by Structured Settlement Watchdog
In a blog post dated November 6, 2007 Patrick Hindert wrote and published "although the annuity products (equity-indexed v fixed annuities) and the sales targets (elderly persons v personal injury victims) are different, structured settlements (at least the primary market) appear to share many of the business practices (class action lawyer Andrew S.) Friedman described.
Despite using the word "'appear" and not offering any proof, Hindert implies that structured settlement professionals have/do many of the following:
"Promote their professional expertise with:
-
- Bogus credentials (example: "Certified Estate Planning Specialist") resulting from a one or two day "certification program"; and
- Assurances that state insurance departments regulate insurance sales practices – which, according to Friedman, is totally inadequate to prevent sales abuses.
- Invariably recommend annuities and do not sell any other product;
- Do not undertake any due diligence to prevent misleading or incomplete sales presentations;
- Promise high rates of return, safety, liquidity and assets sheltered from potential creditors with no taxation;
- Intentionally conceal or fail to disclose important information about their products;
- Engage in the unauthorized practice of law;
- Make sales misrepresentations and omissions – for example: "you don't pay me anything".
- Develop marketing and sales materials that appeal to vulnerable elderly investors and exploit their fears of risky or insecure investments and living out their retirement years without financial security.
- The insurance companies pretend to be innocent and to know nothing about these allegedly unethical business practices"
Patrick Hindert has a law degree and he is an author. Patrick Hindert sold his company, Benefit Designs, Inc. in 1998. According to his bio, "for the past seven years, Hindert has worked, studied and written about web 2.0 and how web 2.0 impacts structured settlements, personal injury settlement planning and special needs planning. In collaboration with Denham Grey, and other knowledge experts, S2KM advises clients about their Web 2.0 strategies."
Patrick Hindert's bio appears to include a misrepresentation. He claims to have "worked studied and written about web 2.0 for the past 7 years". According to published sources "Web 2.0 began as a technology conference" in 2004. My math says 3 years Patrick, how about yours readers?
Patrick Hindert sold his structured settlement firm in 1998. From available published sources it appears that Patrick Hindert is not currently a Certified Financial Planner, Financial Advisor, Chartered Financial Consultant, Chartered Life Underwriter, Chartered Public Accountant, Master of Science in Financial Services, Chartered Advisor in Senior Living. Hindert holds an active insurance license and appointment with New York Life Insurance Company, and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, in Ohio. However, according to the Delaware Insurance Department on line records, he does not hold an active license in Delaware. This would preclude Patrick Hindert from being able to place assigned structured annuities for those companies (as their assignees are located in Delaware). His Florida license shows active but has no active appointments; his Tennessee license has been inactive since April 21, 1999 when, according to that state's records, he failed to renew. He is neither licensed nor appointed in Connecticut. The point of this paragraph being that Patrick Hindert is so far removed from the day to day activities of a structured settlement broker that he hardly qualifies as an expert on the subject of what the majority or many brokers are doing. Thus, even though he admits that no NSSTA or SSP members were named, for him to imply that what he and the factoring companies call "the primary market" (which by his published definition includes those elements) share many of the (illegal) business practices that he heard in a presentation by a class action lawyer litigating against such practices is outrageous.
Breaking down each of the Hindert implications for commentary:
"Promote their expertise with":
A. Bogus credentials (example: "Certified Estate Planning Specialist") resulting from a one or two day "certification program"
Comment: Hindert made this implication well aware that there are many people in what he calls the "primary market" who have many of the accredited credentials outlined above. Patrick Hindert makes a general implication without any proof or specific examples.
B. Assurances that state insurance departments regulate insurance sales practices – which, according to Friedman, is totally inadequate to prevent sales abuses.
