We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this special update. Well, technically it’s the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) update and it pertains to the regulation of investment adviser advertising. On December 22, 2020, the SEC amended the current regulatory framework governing investment adviser advertising. In making these changes, the SEC incorporated
Books and Records – Two Small Words and One Enormous Rule
If there was ever a reason to follow Josh’s advice to involve compliance early in building out the functionality of your robo-adviser, the recordkeeping requirements of the Advisers Act are it. As Josh mentioned in his post, Advisers Act Rule 204-2 imposes extensive recordkeeping requirements that you’ll want to be familiar with from the
Ensuring the Accuracy of your Disclosure
Thus far, our review of the necessary components of your compliance program has focused on discrete areas. This post focuses on another equally important aspect of your compliance program that touches all of those other areas; ensuring the accuracy of your disclosures. After all, what’s the point of putting in all of the hours to
Proprietary Trading – Follow the Golden Rule
When it comes to trading in your firm’s own investment accounts (proprietary trading), it’s never cherry-picking season. Instead, when allocating investment opportunities, you should follow the golden rule – treat your clients like you want to be treated.
What does this mean? As an investment adviser, your fiduciary duty requires you to allocate securities and
Soft Dollar Arrangements – What to Know
In our last post, Craig began our discussion of trading practices by examining an adviser’s duty to obtain best execution. This post continues our trading practice discussion with a focus on soft dollar arrangements.
Soft dollar arrangements generally arise when an adviser receives research or brokerage products or services from a broker-dealer in exchange
Meeting Your Best Execution Obligation
So, let’s say your robo-adviser firm has created a brand new strategy that you think would be attractive to investors. You’ve registered your firm, licensed your personnel, built and tested the algorithm, and now you’re ready to bring your strategy to market. Now, all you need to do is find a broker who
Maintaining Compliance with Your Portfolio Management Process
In a previous blog post, we discussed an adviser’s fiduciary duty to provide advice based on the client’s financial situation and investment objectives. In today’s post, we’ll examine the practical implications of this requirement from a compliance prospective.
Craig noted in our last entry that Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-7 (the “Compliance Rule”) requires that
Compliance 101 – Building Your Compliance Program from the Ground Up
To date, we have covered a myriad of topics designed to help you get your firm off the ground, focusing primarily on issues like registration, licensing, advertising, disclosure, and communicating and contracting with clients. These critical issues have one thing in common – they all involve working with folks outside your firm. Today, we kick
No Time Like the Present to Review Your Business Continuity Plan
To our readers, we hope this entry to our blog finds you and your family safe and healthy. As we all begin to envision a path forward following the unprecedented events caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a focus on compliance for your firm should not be an overlooked task.
For robo-advisers, this is an opportunity
SEC Announces Exams Will Focus on Compliance with Form CRS
If you can believe it, May 1, 2020 is almost upon us. And if you don’t remember from our February post, that is the day when advisory firms serving retail investors may start filing client relationship summaries on Form CRS. As a reminder, Form CRS gives clients a quick summary of the key things