Under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, no specific financial requirements, such as a minimum net worth, are spelled out. However, there are financial disclosures that must be made to clients under certain conditions. Under the Uniform Securities Act, the Administrator may, by rule or order, establish minimum financial requirements for registration as an investment adviser in the state.
Any RIA compensated under a wrap fee program for sponsoring, organizing, or administering the program, or for selecting, or providing advice to clients regarding the selection of, other investment advisers in the program, does not use the normal brochure or Part 2A of the ADV. Instead, that adviser furnishes clients and prospective clients Part 2A, Appendix 1.
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.
Knowing firm requirements as set forth in the Investment Advisers Act is essential, and learning from the mistakes of others in this area can be a valuable and motivating tool for striving for compliance in the financial services industry. In an atmosphere where Chief Compliance Officers (CCO) are being added to disciplinary proceedings, learning and taking immediate corrective action is the name of the game. No longer is the firm the only name blasted across SEC complaints; regulators will ensure that individuals are equally held responsible. Read More…
Under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”), Investment Advisers assume a fiduciary responsibility requiring them to seek and obtain the “best execution” for client transactions when trading in client accounts. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has outlined this responsibility as “an adviser must execute securities transactions for clients in such a manner that the client’s total costs or proceeds in each transaction are the most favorable under the circumstances.” Also, the SEC has indicated Investment Advisers need to periodically “evaluate the execution quality of the broker-dealer executing their clients’ transactions.”