15 october 2016 . jump to navigation search world financial group type subsidiary industry financial services founded 1991 under aegon ownership headquarters 11315 johns creek parkway johns creek georgia 30097 1517 products annuities college savings plans debt relief identity theft protection life insurance long term care mutual funds retirement plan segregated fund unit investment trusts parent transamerica website official website world financial group wfg is a multi level marketing company based in johns creek georgia a suburb of atlanta which sells investment insurance and various other financial products through a network of distributors in the united states canada and puerto rico . 1 2 as well as transamerica wfg it is a subsidiary of aegon . 3 contents 1 history 2 provider companies 3 regulatory issues 4 references 5 external links history edit world marketing alliance wma was founded by hubert humphrey after he left primerica in 1991 . the original name was alexander inc. but shortly thereafter was renamed world marketing alliance . the original idea was that the baby boomers needed a solution for wealth creation and tax protection and that the buy term and invest the difference philosophy of primerica formerly a.l. williams could be better addressed with variable universal life insurance . while in a.l. humphrey created and introduced the business format system bfs a business sales and recruiting methodology . williams continued to develop the methodology in wma . 4 md tv the company s private satellite television network was also introduced during this period . the company expanded its operations to canada taiwan mexico puerto rico guam and the philippines . 4 the company held its first convention in las vegas in 1992 . it was attended by about 2 000 associates . 4 world financial group associates are compensated by selling financial services products and receiving commission overrides from people that agents sponsor into the company . 5 associates use six fundamentals of personal finance to build financial plans . these fundamentals are cash management debt management emergency fund creation insurance protection includes life insurance critical illness insurance disability insurance etc. . . asset accumulation and estate preservation . 6 on march 23 1998 wma executive world headquarters opened in duluth georgia . the 100 000 square foot 9 300 m2 building housed 500 employees . 4 in november 1998 wma was fined 100 000 for not properly supervising its sales agents after their clients lost nearly 2 million in unregistered investments . 7 8 in 2000 wma was fined 125 000 for failing to report nearly 900 customer complaints . 9 in june 2001 select assets of wma were purchased by aegon and renamed world financial group inc. 10 humphrey retained wma mortgage services inc. and the original logo which was used in his subsequent companies world leadership group and hegemon group international . as part of the conditions of sale humphrey was placed on a noncompete agreement and could not compete in the insurance industry until 2013 . following the sale of wma to aegon alexander wynaendts chief executive of aegon was quoted as saying when we took the company over we put in place very strict regulatory and compliance procedures . 11 world financial group has over 3 500 offices in the united states . 12 the world financial group canadian division world financial group insurance agency of canada inc. moved to toronto ontario in february 2012 . 13 in 2008 world financial group had over 80 canadian offices and over 1 500 agents . 14 on july 1 2013 the mfda announces that effective immediately the wfg securities of canada inc. securities dealer is now transamerica securities inc. 15 provider companies edit wfg works with hundreds of product provider companies including mutual funds and unit investment trusts and various insurance and financial services related companies . 16 17 regulatory issues edit wfg s stated mission goal is to serve the financial needs of individuals and families typically overlooked by the financial services industry . 18 it is yet unclear how successfully the company has managed to distance itself from its more controversial u.s. based predecessor wma associated with fraud misrepresentation and false statements and the subject of class action lawsuits and national association of securities dealers nasd disciplinary action . 19 20 in preparation for aegon s acquisition in 2001 world marketing alliance ramped up compliance before the acquisition . 21 as reported in the same bloomberg article aegon s chief executive officer alexander wynaendts said on bloomberg tv that when we took the company over we put in place very strict regulatory and compliance procedures of course when you have such large numbers of people out there in the field it is quite an effort . we feel comfortable that we now have the regulatory issues under control . 21 in march 2011 the financial industry regulatory authority finra reported that world group securities had incurred ten regulatory penalties since 2004 . 22 a 2004 nasd disciplinary action report summarized disciplinary actions against wgs . according to the report wgs submitted a letter of acceptance waiver and consent in which the firm was censured and fined 15 000 . without admitting or denying the allegations the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that the firm permitted representatives to act in registered capacities while their registrations were inactive due to their failure to satisfy the regulatory element of nasd s continuing education requirements . nasd also found that the firm failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system reasonably designed to assure compliance with the regulatory element of the continuing education requirement by its registered representatives . 23 in december 2006 wgs and one of its brokers were fined 150 000 by missouri s commissioner of securities for selling unsuitable products to elderly people . 11 2 24 25 other cases of private arbitration where variable annuities were allegedly sold to people too old to realize any benefit before they died were also reported . utah s division of securities has cited at least four world group securities brokers since 2006 . 21 26 in april 2007 wgs was fined 50 000 for failing to supervise its representatives in the state of utah who were misrepresenting their credentials and services rendered during free lunch seminars targeting seniors . 2 1 27 28 29 in april 2010 wgs was fined in excess of 850 000 as the result of the unauthorized sale of private securities by some of its agents in the state of arizona . 30 31 in november 2010 the sec ordered wgs to pay among other things a civil monetary penalty in the amount of 200 000 for the fraudulent selling of unsuitable securities in the state of california which were funded using home equity derived from the refinance of the customers homes into subprime mortgages . 32 33 34 35 wfg securities canada was under investigation by the manitoba securities commission in 2008 after some investors say they ended up in financial situations they did not understand regarding leveraged accounts . the securities commission noted that that world financial group did not have adequate controls and mechanisms in place to fully supervise the leveraged accounts . wfg securities paid a 250 000 settlement to rectify the situation . dennis villarin of winnipeg mb a former agent who opened and trained others to open the above accounts was stripped of his licensing and charged by the mfda . they noted that dennis villarin and his trainees made it appear to wfg s supervisory and compliance staff as though the clients satisfied wfg s requirements regarding the use of leveraging as set out in its policies and procedures . 36 37 in 2013 wfg securities canada was restructured and rebranded by transamerica corporation and is now known as transamerica 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the original on june 14 2012 . amres earns 3.5 million . mortgage lane . may 23 2005 . retrieved may 4 2012 . the world financial group difference . world financial group . archived from the original on february 13 2008 . business wire press release . business wire . october 22 2001 . dead link nasd regulation fines wma securities inc. 125 000 for failure to report customer complaints . financial industry regulatory authority inc. august 15 2000 . archived from the original on july 1 2008 . a b c seth lubove may 28 2008 . aegon in missouri provokes regulators finding sales deceptions . bloomberg . archived from the original on june 29 2011 . retrieved 2015 07 31 . finra broker check world group securities . financial industry regulatory authority inc. retrieved 2015 07 31 . monthly disciplinary actions pdf . financial industry regulatory authority inc. december 2004 . retrieved 2015 07 31 . erica gage computer info tech specialist 2006 12 06 . sos missouri securities news releases . 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