South Dakota § 58-33A-16.1 - Annuity--Recommendation--Producer responsibilities.

§ 58-33A-16.1. Annuity--Recommendation--Producer responsibilities.

Producers must, in making a recommendation:

(1)    Exercise reasonable diligence, care, and skill to:

(a)    Know the consumer’s financial situation, insurance needs, and financial objectives;

(b)    Understand the available recommendation options after making a reasonable inquiry into options available to the producer;

(c)    Have a reasonable basis to believe the recommended option effectively addresses the consumer’s financial situation, insurance needs, and financial objectives over the life of the product as evaluated in light of the consumer profile information; and

(d)    Communicate the basis or bases of the recommendation;

(2)    Make reasonable efforts to obtain consumer profile information from the consumer prior to the recommendation of an annuity;

(3)    Consider the types of products the producer is authorized and licensed to recommend or sell that address the consumer’s financial situation, insurance needs, and financial objectives. This does not require analysis or consideration of any products outside the authority and license of the producer or other possible alternative products or strategies available in the market at the time of the recommendation. A producer is not considered to be authorized for a product if the producers have no access to that product. The producer must be held to standards applicable to producers with similar authority and licensure; and

(4)    Have a reasonable basis to believe the consumer would benefit from certain features of the annuity, such as annuitization, death or living benefit, or other insurance-related features.

Factors generally relevant in making a determination whether an annuity effectively addresses the consumer’s financial situation, insurance needs, and financial objectives include the consumer profile information, characteristics of the insurer, product costs, rates, benefits, and features. The level of importance of each factor in this section may vary depending on the facts and circumstances of a particular case, but each factor may not be considered in isolation.

Source: SL 2022, ch 186, § 7, eff. Jan. 1, 2023; SL 2023, ch 168, § 3.