WASHINGTON – American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) President and CEO Susan Neely made the following comments today on Lisa Gomez’s Senate confirmation as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA):

“ACLI congratulates Lisa Gomez on her confirmation to lead EBSA and its responsibilities for overseeing workplace benefits, including retirement plans, life, disability income, vision, and dental insurance and other supplemental benefits. We look forward to working with her in support of policies that help workers access the financial protection and peace of mind these products provide. 

“Across the country, states are taking actions to enhance the standards financial professionals must follow while ensuring that individual savers maintain access to, and information about, annuities, the only financial product in the marketplace that can provide guaranteed lifetime income. So far, over half of the states have adopted measures that implement the ‘best interest of consumer enhancements’ in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation. The new laws and regulations also align with the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest to provide strong state and federal protections.

“As Assistant Secretary Gomez reviews protections for retirement savers, we look forward to updating her on the progress made at the state and federal levels to safeguard consumers seeking lifetime income in retirement.”

The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) is the leading trade association driving public policy and advocacy on behalf of the life insurance industry. 90 million American families rely on the life insurance industry for financial protection and retirement security. ACLI’s member companies are dedicated to protecting consumers’ financial wellbeing through life insurance, annuities, retirement plans, long-term care insurance, disability income insurance, reinsurance, and dental, vision and other supplemental benefits. ACLI’s 280 member companies represent 94 percent of industry assets in the United States.

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