SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                       _________________________________

                                    FORM 8-K

                 CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
                     OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934



        Date of report (date of earliest event reported): October 9, 2003



                        FINANCIAL INDUSTRIES CORPORATION
               (Exact name of Registrant as specified in charter)




           Texas                       0-4690                    74-2126975
(State or other jurisdiction   (Commission file number)      (I.R.S. employer
of incorporation)                                            identification no.)





                      6500 River Place Blvd., Building One
                               Austin, Texas 78730
                    (Address of principal executive offices)


       Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (512) 404-5000


                        _______________________________


                                     - 1 -







     Item 5. Other Events


     (1)  The Company is reviewing  its  investment  activities  during the past
          year,  including mark- ups and commissions  paid during that time. The
          Company  is also  investigating,  among  other  things,  relationships
          between a broker-dealer used by the Company and William P. Tedrow. Mr.
          Tedrow is the president of the Company's FIC Financial Services,  Inc.
          subsidiary and a Vice President of the Company. In his capacity at the
          Company,  Mr. Tedrow has  participated  during the current year in the
          general supervision of investment activities.

          The Company's  investigation  of these  matters is in the  preliminary
          stages. Mr. Tedrow has been placed on administrative leave pending the
          results  of  this  investigation.  The  Company  has not  reached  any
          conclusion with regard to Mr. Tedrow's role, if any, in the activities
          under review.

     (2)  In connection  with the  resignation of Eugene E. Payne as Chairman of
          the Company,  Dr.  Payne and the Company  entered into an amendment to
          his employment agreement.  Under the terms of the amendment, Dr. Payne
          agreed  to  continue  as  President  and CEO for a  period  ending  on
          February  20,  2004,  subject to the right of the Company to terminate
          the employment period at an earlier date. At the end of the employment
          period,  the  amendment  provides  that  Dr.  Payne  is to  receive  a
          severance payment in the amount of $360,000, net of applicable taxes.

          The amendment to the employment  agreement of Eugene E. Payne is filed
          as Exhibit 10.1 to this 8-K.

     (3)  The  life  insurance  subsidiaries  of  the  Company  (Investors  Life
          Insurance Company of North America and Family Life Insurance  Company)
          have entered into investment  management agreements with Conning Asset
          Management Company ("Conning").  Under these agreements,  Conning will
          manage  the  investment  security  portfolios  of the  Company's  life
          insurance  subsidiaries in accordance with investment  policies set by
          the Company's  Board of Directors.  In addition,  Conning will provide
          such other investment advisory and investment accounting and reporting
          services  to  the  Company's  life  insurance  subsidiaries  as may be
          reasonably requested and agreed to by Conning.


     Item 7. Financial Statement and Exhibits:

     (c)  Exhibits

          The following exhibit is included with this Report:

     Exhibit 10.1  Amendment No. 1 to  Employment  Agreement of Eugene E. Payne,
     dated as of October 9,2003.


                                    - 2 -







                                   SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the  requirements  of the Securities  Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

                                        FINANCIAL INDUSTRIES CORPORATION



Date: October 29, 2003                  By: /s/ Eugene E. Payne
                                           ____________________________________
                                           Eugene E. Payne
                                           Chief Executive Officer


                                     - 3 -







                                  Exhibit 10.1


                                 Amendment No. 1
                                       to
                              Employment Agreement


This Amendment No. 1 to the Employment  Agreement (the "Agreement")  dated as of
November  4,  2002  ("Agreement  Date")  by  and  between  Financial  Industries
Corporation, a Texas company ("Company"),  and Eugene E. Payne ("Executive"),  a
resident of Texas.  The parties  desire to enter into this  Amendment,  which is
intended  to  modify  certain  terms  and   conditions  of  the  Agreement.   In
consideration  of the  mutual  agreements  contained  herein,  the  Company  and
Executive agree as follows:


     1. Section 2.1 of the Agreement is hereby  amended to delete all references
to the position of Chairman. Executive agrees that the deletion of the title and
responsibilities of Chairman is the result of mutual agreement between Executive
and the  Company.  Accordingly,  Executive  agrees that said  deletion  does not
constitute "Good Reason", within the meaning of Section 1.22 of the Agreement;

     2. Section 1.22 of the  Agreement is hereby  amended by the addition of the
following at the end of sub-paragraph (a) of said section:

          and  provided, further, that :

          (i)  the  failure of  Executive  to  continue to serve on the Board of
               Directors of the Company as a result of the final  disposition of
               the  litigation  entitled  Otter  Creek  Partnership  I, L.P.  v.
               Financial  Industries  Corporation,  Cause No. GN  302072,  261st
               Judicial District Court of Travis County,  Texas (the "Lawsuit"),
               whether  by  settlement  between  the  parties  or a final  court
               ruling,  shall not  constitute  Good Reason for  purposes of this
               Agreement.  Executive and Company  acknowledge  that, at the 2003
               Annual Meeting of  Shareholders  of the Company,  the proxies for
               the  nominees  of  Financial   Industries   Corporation  for  the
               alternative  potential  outcomes of the  Lawsuit  were voted in a
               manner  whereby  Executive  would not be  elected to the Board of
               Directors  of the  Company,  in the event that all or part of the
               proxies granted to the Company by the Roy F. and Joann Cole Mitte
               Foundation were to be set aside or reallocated;

          (ii) the failure of  Executive to be  nominated,  appointed or elected
               and to continue to be nominated,  re-elected or re-appointed as a
               member of the Board of  Directors or as the  Chairman,  President
               and  Chief  Executive   Officer  of  each  of  the  Life  Company
               Subsidiaries  shall not  constitute  Good Reason for  purposes of
               this Agreement; and


                                     - 4 -







          (iii)the close  supervision  and  direction  of  Executive  and of the
               business of the Company by the Board of  Directors of the Company
               through the end of the  Employment  Period  shall not  constitute
               Good Reason for purposes of this Agreement.

     2. Section 3.1 of the  Agreement is hereby  amended in its entirety to read
as follows:

          3.1 Employment Period.  The term of Executive's  employment under this
          Agreement (the "Employment  Period") shall begin on the Agreement Date
          and end on February 20, 2004. The Company  reserves the right,  at its
          sole option,  to establish an earlier date between August 22, 2003 and
          February 20, 2004 as the ending date of the  Employment  Period.  Upon
          the advance written request of Executive,  the Company may, but is not
          obligated to,  consent to an earlier date between  August 22, 2003 and
          February 20, 2004 as the ending date of the Employment Period.. At the
          end of the Employment  Period,  Executive shall be entitled to receive
          the payment  (and only the  payment)  set forth in paragraph 4 of this
          Amendment No. 1 to the Employment Agreement.

     3. Section 4.2 is hereby deleted in its entirety. The phrase "or his Annual
Bonus in violation of Section 4.2" is hereby deleted from Section 1.22(a)(viii).
Section 1.22(a)(x) is hereby deleted in its entirety.

     4. Article IV  -Compensation  is amended by the  addition of the  following
section:

          4.2 Severance Payment. At the end of the Employment Period,  Executive
          shall be  entitled to  receive,  a severance  payment in the amount of
          $360,000,  net of any  applicable  deductions for federal income taxes
          and other related payroll taxes. The Company shall make such severance
          payment to the  Executive  on the later of (i) January 9, 2004 or (ii)
          ten business days following the last day of the Employment  Period, as
          determined  in accordance  with the  provisions of Section 3.1 of this
          Agreement, as amended


                                     - 5 -






     5. All capitalized terms in this Amendment shall have the meaning set forth
in the Agreement, in the absence of a different definition set forth herein.

     6. To the extent that any terms of this Amendment are inconsistent with the
express terms of the Agreement, this Amendment shall control. All other terms in
the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF,  Company and Executive have caused this Amendment to be
executed as of this 9th day of October, 2003.



                                        Financial Industries Corporation

                                        By:      /s/ R. Keith Long
                                             ___________________________________
                                        Title:  Chairman


Executive:                              By:     /s/ Eugene E. Payne
                                            ____________________________________
                                            Eugene E. Payne


                                     - 6 -