Ethics Edge - August 2007

Senior-oriented designations have come under fire in recent months due to isolated instances of financial professionals with these designations engaging in questionable sales practices. In this context, it’s important to view your NEB membership in the proper light.

For instance, keep in mind that NEB is not a designation, nor is it viewed that way by most in the industry. Designations are earned after a course of study and result in financial professionals being permitted to place letters after their name. Attaining NEB membership does not involve a course of study or grant you the right to use more letters after your name. | Continued »

National Ethics Bureau Broadcasts Ethics Message to Motor City USA.

SAN DIEGO, CA, August 20, 2007—National Ethics Bureau (NEB) President Jeff Kopitz talked about professional ethics on Canadian radio station CKWW, AM580, which broadcasts to the Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan markets.

Kopitz, who appeared on the station’s “Money Matters” show, was interviewed by Brian Kurtz, of Assured Investment Planners, Inc., in Troy, Michigan. | Continued »

Regulators in Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina have warned agents to be careful when recommending so-called zero premium life transactions—or those with names such as “Estate Maximization” or “No-Cost-to-the-Insured” policies. These are forms of stranger-owned life insurance, and may potentially involve insurance code violations for rebating, improper inducements, misrepresentation, or other deceptive sales practices.

The Texas Department of Insurance identified three red flags that should trigger special due diligence:

When another person or entity purchases insurance on a client’s life in exchange for an immediate lump sum payment or a partial payment of the policy’s face | Continued »

NEB Named One of the Top 100 Best Sales Ideas Ever for Financial Professionals.

SAN DIEGO, CA, June 14, 2007—The National Ethics Bureau (NEB) was named one of the "100 Best Sales Ideas Ever" by Senior Market Advisor magazine. Highlighted in its June 2007 issue, NEB was mentioned by elite mentor (and NEB member) Mark Lindsey, owner of Asset Protection Consultants in Los Angeles, | Continued »

About NEB


	When we talk about ethics, we often train our spotlight on advisors. We assume unethical conduct usually starts inside them and spreads like the gathering gloom of a winter evening. But clients can trigger misconduct, as well. In their desire to make money or save money, they can push their advisors into ethically gray, if not black, areas. And because many advisors believe the client is always right, they go along. Wrong!

The fact is, unethical clients can bring you down: By pushing to participate in a deal open only to accredited investors. By asking you to hide a medical condition from a life insurance company’s underwriters. \| Continued »

The National Ethics Bureau™ (NEB) is a membership organization of financial professionals who have successfully passed a comprehensive seven-year background check and have agreed to maintain NEB membership standards. All members are admitted into NEB’s national registry, which consumers can access free of charge to verify a member’s background.

NEB also advocates for business ethics and consumer protection through its trade-magazine columns, conference presentations, consumer guides, monthly Ethics Edge newsletter, and web site ethicscheck.com.

Have you ever left a meeting with a potential client wondering whether the person felt good about your credentials, your recommendations, and . . . you? Wondering is about all you can do. If the person calls to set up another meeting, then you’ll know your relationship is on track. If they don’t call, you can continue to wonder or call them to probe further.

Now there’s a better way. Have them call our Verification Hotline (800-250-1831). Afterwards, we will send you a confirming e-mail. This is a great tool for gauging your prospects’ interest. If they weren’t at least somewhat interested in doing business, they wouldn’t bother to call. | Continued »

NEB is not a financial marketing organization. It does not sell or endorse any financial products. Nor does it receive financial considerations from its members or other entities who sell such products.


	John Silvestri views himself as a modern-day Don Quixote. However, unlike Cervantes’ errant knight, Silvestri does not tilt at windmills. Rather, he fights to provide the best financial advice he can to the clients of Secure Assets Management, LTD, the senior planning firm he owns in Rosemont, Illinois. “I have a passion for making things better,” he says. “There’s a big need out there for sound, ethical financial advice for seniors. I’ve seen way too much of the other side of the coin.”
As an idealist, Silvestri has built his business on a foundation of strongly held beliefs. The first is his desire to serve the whole person, providing a combination of advice and services customized to a person’s life stage and concerns. Older seniors, for example, might need help finding an extended care facility or managing their finances to support a spouse in a long-term care facility. “We go beyond just taking applications for products,” \| Continued » Become NEB's next Member of the Month! (click here)