Part 2A of the Form ADV requires advisers to create narrative brochures containing information about the advisory firm. Both federal and state registered advisers must prepare and deliver a brochure to their clients according to the brochure delivery requirements set in 17 CFR § 275.204-3 – Delivery of brochures and brochure supplements.
Rule 204-3, the brochure rule, is a requirement under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 that requires investment advisers to provide a written disclosure statement to their clients. The rule applies to all federally registered investment advisers and specifies times during the advisory process at which they must provide the materials. To satisfy this rule, adviser can either provide clients Part 2 of the Form ADV, or they can provide an actual brochure that contains the same information that would be found in Form ADV Part 2A and 2B.
Part 2 of the Form ADV consists of:
This blog will cover Part 2A of Form ADV: Firm Brochure, for more information on Form ADV, check out our Form ADV blog now, or our Part 2A Appendix 1 of Form ADV: Wrap Fee Program Brochure and Part 2A of Form ADV: Firm Brochure blogs being posted soon.
For an investment adviser to qualify for an exemption from state registration, they have to either meet an exemption under the Investment Act of 1940, be a federal covered adviser, or be registered with the SEC. The Dodd-Frank Act has created 3 thresholds for investment advisers based of their assets under management (“AUM”) as well as some more general exclusions, all of which provide advisers the ability to register with the SEC.
Previously on the MasterCompliance blog, we covered When Do You Have to Register as an Investment Advisor and Exclusions from the Definition Investment Advisor. This Blog will discuss when a person does meet the definition of an investment advisor under the Investment Act of 1940, but is exempt from registration.
On December 1, 2020, the state of New York adopted new regulations that amended its Investment Advisory Act to require the registration of investment adviser representatives (“IAR”) including principals, supervisors, and solicitors through the WebCRD/IARD system. Prior to the rule change, New York was the only state that did not license IAR via the WebCRD/IARD system. The change to to New York IAR registration will go into effect on February 1, 2021 for all new registrants, and December 2, 2021 for any New York IARs already providing services, provided they apply for registration by August 31, 2021. The Amendments The Read more about Change to New York IAR Registration[…]
If you find yourself in need of a broker dealer, you have the option to either buy an existing one or start one from scratch. MasterCompliance has years of experience in both brokering broker dealer transactions as well as assisting our clients create new broker dealers, and in our experience buying a broker dealer tends to be the most popular choice. While the speed and convenience of buying a broker dealer are favorable, there are pros and cons to this option you should consider.