We are excited to announce the official release of the new RIA in a Box RIA Registration Wizard for prospective RIA firms. This free online wizard allows a prospective registered investment advisor (RIA) firm to automatically check to see where the firm may need to register. This process takes less than 2 minutes and is completed online via the RIA Registration Wizard.
Trying to figure out where the a new RIA firm needs to register can be one of the most challenging and mystifying parts of starting an RIA firm. With this new online wizard, we hope to simplify and greatly reduce the time spent during that research process for prospective investment advisory firms. Some of the common RIA registrations questions automatically answered by the wizard include:
- Does my new RIA firm need to register at the SEC or state level?
- Do I need to register in every place that our RIA firm will have physical offices?
- What states require my new RIA firm to register before taking on our 1st client?
- In what states does the SEC allow an RIA firm to register with the SEC with less than $100 million in assets under management?
As RIA compliance consultants, we want to remind you that ensuring your RIA firm is properly registered correctly from the beginning should always be one of the top priorities for your investment advisory firm’s Chief Compliance Officer (CCO). According to the most recent NASAA coordinated investment adviser examination study, RIA registration deficiencies are the 2nd most common deficiency found during RIA regulatory audits. 58.5% of all investment advisers examined were cited for registration deficiencies.
Be sure to check back soon as we will continue to be rolling out a series of online tools in 2014 for prospective and existing RIA firms to utilize in helping to keep your firm compliant with all state and SEC RIA regulatory requirements.