World Marketing Alliance

World Marketing Alliance no longer appears to be active as a direct sales company.

Aegon acquired selected WMA assets in 2001 and used them to establish World Financial Group, which remains active as a Transamerica-owned financial-services MLM. The original WMA Securities broker-dealer ceased business in April 2002.

Original Npros business profile for World Marketing Alliance, preserved below for archival purposes:

World Marketing Alliance was founded in 1991 by former A.L. Williams/Primerica executive Hubert Humphrey and his wife, Norma Humphrey. Operating from Duluth, Georgia, WMA marketed financial and insurance products to middle-income households through a large organization of independent representatives. The company's securities business operated through WMA Securities Inc., a Georgia corporation formed on April 14, 1993, and registered as a broker-dealer beginning in January 1994.

WMA representatives marketed variable universal life insurance, variable annuities, mutual funds, retirement products, mortgages and other financial services. SEC filings described World Marketing Alliance as a national sales and marketing organization whose agents sold life insurance and annuity policies issued by outside insurance companies. WMA Securities was authorized to sell mutual funds, corporate debt and equity securities, variable life insurance and variable annuities.

The company used a multilevel agency-building model. Representatives could earn commissions from their own licensed product sales and develop organizations by recruiting and training additional representatives. Leaders received commission overrides tied to production generated by agents in their organizations. This basic structure continued after WMA became World Financial Group: the current WFG plan pays personal sales commissions, team overrides, advancement-related compensation and company-production bonuses.

In June 2001, World Financial Group, a subsidiary of Aegon Asset Management Services, purchased selected assets of World Marketing Alliance. The acquired insurance and financial-services distribution operation was relaunched under the World Financial Group name. Hubert Humphrey retained certain businesses outside the transaction and later operated World Leadership Group and Hegemon Group International. The WMA acquisition price was not publicly disclosed.

WMA Securities ceased business on April 12, 2002, and its regulatory registration ended on July 1, 2002. Aegon-owned World Group Securities became the securities firm associated with the new World Financial Group organization. World Group Securities later ceased business on February 1, 2012, as representatives transitioned into Aegon and Transamerica's consolidated securities platform. Financial professionals associated with WFG now offer U.S. securities and investment-advisory services through Transamerica Financial Advisors, while WFG's insurance agencies handle life-insurance sales.

World Financial Group remains active and continues WMA's network-marketing-style agency model. The company is owned by Transamerica and reported more than 90,000 life-licensed agents in North America as of 2025. WFG stated that it paid approximately $1.579 billion in commissions during 2025. Its March 2026 earnings disclosure reported that life-insurance-licensed agents in the United States and Canada received an average of $11,443 during 2025, before their independent business expenses.

WMA Securities accumulated several significant regulatory actions before the transition. In 1998, the Arizona Corporation Commission found that WMA had failed to supervise representatives who sold unauthorized investments. The case involved at least $971,057.15 in Federal Funding Foundation and Viaticum investments sold to 21 investors, along with additional unregistered investments marketed through Plus More Trust. WMA paid a $100,000 civil penalty, reimbursed affected investors and adopted a revised supervisory plan.

In June 2000, WMA settled a Massachusetts Securities Division proceeding involving unauthorized Royal Meridian International Bank certificates of deposit. Approximately 13 investors had lost about $750,000. WMA agreed to provide approximately $740,000 in restitution, establish a $650,000 letter of credit for potential additional claims and implement a revised supervisory structure.

NASD Regulation also fined WMA Securities $125,000 in 2000 for failing to report nearly 900 customer complaints, representing approximately 75% of the complaints the firm received over a three-and-a-half-year period. Some complaints alleged misrepresentations or omissions involving variable life insurance. In April 2002, NASD censured WMA Securities and imposed another $200,000 fine for advertising, registration and supervisory violations, while requiring the firm to submit its advertising and sales literature for advance review for six months.

Hubert Humphrey