Updated August 25, 2026. Quick answer: Under California’s registry statute the individual at the sign-up table is expressly not the vendor: the definition excludes individual registered representatives, brokers, financial planners and agents. District personnel, elected officials included, may not receive consideration from a vendor for promoting one. 95 of the 134 active products are flagged as paying a commission, including every one of the 31 equity-indexed annuities — and no primary source we read publishes how much.
What is usually said, and what the sources say
The person running the sign-up table is generally read as somebody the district engaged, which makes the district’s tolerance of them look like an endorsement and makes the paperwork look official.
Under California’s registry statute the individual is expressly not the vendor – the definition excludes individual registered representatives, brokers, financial planners and agents – and district personnel, including elected school officials, may not receive consideration from a vendor for promoting one. Federal law approaches it from the other end: for a private-sector 403(b), letting annuity contractors publicise their products to employees is one of the involvements an employer may have and still be outside ERISA. For a public school the question does not arise, because ERISA does not reach the plan at all.
The person at the table is not the vendor
California’s chapter defines who registers, and the definition ends with an exclusion that settles most of the confusion: vendor “does not include individual registered representatives, brokers, financial planners, or agents” (Cal. Educ. Code sec. 25100(c)(2)(A)). The company files. The individual does not. Whatever the person in the staff room is, they are not the party that made the disclosures, and they are not the party the registry lists.
They are also not permitted to imply the state approved anything. Vendors may not “claim or infer any endorsement or recommendation by the board or the system with respect to products and services identified by the vendors in the information bank” (Cal. Educ. Code sec. 25109(b)).
What the district may and may not do
One sentence in the same chapter covers the arrangement most people are actually uneasy about: “Personnel, including elected school officials, acting on behalf of an employer, may not receive consideration from a vendor in exchange for the promotion of a particular vendor or vendor’s products” (Cal. Educ. Code sec. 25112). It reaches elected school officials by name, and it prohibits consideration in exchange for promotion — not access, and not the sign-up table itself.
That distinction is the whole point. Access is generally lawful and, for a private-sector 403(b), the federal rule treats it as one of the involvements an employer may have while staying outside ERISA entirely. The safe-harbour regulation lists “Permitting annuity contractors (which term shall include any agent or broker who offers annuity contracts or who makes available custodial accounts within the meaning of section 403(b)(7) of the Code) to publicize their products to employees” (29 CFR 2510.3-2(f)(3)(i)). Letting the sales visit happen is, in the regulation’s own frame, evidence that the employer is standing back.
For a public school district the question does not arise at all, because ERISA does not apply to the plan: the statute excludes any plan where “such plan is a governmental plan” (29 U.S.C. 1003(b)(1) (ERISA sec. 4(b)(1))). There is no federal fiduciary standing between the teacher and the sales visit. The state prohibition on paying district personnel is what there is.
Check the plan against the rest of your retirement savings
A 403(b) decision usually turns on what the product costs, what leaving it would cost and what else you are saving into, and an adviser can weigh those together.
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How the products pay, and the number nobody publishes
The registry flags whether each product pays a commission. Across the 134 active products, 95 are flagged as paying one: 63 of the 70 annuity products and 32 of the 64 fund products. Every one of the 31 active equity-indexed annuities is flagged as commission-paying.
| Product type | Active products | Publish an annual cost | Median annual cost on $10,000 | Carry a surrender schedule | Flagged as paying a commission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable Annuity | 22 | 22 of 22 | $209 (range $92–$497) | 20 of 22 | 18 of 22 |
| Fixed Annuity | 17 | 0 of 17 | not published for any of them | 9 of 17 | 14 of 17 |
| Equity Indexed Annuity | 31 | 0 of 31 | not published for any of them | 30 of 31 | 31 of 31 |
| Mutual Fund | 64 | 64 of 64 | $143.50 (range $54–$777) | 4 of 64 | 32 of 64 |
All 134 active products in the registry on 2026-08-25. Annual cost is the site’s own standardised figure: “Annual cost for this product is based on a $10,000 balance and assumes you are invested in one fund. It includes required product fees, and also applies the average expense ratio of all investment options.” (CalSTRS 403bCompare, product page footnote).
What no source we read publishes is how much. The registry’s flag is binary. The disclosure duty in section 25101 is written around what the participant pays, not around what the distributor receives, and the sanction in section 25107 is likewise about charging: “A vendor may not charge a fee associated with a registered 403(b) product that is not disclosed” (Cal. Educ. Code sec. 25107). We looked for a published rate and did not find one, so this page does not carry a number it cannot source.
The practical read: a commission flag tells you a sales channel exists and is paid out of the product. It does not tell you the product is unsuitable, and it does not tell you the size of the incentive. If you want the size, the place it is disclosed is the prospectus for the specific contract, not the registry.
What this page does not settle
This page quotes the rules that govern access and payment, and reports a binary commission flag. It alleges nothing about any individual, district or company.
No primary source we read publishes what any 403(b) salesperson is paid. The registry publishes a yes-or-no commission flag on each product and never an amount, a rate or a schedule, so this page reports how many products pay a commission and cannot report how much.
Section 25112 is a prohibition on district personnel, not on the salesperson, and we did not test compliance anywhere. Nothing here says or implies that any district or any individual has broken it.
The ERISA safe harbour quoted here is the rule for private-sector employers. A public school district’s plan is outside ERISA for a different reason entirely, and the safe harbour is quoted for what it shows about how the arrangement is understood, not because it governs a school district.
Sources
- 29 CFR 2510.3-2(f)(3)(i) — https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/2510.3-2
- 29 U.S.C. 1003(b)(1) (ERISA sec. 4(b)(1)) — https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title29-section1003&num=0&edition=prelim
- Cal. Educ. Code sec. 25100(c)(2)(A) — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=EDC§ionNum=25100.
- Cal. Educ. Code sec. 25107 — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=EDC§ionNum=25107.
- Cal. Educ. Code sec. 25109(b) — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=EDC§ionNum=25109.
- Cal. Educ. Code sec. 25112 — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=EDC§ionNum=25112.
- CalSTRS 403bCompare product registry, fetched 2026-08-25 — https://www.403bcompare.com/ProductCompare
Related: Why a School District’s 403(b) Vendor List Is Mostly Annuities · How to Read a District’s Approved 403(b) Vendor List · 403(b) Contract Exchange · Annuity churning red flags · The annuity you already own · Finding an advisor who understands a teacher.
General information drawn from the federal statutes and regulations, the California Education and Insurance Codes and the CalSTRS 403bCompare registry named above, not legal, tax or financial advice. Statutes are amended and registered products change; the figures here are what each source said on the date above, and each is linked so you can check it.