Registered Investment Advisors Reminders

With 2009 beginning, this is a good time of year to review your compliance files to be certain you have current and documented information about your firm’s practice. Here is a checklist to help with that review.

Review your firm’s IARD administrator and user accounts to confirm the correct person is included as a Primary Administrator.
Review Form ADV Part I for revisions, including your assets under management, in preparation for your Annual Updating Amendment due 90 days after your fiscal year end.
Confirm that you maintain copies of your advertising records and computation worksheets/records demonstrating performance results (if applicable).
Review contracts to ensure that terms are consistent with your Form ADV.
Confirm your Investment Advisor Representatives’ Form U4 information is current, especially outside business activities.
Confirm documentation of your offer of your Form ADV II and Schedule F to your clients.
Update investment policy statements or other information regarding client suitability, discretionary authority and investment restrictions. Contact clients to find out if investment objectives or risk tolerances have changed.
Confirm that your firm has information and documentation that demonstrates periodic and systematic evaluation of quality and cost of brokerage services.
Confirm that your solicitors are delivering your disclosure documents to prospective clients and that you have a solicitor agreement in your compliance file (if applicable).
Obtain annual employee acknowledgment of receipt/review of Code of Ethics.
Obtain employee acknowledgment of receipt/review of your Written Supervisory Procedures.
Assess overall compliance with personal trading reporting requirements and holdings reports of Supervised Persons.
Confirm if Section 13f filing is required. (If you exercise investment discretion with respect to accounts holding Section 13(f) securities, having an aggregate fair market value on the last trading day of any month of any calendar year of at least $100,000,000 you need to file Form 13F with the SEC. A complete list of 13f securities is included on www.sec.gov website.)
Confirm documentation of delivery of your Privacy Policy both initially and annually to your clients.
Confirm documentation of your annual testing of your Policies and Procedures, including testing of your Business Continuity Plan and Anti-Money Laundering Procedures, Proxy Voting, and Soft Dollar Policies (if applicable).
Confirm documentation relating to the review of your employees’ email.
Confirm the solvency and financial status of your RIA firm. Have there been any changes in your firm’s financial status that require you to notify your clients?
Confirm custody arrangements, if applicable, of client’s funds and securities

If you have any questions as you review this checklist, please do not hesitate to contact Renee Hall at (603) 434-3594 extension 117 or Rhall@regulatorycompliance.com.