8006623011

I just got my letter in today's mail. Between no return address, a toll free call back number and having no acquaintances in UT, I thought I'd Google the phone and here I am. Jut to let everyone know he/they are still at it.

I just got my letter in today's mail. Between no return address, a toll free call back number and having no acquaintances in UT, I thought I'd Google the phone and here I am. Just to let everyone know he/they are still at it.

I also got the note, here in Melbourne Fl.......I thought maybe it was from a client of mine.........I do sell insurance and since it came to my house vs my business I too assume he bought some Insurance list.

I guess everyone has a "gimmick", and to some extent this guy;s gimmick has worked.......he certainly has gotten noticed....lol

Needless to say I am throwing away his note without a phone call to him.

Of all people this guy sells variable life products too...yuk!

From: Jeff W. Bird
Sent: March 31, 2005
To: rule-comments@sec.gov
Subject: File No. S7-06-04



To whom it may concern:

I am an insurance broker in Minneapolis, and would like you to consider the following in regard to new disclosure rules for sales of variable life products (I only sell variable life, no mutual funds, and so will limit my comments to variable life. The issues for variable life and mutual funds are different.)

1. As you know or should know, adequate and complete commission disclosure rules already exist.

2. Your singular focus on commissions completely misses the real consumer issues regarding variable life.

Your assumption is that agents and brokers are bad, and the Government needs to protect consumers from them. Well, many agents/brokers are greed motivated, and consumers do need protection, but further compensation disclosure will not help the consumer.

To put the issue in context, you need to know that with life insurance, carriers have been trying to sell direct and get rid of agents for 100 years. But in addition to newspaper and radio, the most recent technological innovation, the internet, also failed to increase the amount of "direct" life insurance sold from the 1%-2% historical average.

The only conclusion is that agents are needed as part of the carrier's business model, serving as the product distribution channel. The agent is not the problem. Unlike commodity type products such as mutual funds, carriers know life insurance must be sold by an agent. Therefore its cost components, including agent compensation, have traditionally been intentionally obfuscated from the consumer by the carrier because these are all part of its strategy to distribute product.

In this context, the SEC should also be reminded that consumers are 50% underinsured, and that life insurance sales have not been growing versus other financial products.

Two things I would push for to help consumers be treated fairly:

1. Allow product comparison. Right now, NASD rules say that the variable life product is too complicated, and cannot be compared to other variable life or other financial vehicles. These products are not hard to compare, and comparison is at the core of consumer protection. Product comparison will of course include compensation, and will therefore provide a method for true consumer protection.

2. Carriers need to provide products with real trade-offs. If carriers want to package term and nonguaranteed elements into product, they must be more than a compensation dial. Similar to whole life with term blends, the client needs options, but must take on more risk for lower outlay. Many products issued by carriers today do not meet the smell test of treating same age/risk classifications fairly.

Finally, the carriers need to wake up and realize they could lose much of their distribution if the spotlight is put on agents compensation alone. Many agents don't add much value, are struggling to make it go as is, and with additional pressure put on them, will likely give up. (This happened several years ago in the UK, where life sales dropped significantly when the spotlight was put on only one aspect of the product, commissions. The result, less consumers own life insurance).

While this looks like an "agent commission issue", it is really a carrier distribution issue. Perhaps the question you should be asking is, what could we do to entice consumers to purchase an adequate amount of life insurance, so their families are not dependent on the Government when a breadwinner dies.

Why would you think that because there is fraud in the property casualty business(Marsh/Mac), that you must issue new regulations for all insurance products? Yes, there needs to be adequate disclosure, but there will always be some "bad apples" committing fraud no matter how many laws you pass.

I hope my comments were helpful and thought provoking.

Jeff Bird, JD, CLU

I got the same handwritten note in my mailbox (Washington State). Postmark from Salt Lake City.  

Since I used to be a life insurance sales person AND I used to work for a Jeff, I almost called it.  I decided to Google the number first and found this thread.  I'm glad I checked first.

I'm in Dallas, Texas...Got the same goofy note!! I just dumped it where it belongs!! The TRASH!!

got the note today - from Salt Lake UT.  If I was licensed there it would be one thing but I'm not.

Same not same person what a joke. If it was a honest up and up company why not put on letterhead or have a return address

I received a small handwritten note in the mail asking if I still sell life insurance that he had been trying to reach me, please call me. Singed "jeff" and the toll free number under the name.  It was mailed in a legal size envelope address to me at my home address, with NO return address and post marked Salt Lake City, Utah.

Received the same note.  The grammatical errors in the note frightened me.  Can't be serious!

Received same hand written note, plain envelope from "Jeff", post marked from Salt Lake City Utah written with black fine tip marker. Recently completed continuing ed credits for Ohio Life Insurance license and also had publically posted resume on Monster.com (mistake)! Getting all kinds of solicitiation for selling Life insurance due to financial services background. Obviously,their way of soliciting recruits to sell their product by trying to connect with a personal touch. (yeah right!)

I got the letter.  Gimmick...It is illegal & Jeff is being sought....Authorites are closing in on "Jeff"....

just received the same not yesterday, called on sundy evening and a lady answers, Jeff Bird's Office...I said I had the wrong number and searched on here for the heck of it.  What a dirtbag.

Just got mine in the mail today.  Same letter saying "I have been trying to reach you.  If you still sell life insurance call me."  Mine was signed "Clayton".

Weird.

So I called the # after receiving the handwritten note and asked for their address (the automated machine answered saying "This call may be recorded...Jeff Byrd's office", but then the woman that answered said "Federal Financial Group".)  The address they gave me checks out on Whitepages.com

Federal Financial Group, LLC
292 East 12200 South
Suite 200
Draper, UT 84020

I think I'll mail them a handwritten note telling them I've been trying to reach them.

I got one of those "notes". Note was in two differnt hands. Jeff loses again.

I received the same mailed note from Jeff, today 11/02/09 in Fort Myers, Florida, bearing post office cancelled stamp Salt Lake City Utah. It could have been machine printed rather than handwritten.

I'm insurance licensed thus obtaining my name and address was very simple.

I just got one of those stupid notes today. I called even after reading your posts to get some more information. I was able to speak with a Janet at station 7 who was "unable" to release any specific information. After a 10 minute conversation I got...Federal Financial Group is the company, located at 292 E 12200 South, UTAH 84020.  www.federalfinancialgroupllc.com

Just received the same note in San Diego.  No return address.  "I have been trying to reach you. If you still sell life insurance call me. Jeff 1-800-662-3011".  Very unprofessional!

Got the same note here in GA.  Looks like he's wasted a lot of postage.