The Oregon Division of Insurance has signed on to a national variable annuity settlement agreement involving Waddell & Reed Financial Inc.[@@]
Waddell & Reed, Overland Park, Kan., agreed to the national settlement in April to resolve a dispute over allegations that it improperly switched VA clients from United Investors Life Insurance Company, a life insurance unit of Torchmark Corp., Birmingham, Ala., to VA contracts issued by another insurer in 2001 and 2002.
Waddell & Reed made the exchanges while carrying out plans to distance itself from Torchmark, its former corporate parent.
The switch affected about 400 Oregon investors, the Oregon insurance division estimates.
Officials at the National Association of Securities Dealers, Washington, and state insurance and securities agencies say the exchanges forced Waddell & Reed customers to pay a total of about $11 million in surrender charges.