Comment: Hindert made this implication well aware that state insurance departments are in business to regulate sales practices. Such regulation includes such programs as California Annuity 2004. An agent or broker who merely makes such a statement is not misleading. An agent who makes such statement with scienter that he or she is engaging in illegal activities beyond the mere statement of the laws' existence, is misleading. The issue of whether or not a state insurance department is not enforcing its laws it an issue to take up with that state insurance department. Patrick Hindert makes a general implication without any proof or specific examples.
C. Invariably recommend annuities and do not sell any other product
Comment: Patrick Hindert swings from his use of the absolute "invariable" which means "not changing or subject to change" There is plenty of published evidence to disprove this statement.
D. Do not undertake any due diligence to prevent misleading or incomplete sales presentations
Comment: While I agree that there are examples which I have highlighted in previous posts, Patrick Hindert makes a general implication without any proof or specific examples.
E. Promise high rates of return, safety, liquidity and assets sheltered from potential creditors with no taxation
Comment: Patrick Hindert makes a general implication without any proof or specific examples. This combination of items taken together is not something I've personally seen in connection with the promotion of structured settlements to plaintiffs. Structured settlements are of course income tax-free to the recipients
F. Intentionally conceal or fail to disclose important information about their products
Comment: Patrick Hindert makes a general implication without any proof or specific examples
G. Engage in the unauthorized practice of law
Comment: His hot topic du jour. Patrick Hindert makes a general implication without any proof or specific examples AND he has NOT PROVEN ANY CASE of unauthorized practice of law in what he calls "the primary market". Patrick HIndert similarly defamed me in a prior post by at first publishing on the Internet that I appeared to "promote, condone and participate" in the unauthorized practice of law, distributing it to a number of people and then retracting it after he apparently thought he better cover his ass. Unfortunately for him the disparaging language was saved on Blawgsearch.
H. Make sales misrepresentations and omissions – for example: "you don't pay me anything".
Comment: I agree that this occasionally happens. I have targeted the offenders and highlighted the instances where it has occurred in my blog posts. Many of those items have been resolved. Patrick Hindert, however, makes a general implication without any proof or specific examples to apply to an entire industry.
I. Develop marketing and sales materials that appeal to vulnerable elderly investors and exploit their fears of risky or insecure investments and living out their retirement years without financial security.
Comments: Hindert makes a general implication without any proof or specific examples to apply to an entire industry. Regular annuity sales are direct to the consumer. Structured settlement annuity creation involves multiple attorney review and may require Court approval. Hindert fails to state that California licensed insurance agents were, and are still are, required to comply with California Annuity 2004, requiring an 8 hour course on annuities and senior sale practice rules. Continuing education is required at each renewal. However it's not surprising that Hindert wouldn't know that. A California Insurance Department online licensee search showed that the license for Patrick Johann Hindert went inactive on 03/31/2000.
J. The insurance companies pretend to be innocent and to know nothing about these allegedly unethical business practices
Comment: Hindert makes a general implication without any proof or specific examples to apply to an entire industry. Patrick Hindert sits on the legal committee of NSSTA. Where has his thumb been during his time on this committee?
In reading this post, it is critical for the reader to grasp that Andrew S. Friedman DID NOT make the bridge to the structured settlement/settlement planning industry, PATRICK HINDERT DID.
If Hindert does not supply absolute proof by November 9, 2007 that "many of the business practices described" are occurring as a regular practice in the structured settlement industry then he will effectively admit again that he is a bald faced liar with no personal or journalistic credibility.
As it is, Beyond Structured Settlements' 3 month trailing traffic rankings on Alexa have plunged to worse than 10,000,000, which is a veritable disaster for an author who is supposed to be an expert in "Web 2.0".
Furthermore, in the opinion of this author, Patrick Hindert will also have proved to the members and the Board of the NSSTA that his own interests and business practices conflict with the mission and bylaws of the NSSTA.
Post Script 11/8/2007: This author has contacted the law firm of Bonnett Fairbourn Friedman & Balint, PC and confirmed that the firm DOES NOT have any litigation targeting the structured settlement industry.
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