2 Northwestern Mutual agents agree to pay $2,500 to settle Insurance Department probe

Michael Cousineau, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
·2 min read

May 1—Two Northwestern Mutual agents in Manchester each have agreed to pay a $2,500 administrative penalty in a deal to settle investigations against them by the state Insurance Department.

The department concluded that J. Quinn Hogan and Stephen A. Graham violated state law when they or their staff "used a form to gather client information with questions that did not track verbatim the language used in life insurance applications," according to their separate consent orders approved recently.

Hogan is founder of ClearView Financial Group in Manchester and Graham works there. Neither responded to messages left Monday.

State regulators were investigating seven Northwestern Mutual agents in New Hampshire for activities that in some cases dated back to 2021, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a government-authorized, not-for-profit organization that oversees U.S. broker-dealers.

A Northwestern Mutual spokeswoman previously confirmed all seven were current or former registered representatives of Northwestern Mutual Investment Services LLC, including three who no longer worked there.

The three permitted to resign were Craig Favara, Nicholas Giordano and Corey Walker.

Favara, for instance, was allowed to resign while the Insurance Department was reviewing him for unapproved marketing emails to prospective clients.

Two others under investigation were Scott Christensen and Brian Belliveau.

None has responded to requests for comments.

Regulators from the Insurance Department and the New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation have been reviewing the behavior of Northwestern Mutual agents.

According to the consent orders, Graham and Hogan were listed as "cooperative" with the state Insurance Department probes. Both agreed to appear as a witness and to testify for the Insurance Department, if needed, at any hearing regarding the misconduct of anybody affiliated with their employer at the time of employment.

Another $7,500 in administrative penalties become due if the Insurance Department finds either violated an insurance law or rule within two years of the order.

The consent order will be reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Hogan and Graham must answer yes to any question that asks if they had ever been named or involved as a party in an administrative proceeding.

Northwestern Mutual spokeswoman Julia Fennelly didn't immediately provide a comment Monday. She previously said the firm "takes matters of governance and compliance seriously, including our responsibility to state regulatory bodies."