The NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (#275) sets the standard of care for recommending and selling annuities. The NAIC publishes it as a model regulation; it becomes binding only when a state adopts its own version. That is the first thing to know: the exact rule a producer must meet depends on the state whose adopted version applies, even though the model gives them a common shape.
What #275 expects of a producer
In 2020 the NAIC revised #275 to add a "best interest" standard of care — a producer must act in the consumer's best interest, not merely recommend a "suitable" product. Tied to that standard is a producer training requirement:
- A producer must complete a one-time annuity training course before soliciting the sale of annuities.
- Under the best-interest revision, a new producer completes a 4-hour best-interest annuity training course; a producer who already completed the earlier general annuity training can complete a shorter update course instead.
- The producer must also complete the product-specific training a carrier requires before selling that carrier's annuities.
Carriers generally confirm this training before letting a producer sell their annuities — which means the agency needs the producer's completion attestation on hand, not just somewhere in the producer's inbox.
Where Accedo fits — and where it does not
Accedo is not a course provider and it is not your state continuing-education system of record. The training itself, and the official completion certificate, come from the approved provider. Accedo does not replace them.
What Accedo does is keep the attestation layer the agency is responsible for: a dated, signed record that each producer attested to completing the required annuity training and acknowledged your suitability and best-interest procedures. You can:
- Publish the suitability / best-interest procedure and assign it to every producer who sells annuities.
- Collect a dated attestation that the producer completed the required training and read the procedure.
- Re-confirm on a cadence as procedures or carrier requirements change.
- Export the record when a carrier confirms training, or during an internal review.
The state-adopted version of #275 sets the requirement; Accedo keeps the dated proof that your producers met it.