For many Illinois funeral homes, April 15th served as a bitter reminder of Merrill Lynch and the financial losses suffered by the IFDA master trust. The final Merrill Lynch settlements (approximately $41 million) were received in 2012, and taxes had to be paid on those funds this past tax day. Funeral directors have questioned how
ifda
Master Trusts: Finding the Rails
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Fiduciary, Guaranteed, IFDA, Master Trusts, Missouri - SB1, Non-guaranteed, Preneed, Trust Funded
Both the Memorial Business Journal and the Funeral Service Insider commented last week on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s February 7th article regarding the former executive director of the Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association. Several issues were raised that should be included in future industry debate, and in particular, I would agree with Mr. Isard’s questions whether…
A Peace Offering: Fiducary Partners and the WFDA Receiver
By Bill Stalter on
Fiduciary Partners, the corporate fiduciary for the Wisconsin and Illinois master trusts, broke its silence this week with a statement to the Funeral Service Insider. The statement was made in response to criticisms previously reported by FSI, and reflects the receiver and fiduciary working together to get their “message” out and avoid the kind of…
A Call to Mark to Market: The NFDA
By Bill Stalter on
A short three and a half years ago, the funeral industry reeled from the collapse of National Prearranged Services and the emerging story of the Illinois Master Trust. The NFDA was slow to respond to the crisis, and when it did, this blog joined the criticism. Fast forward to September 2012, and the NFDA responds…
Being Hung out to Dry: The Pennsylvania Board of Funeral Directors
By Bill Stalter on
Federal Judge John Jones III has teed off (again) on the Pennsylvania Board of Funeral Directors. Awarding attorneys fees of more than a million dollars and issuing a permanent injunction against the State Board, Judge Jones rebuked Board members for their failure to show initiative towards a legislative fix to a Truman era problem. And…
In Too Deep to Turn Back: the IFDA’s response to Regions Bank
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in IFDA
In a recent article, Bruce Ruston provides a detailed account of the drama behind the IFDA master trust and its divesture of the key man insurance policies. It is a long, costly story about an organization that pushed the legal envelop in several directions with disastrous results: a master trust without a corporate trustee, insurance…
What to Build: Fences or Bridges?
By Bill Stalter on
Every funeral home and cemetery feels the pain of this economy, but that pain runs deeper for Missouri and Illinois funeral directors. Per capita, Missouri funeral homes bore the greater brunt of the NPS collapse. In the same year NPS collapsed, the IFDA master trust was forced to divest its key man insurance policies and…
The Light at the End of the Tunnel: the IFDA/Merrill Lynch Settlement
By Bill Stalter on
For the past three and half years, many Illinois funeral homes teetered on the brink of financial crisis when the IFDA master trust was forced to write down the value of preneed accounts invested in a special tax exempt fund. As reported last week by the NFDA’s Memorial Business Journal*, the “new” IFDA has negotiated…
The staff, a so-so law, but no budget: the state of Illinois Preneed Oversight
By Bill Stalter on
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its latest report on the state of state regulation of the death care industry. As it did in 2003, the GAO selected a handful of states to review in depth, and Illinois was one of those states for 2011 report. The Illinois review is set out …
The IFDA: Charting a Correcting Course
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in IFDA
As reported by the Memorial Business Journal*, the Illinois Funeral Directors Association has taken back the helm. For the past three years, the IFDA has been a floundering ship in risk of sinking. The master trust that paved the Association’s growth, has been threatening to bring it down. The IFDA took a crucial step…