But "if it turns out that everybody is still being put into fixed indexed annuities," she says, then she expects tougher rules to be enacted. Quinn added that there may be a short period of non-compliance, it won't last long. "People will notice," she warns.
A new environment for annuities could also mean new low-cost products enter the market. "There are opportunities for low-cost players to come in now, a greater opportunity than there was before," she says. "The brokers who think they can keep doing the same things as before just by using the new paperwork may well face new and better competition."
Quinn acknowledges disappointment that the regs won't go into effect until 2018. She would also have liked a clearer understanding of the cost-disclosure rules and a tougher definition of "best interest." She expects lawsuits may ensue over the definition of that term. "We're just going to have to see how the brokerage industry responds," she says.
On the whole, though, she's convinced the new regs will make a big difference in the annuities world going forward. In fact, she'd like to see similar action from the Securities and Exchange Commission for non-retirement accounts. "That's going to be much tougher," concedes Quinn, "because the financial industry has a stronger grip on Congress than it has on the Department of Labor."