here are the results: 73% investments, 34% auto and home insurance, and 25% life insurance.

A NEW TOOL FOR THE SENIOR MARKET? - In the latest issue of National Underwriter, actuarial consultant John M. Bragg discusses an actuarial concept called "health expectancy," which shows statistical average periods of expected good health and sickness in people of a certain age. Bragg says consumers like the idea because it provides insight into how long they can expect to be healthy or sick. We don't believe they will actually like it, but it may help some face up to the realities of old age.

YOUR PEP - Your Potential Earning Power (PEP) is your most valuable asset. Howard Wight poses the question in his newsletter, "Does the term `Potential Earning Power' beat `Human Life Value'?" We tend to agree. What do you think?

• Fix Your Direct Mail And Double Your Responses
• Help You To Do Seminars That Fill The Room Every Time
• Close Those Prospects That Won't Buy
• Have You Using A Monthly Newsletter That Has Prospects Calling You
• Give You Unparalleled Credibility (How To Become A Financial Author - Overnight!)
• Tell You How To Get Interviewed In The Newspaper Several Times Each Year
• Fix The Biggest Issue Holding Back Your Production
• Lead To Selling An Additional 2 To 4 Annuities Each Month

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY - To the Internet. It was on September 2, 1969 in a UCLA laboratory that two computers about the size of refrigerators were connected by a 15-foot cable and bits of test data began flowing between them. That connection marked the birth of the computer network that would one day form the backbone of the Internet.

VA SALES HIT RECORD HIGH - National Underwriter reports that second quarter VA sales totaled $31 billion, making it the biggest sales quarter in VA history.

VALUES-BASED SELLING OR GOLF - The client interview is as much the core skill for financial professionals as the golf swing is for the pro golfer. You could attend a 3-day golf academy and spend the whole time working on your golf swing, but why not spend it on the critical client interview at the Values-Based Selling Academy with Bill Bachrach. Check out http://www.bachrachvbs.com/vbsacad1.html for details.

COMPLYING WITH COMPLIANCE - With the many companies now having compliance procedures, Dennis Groner, a compliance consultant, feels that they must make certain they are following their own procedures. According to Groner, failing to follow compliance procedures is worse than not having them at all. This really makes us miss our home office days!

"ONLY BIRDS SHOULD WING IT" - Another nugget from Howard Wight. Be prepared, have an agenda, know your presentation. When Howard meets with people, he has notes which remind him of the topics to cover. Call 1-800-486-SELL to order Howard's newsletter.