RIA Compliance and Practice Management Blog

Communication and prospecting in the wealth management industry have changed dramatically over the years. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the digital evolution already in progress, driving registered investment adviser ("RIA") firms to find new, virtual ways to connect with current clients and engage prospects.

So, where are investment advisers turning? Social media channels.

The increase in social media usage among investors, combined with the new Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") marketing rule, allows social media to be a potentially appealing marketing tool for investment advisers—but not without proper archiving in place.

Each week, we are giving you our weekly report highlighting the top compliance news articles from various industry news publications. We have selected the most relevant and important news articles related to registered investment adviser (RIA) compliance and regulatory issues. This week's recap focuses on the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) enforcement cases, regulatory focus on cybersecurity, enforcement of the Department of Labor's (DOL) Fiduciary Rule, and the proposed policy change for proxy advisory firms.

Here are our top investment adviser compliance articles for the week of November 12th, 2021:

On November 10th, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Division of Examinations released a new risk alert describing the findings from the recent Advisory Fees Initiative examinations of registered investment adviser ("RIA") firms. 

Under this initiative, the agency conducted 130 examinations of SEC-registered investment advisory firms. Examiners focused on whether advisers have adopted and are following policies and procedures for fair and accurate billing practices.

Below we discuss the common compliance deficiencies highlighted in this RIA compliance risk alert, along with regulatory compliance best practices for investment advisers to consider.

Each week, we are giving you our weekly report highlighting the top compliance news articles from various industry news publications. We have selected the most relevant and important news articles related to registered investment adviser (RIA) compliance and regulatory issues. This week's recap focuses on the Securities and Exchange Commission's "SEC" risk alert on investment advisers billing practices, compliance with the SEC Marketing Rule, anticipated regulatory changes for the private fund industry, and current trends for RIA fee models.  

Here are our top investment adviser compliance articles for the week of November 5th, 2021:

On November 9th, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Division of Examinations issued a new risk alert discussing the findings from a recent series of examinations of registered investment adviser ("RIA") firms providing robo-advisory services.

The SEC’s “Electronic Investment Advice Initiative” focused on how advisers adhered to their fiduciary duty to provide clear and adequate disclosures regarding the nature of the advisers' performance history and services, and how the advisers act in their clients' best interests. Below we discuss the common compliance deficiencies highlighted in this RIA compliance risk alert along with regulatory compliance best practices for online investment advisers to consider.

One of our company's longstanding commitments is investing time and resources to make the RIA in a Box service more valuable to the clients we serve. Since launching MyRIACompliance® in 2014, we have sought to make our service more efficient and higher quality by combining our human expertise with new tools and features. Our integrations with other financial management platforms continue to evolve and offer great value to our clients. Registered investment adviser ("RIA") firms utilizing our MyRIACompliance® RIA compliance software platform now benefit from our new integration with Independent Advisor Solutions by SEI (IAS). The integration allows a joint SEI and RIA in Box MyRIACompliance® clients to automate compliance and registration requirements to help ensure consistent and accurate registration and Form ADV information is filed.

Unfortunately, hackers or other malicious actors have multiple ways to access your firm's sensitive data. It’s important for any business to know how to keep bad actors out, but it’s especially important for registered investment adviser ("RIA") firms due to the sensitive nature of the data you handle. 

RIA firms face three main pillars of cybersecurity threats: people, technology, and vendors. In this blog post, we explore the threats related to technology, specifically vulnerable devices. 

Each week, we are giving you our weekly report highlighting the top compliance news articles from various industry news publications. We have selected the most relevant and important news articles related to registered investment adviser (RIA) compliance and regulatory issues. This week's recap focuses on RIA in a Box's new Virtual Advisor Desktop and Cybersecurity Dashboard, regulation on cybersecurity practices, reduced fees for state-registered investment advisers, the effects of the delay to the Fiduciary Rule, and continued pressure to amend Form CRS. 

Here are our top investment adviser compliance articles for the week of October 29th, 2021:

The findings in this blog post come from our annual survey of over 1,800 registered investment advisor ("RIA") firms, conducted in the first quarter of 2021. This proprietary RIA in a Box study is paired with publicly accessible data provided by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The goal of our annual study is to understand different options that comprise each firm characteristic, and to determine whether specific characteristics impact the growth, size, or operational efficiency of an RIA firm. In this blog post, we will explore our survey results in response to financial planning software systems used by RIA firms.

Each week we are giving you our weekly report highlighting the top compliance news articles from various industry news publications. We have selected the most relevant and important news articles related to registered investment adviser (RIA) compliance and regulatory issues. This week's recap focuses on the Department of Labor's (DOL) decision to delay enforcement on the Fiduciary Rule, trending growth of advisors moving to SEC-registration, using testimonials under the SEC Marketing Rule, and the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) focus on identity theft prevention and "orphan" accounts.  

Here are our top investment adviser compliance articles for the week of October 22nd, 2021: