VALIC
Reviews and Complaints

On Friday, May 6, 2016, I faxed a withdrawal/distribution form to Valic 4300 W Cypress St Ste 1000, Tampa, FL 33607. I Did not hear anything from them, nothing about me needing to send additional information, not even a phone call until 2 days later and I made the contact. I sent an email to Joy @ 9:35 am on 5/10/16 to make sure she received the form, like I always done in the past. I thought it strange that I did not get an email from Joy that day. I received an email back from Diane @ 12:23 pm on 5/10/16 saying I need to send a voided check otherwise they will mail me a check. I checked Valic.com for the forms and could not find it, so @ 2:27 pm on 5/10/16 I emailed Diane the voided check. At 2:32 pm she sent me an email back saying she would submit now for processing.

So I waited from 5/6/16 until 5/11/16 @10:58 am I received an email from TSA saying they had received my form for processing, with a cc to (Eric Holmes). Okay I thought we on track and I should receive my deposit shortly. Still not hearing anything, I sent an email to Heather Bullock on 5/13/16 @ 10:53 am to find out the status of my request. She emailed me back on 5/13/16 @ 12:01 pm and I quote, (It’s in line for processing. On average it takes 3-6 business days for processing. At this time, we are averaging close to 400 faxes per day but we will get to it asap!)

I received the following email from TSA addressed to Ms. Johnston (wrong name) and it stated as follow: (Ms. Johnston, Thank you for your email. Your transaction was just approved yesterday and faxed to VALIC at [protected] as instructed on the form(s). Please follow-up with VALIC for their processing turn around time.)

A copy of this email was cc to Eric Holmes, along with others. He received the emails with no response to me the client to any of them. I have been a client of Valic for over 20 years and when Kelly and Joy were there I never had this kind of problem getting my funds. I do not appreciate being a part of a company who has issues with me getting my funds or is holding them. As long as I have been with Valic, it has only taken a week every time that I have requested funds.

I do not know what the problem is and frankly, at this point I do not care. In this day of internet, faxes, email and social media, I do not understand what the problem is. It has been 16 days and my request has not been processed yet. I am requesting that you find out why it took 3 days to leave your office and another three days for TSA to process and now 5/18/16 another 3 days and still not processed. I am highly disappointed with your company and I think this is poor customer service the way you all have handled this process. I like a response soon from this company.

As of 5/21/16, I have not gotten my funds deposited into my account and have not heard from my Consultant Eric Holmes, except to email me and tell me he was going to a meeting and for me to call him. Not him call me the client nor an appropriate respond to my email. I like to have all funds from my account returned to me so I do not have to deal with this company again.

This is the worst treatment I have ever received from Valic and I am so disappointed with this company and I will remove all funds and not do business with them anymore. The run around is so ridiculous and I just have a hard time with them, they have declined so badly.

I finally received an email from Eric Holmes as follows: (Ms. Johnson, I spoke to Diane who reiterated to me the facts that she shared in the email she sent dated May 17th. It seemed that she also apologized to you for our not making the transaction as smoothly as expected. I'm not sure if there is anything else for me to add. Sent from my iPhone) I would like to know exactly what happened with this process.

I finally received my deposit today 5/23/16 after noon. From 5/6/16 until 5/23/16, 18 days later.

Shirley Johnson

I started my transfer of my IRA in Oct 2015. Valic would not provide the forms needed via email or fax, would only send via snail mail. Forms were ambigious and lengthily. They seemed like they tried to confuse you. They required a signature guarantee for rollover. They have held the moneies for about 40 years and think it's their's. I returned forms on two accounts via certified mail. I've called back twice, they don't move on the paperwork unless you call. First call, valic related I filled out one of the forms incorrectly, a different form would be sent for me to fill out and return. The second account they related could not be paid out til they paid the minimum distribution for this year. That was to happen two days after the phone call. Valic also related they could not cut both checks the same day, the rollover was to take another day after that. It has been over 10 days. We have not received the minimum yearly distribution nor the rollover. Valid has delayed rollover for over two'months. From the amount of complaints on the internet I see I am not alone. I've sent complaints to SEC, BBB and now this forum. Apparently the powers that be don't care because valic keeps acting this way. You have to wonder if valic knows the meaning of fiduciary. AIG Valic pulls a vacuum! I will start calling Monday and listen to more of their ca ca. From what I understand this is called gating your money.

I was listed as the beneficiary of a valic retirement account for my deceased former wife. The money is to go to our children. After 4 months of phone calls, faxes and certified mailings of my divorce decree, I finally was told that I could not receive the money because I did not have a legal listing of property settlement from the divorce. The divorce was uncontested and there was no equitable property division. They have now said the funds can be released to her estate, which our son is the executor. I had to find out this information on my own. Luckily the estate still exists. If his mother's home had sold before I found out this, there would be no estate account left and according to their representative they would have kept the money. I found this reprehensible and totally unprofessional.

My father has an annuity through an employer. Dad died in January of 2015. Ive been trying to get Valic to transfer Dads money into a trust he established in 2005. The trustee is Mom. After SIX attempts to submit correct paperwork, the company says, yet again, that my paperwork is incorrect. Back in March, I completed the required paperwork IN-PERSON WITH THE LOCAL VALIC REPRESENTATIVE. That paperwork was rejected. During May, I completed the paperwork WITH A VALIC REP OVER THE PHONE. This paperwork was again rejected-even after the rep contacted all internal interested parties to verify their requirements. This is beyond absurd. Never, ever do business with this company. This is the single worst customer experience of my long life. Mom is still suffering from Dads passing and is now totally distraught over this issue.

1. After requesting VALIC investment advisor assigned to our account to move our variable annuity 403 (b) to a mutual fund, we were assured that it was being done. To ensure we were clear the question was asked several times "this is in a mutual fund?" to which we were told yes. However, it was not; it was nothing more than reshuffling funds within the variable annuity. Upon contacting VALIC by their 800 number, we were then told that VALIC does not have a mutual fund plan available to us. Complaint: Lied to by a FINRA verified VALIC investment advisor.
2. Therefore we decided to move our 403 (b) funds from VALIC to another authorized plan, only to discover that due to our variable annuity insurance contract it will take us 5 years (20% per year limit on fixed account) to remove all of our fund from VALIC into a non-VALIC 403 (b) plan. Complaint: Hidden, or at least very deeply buried rules regarding withdraws from the plan.