The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) overhaul of investment adviser marketing regulations back in 2021 with a compliance date of November 11, 2022, represented a significant development in how investment adviser services may be marketed. In many ways, the newly revised Rule 206(4)-1 (the “Marketing Rule”) was a significant revision, replacing and updating decades of staff no-action letters and guidance with a comprehensive, principles-based framework; however, as with any such endeavor, the consolidation and update of so much guidance raised new questions for investments advisers about what they can – and perhaps more importantly – cannot say in advertisements. Many of these questions have been answered through SEC staff guidance in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”)1 or through trends in SEC enforcement. In this article, we provide a brief overview of the Marketing Rule and outline the answers that can be gleaned from SEC enforcement actions and FAQs.

Lance Dial
Pablo Man