I ran into Jeffrey Laurence, House Counsel for Symetra, at the 2006 NSSTA annual meeting in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico yesterday. I confronted him on the issue of Clearscape Funding and Symetra disclosures (which I've highlighted in previous posts) and was told that there was a copyright notice on the Clearscape Funding corporation web site that made the connection "clear" (pun intended, mine). I was all ready to write something to praise the good behavior. However the Clearscape Funding website reflects otherwise on this 10th day of May 2006. There is mention of "our life insurance company" without naming it (as I have stated all along). As far as I can tell Clearscape Funding Corporation is not licensed as a life insurance company, nor does it own one.
Link to Washington State Insurance Commissioner Company Search
What I've been calling for is for Clearscape and Symetra to clearly and publicly disclose the relationship.That was certainly a reasonable expectation.
In its 32 page annual report there is word of a "new funding services business" and Lydia Floria's name and Clearscape is listed on the back of the annual report, but how does a reasonable person make the connection?. I had to do a Control-F then put in the two terms just to find them. C'mon already! Why does one have to pull teeth to get disclosure out of this company in its advertising? In my opinion it's a public relations disaster.
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