Marketing moves quickly. A website update, client quote, or performance chart can be published in minutes, while the compliance questions behind it may require a careful review. An effective RIA marketing process brings those questions into the workflow before a material reaches its audience.
The SEC marketing rule, Rule 206(4)-1, applies to advisers registered or required to register with the SEC. State-registered advisers should assess their applicable state requirements. The following workflow is a practical approach to review and oversight, tailored to the firm’s activities.
Start by Identifying the Communication
Create an inventory of website pages, social posts, emails, presentations, videos, referral arrangements, and other promotional activity. Determine whether each communication falls within the rule’s definition of an advertisement; the answer depends on its content, audience, and circumstances.
For internal review, record who created the material, where it will appear, who will receive it, and whether it includes a testimonial, endorsement, rating, or performance result. Route complex items to a reviewer with the appropriate expertise.
Review Website Claims and Their Support
Check factual claims against current evidence. Statements about experience, credentials, services, awards, and investment results need a reliable basis. Identify the supporting record and who is responsible for keeping it current.
The rule prohibits materially misleading advertisements and imposes requirements concerning substantiation and fair and balanced presentation. Evaluate the overall impression, including headings, graphics, and nearby disclosures. A disclaimer may not fix a misleading headline.
As a practical check, compare a page’s description of the firm with Form ADV and the services employees actually provide. Review the mobile version as well: a disclosure that appears close to a claim on desktop may be distant or difficult to read on a phone.
Evaluate Testimonials and Endorsements Separately
The rule permits testimonials and endorsements subject to applicable conditions. Review disclosure of client status, compensation, and conflicts; oversight; written agreement requirements; and compensated promoter disqualification provisions. Exceptions exist, so determine which conditions apply to the specific arrangement.
Keep a file for each arrangement containing the statement used, promoter information, compensation details, relevant checks, agreements where required, and approved disclosures. Include noncash benefits when evaluating compensation.
For example, a client who receives a fee credit for a promotional quote presents different facts from a client who receives no benefit. The reviewer needs that information before approving the quote and disclosures. Reusing a review from another platform also requires assessment of the adviser’s involvement and use.
Give Performance Presentations a Defined Review Path
Identify whether results are actual, hypothetical, extracted, related, or predecessor performance. Check the applicable requirements before deciding that a familiar chart format is sufficient.
The rule generally restricts gross-only performance and imposes conditions for net performance presentation. It also addresses time periods, related portfolios, extracted results, and hypothetical performance. Review the calculation methodology, fees, source data, audience, and supporting disclosures.
Current SEC staff FAQs address particular performance questions, including extracts and certain portfolio characteristics. Those views are conditional staff guidance, not a blanket exemption from the rule. Review the full conditions before relying on them.
Build an approval package that includes the calculation workbook or system output, assumptions, portfolio selection rationale, relevant periods, and the final presentation. Have a qualified reviewer assess the calculation as well as the wording.
Set Clear Approval and Recordkeeping Steps
Use a workflow that separates drafting, compliance review, revisions, approval, and publication. Record the approved version and any restrictions on its use. A later change to the performance period, quote, audience, or disclosure should trigger a fresh assessment.
Retain applicable advertising records and supporting materials under the firm’s recordkeeping obligations. For web content, capture the published version so that future edits do not erase what prospective clients actually saw.
Monitor Materials After Publication
Assign owners to check active pages and campaigns for outdated facts, expired approvals, changed compensation arrangements, or stale performance. Use findings to improve the review checklist and employee training.
The SEC’s December 2025 marketing risk alert highlights staff observations involving testimonials, endorsements, and third-party ratings. These observations can help firms evaluate their processes without replacing the underlying rule.
Marketing Compliance Support From DFP Partners
DFP Partners provides RIA compliance consulting and outsourced CCO services. Contact DFP Partners to discuss a marketing review process that fits your firm’s website, communications, and business development activities.