Can you use a non-registered GRA contract to fund a 457?

[Guest Andra]

Can a non-registered group retirement annuity be used as the investment for a governmental 457 plan? Our office has a disagreement with this; one source references the Securities Act of 1933 that non registered products cannot be used with non-corporate entities, the other opinion is that the state's enabling statute determines what investments would be appropriate for the plan.

Your opinions are appreciated.

[Guest Ralph Amadio]

Relative to California law, the statutes for both insurance and retirement law have covered "general account" non registered Group Annuity Contracts as suitable retirement vehicles for many years. Is it possible that insurance law, a state purview in most cases, is where you might find some justification. When I started practice in 1963, group annuities were only "general account" contracts, so the permissive legislation may still exist in your state. Incidentally, the '33 and '40 acts typically do not intrude into the state's insurance statutes on non-registered.