On December 16, 2025, the SEC's Division of Examinations released a risk alert titled "Additional Observations Regarding Advisers' Compliance with the Advisers Act Marketing Rule." It's the second major risk alert on the Marketing Rule, and the message is clear: the grace period is over.
If you're a small RIA that uses client testimonials, displays third-party ratings, or promotes your services on social media, this alert describes exactly what examiners are finding wrong — and what they expect you to fix.
The alert focuses on two areas where the Division of Examinations is seeing the most deficiencies: testimonials and endorsements and third-party ratings.
The most common deficiency: failure to provide required disclosures at the time the testimonial or endorsement is disseminated. The Marketing Rule (Rule 206(4)-1) requires clear and prominent disclosures including:
The alert specifically calls out firms that made these disclosures less noticeable — font sizes too small, text colored to blend in, or hiding disclosures behind hyperlinks. The rule requires disclosures to be clear and prominent, not technically present but practically invisible.
The alert also flags firms that lacked written agreements with paid promoters and couldn't demonstrate a reasonable basis for believing promoters complied with disclosure requirements.
If your firm promotes third-party ratings — Barron's Top Advisors, Forbes Best-In-State, or similar industry rankings — the alert identifies two recurring issues:
Insufficient due diligence on the rating methodology. The rule requires that you have a reasonable basis for believing the rating was prepared based on criteria relevant to your advisory services. Many firms couldn't demonstrate they had evaluated the methodology at all.
Missing or inadequate disclosures. When you use a third-party rating in your marketing, you need to disclose the criteria for the rating, who prepared it, and any compensation or other arrangement related to obtaining it.
This is the SEC's second Marketing Rule risk alert. The first, in September 2023, covered broader observations — performance presentation, extracted performance, and hypothetical performance claims. It was a warning shot.
This one is narrower and more specific. It focuses on exactly what examiners found wrong during their marketing rule sweeps, down to the detail of font sizes and hyperlink placement. When the SEC gets this specific in a risk alert, it means they've seen the pattern enough times to document it — and they're signaling that enforcement referrals are coming.
The 2026 examination priorities confirm this: Marketing Rule compliance is an explicit focus area, and the Division is running a sweep on endorsement activity connected to adviser merger and acquisition activity.
For context, the first Marketing Rule enforcement action — against Titan Global Capital Management in September 2023 — resulted in an $850,000 penalty. The firm had advertised "annualized" returns of 2,700% by extrapolating three weeks of performance to a full year. Subsequent actions have targeted smaller firms for more routine violations.
If you're a small RIA, here's a practical audit based on the specific deficiencies the risk alert describes:
Search your website, social media profiles, and marketing materials for anything that functions as a client testimonial or endorsement. This includes:
For each one, verify:
If you display any industry rankings or awards:
The risk alert isn't just about the marketing materials themselves. Examiners are also checking whether you have written policies governing:
If your marketing review process is informal — "I check things before I post them" — that's not going to satisfy an examiner who's asking to see your written procedures.
The Marketing Rule applies to social media posts that promote your advisory services. A LinkedIn post sharing a client win, a tweet about your investment returns, or an Instagram post with client praise are all potentially subject to the rule's requirements. If a client comments on your post praising your services and you don't take steps to address the endorsement, that's within the scope of the alert.
The Marketing Rule has been in effect since November 2022. In a 2024 compliance survey, 70% of compliance professionals ranked it their number one worry. Yet despite the rule now allowing testimonials for the first time, only about 2% of RIAs have adopted them — largely out of fear of being the first to be penalized.
That fear isn't unfounded. But avoiding testimonials entirely doesn't protect you from the third-party rating requirements, or from social media posts that function as endorsements, or from Google Reviews that you've incorporated into your marketing. The rule's reach is broader than most small firms realize.
The safest approach: know the requirements, audit your materials, document your review, and keep your policies current. The risk isn't in using marketing tools — it's in using them without understanding the rules.
Regulatory changes like this risk alert are exactly what Pulsio monitors for you. When the SEC publishes a new risk alert, enforcement action, or rule change that affects your firm, you'll have a plain-English brief in your inbox the next morning — what changed, what it means for your practice, and what to do. Start your free trial →
Sources: SEC Risk Alert: Additional Observations on Marketing Rule Compliance (Dec 16, 2025) · SEC Marketing Rule FAQ · Alston & Bird: SEC Issues New Compliance Observations on Marketing Rule · Waystone: SEC Risk Alert on Marketing Rule Compliance · SEC: Titan Global Enforcement (Sept 2023) · SEC 2026 Examination Priorities