Definition: Form ADV is the form investment advisers use to register with the SEC or with state securities authorities and to amend those registrations; exempt reporting advisers use it to file their reports. Part 1A asks about the adviser, its business practices, the persons who own and control it, and the persons who provide investment advice on its behalf.

What are the parts of the form?

  • Part 1A is completed by every adviser registering with the SEC or a state. Its schedules cover owners and executive officers, and its Disclosure Reporting Pages ask for details of disciplinary events.
  • Part 1B asks additional questions required by state securities authorities. Advisers applying for or holding only SEC registration do not complete it.
  • Part 2A is the narrative brochure about the advisory firm, and Part 2B the brochure supplements about certain supervised persons. Both apply to every adviser registered with or applying to the SEC, and the firm provides them to clients.
  • Part 3 is the relationship summary, Form CRS, for retail investors, required of SEC-registered advisers with retail clients.

When is it filed, and where can you read one?

Advisers file electronically through the IARD system. The form is filed annually by every adviser, within ninety days after the end of its fiscal year, and amended promptly during the year when specified information becomes inaccurate. The SEC makes the information publicly available, and anyone can read an adviser's current Form ADV on the SEC's IAPD site.

Where it shows up in our data

Form ADV is the firm's filing. Our counts come from the individual records on the same public SEC site, IAPD: the investment adviser representatives (IARs) registered with each firm. Methodology describes the feed, and the Advisor Flow Index lets you look up a firm's arrivals and departures.

Sources

  1. Rule textForm ADV: General Instructions and Glossary SEC
  2. Rule textForm ADV (form and filing information) SEC
  3. Public recordInvestment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) SEC
  4. Continuum dataMarket Intelligence methodology Continuum

Editorial standard: Continuum publishes education for financial advisors. It is general information, not legal, tax, or compliance advice.