Are we sitting on a litigation time bomb with a short fuse? At the FPA Success Forum in Philadelphia, I was invited to speak on the topic of bringing value added service through the use of no-load life insurance on a fee-transaction platform. Since my handout material did not arrive in time, I took the opportunity to integrate some of my concerns about the lack of awareness and fiduciary responsibility into the area of life insurance planning. The transition from the old paradigm of insurance selling to the new paradigm of insurance planning brought to the universe of life insurance practice a fundamental change that was so subtle that most of us didn't recognize it: Fiduciary Responsibility. This paradigm shift occurred with the introduction of a new concept in life insurance design, that being universal life and later, variable universal life.

Are Advisors Neglecting Their Fiduciary Responsibility