Investment Adviser Formation, Regulation and Compliance

Parker MacIntyre is a leading law firm in the area of investment adviser law and compliance. Investment advisers are generally defined under both federal and state law as persons who are engaged in the business of—and receive compensation for—providing investment advice to other persons regarding securities. Investment advisers can be entities as well as individuals (natural persons) and the act of providing investment advice is construed fairly broadly. For example, investment advisers include not only persons who “manage money” on either a discretionary or non-discretionary basis, but also persons who issue reports and analyses regarding securities, as well as many managers of pooled investment vehicles or “hedge funds.” The investment management industry is a highly-regulated one, and investment adviser law and compliance is a complex body of law requiring seasoned professionals to interpret and navigate that law and regulation. Parker MacIntyre was formed primarily to meet the needs of investment adviser clients requiring skilled and savvy legal and compliance counsel in this specialized practice area.

Our attorneys have extensive experience assisting investment adviser clients in connection with every aspect of their formation and initial registration, the drafting of advisory agreements and other required legal documents, routine ongoing compliance responsibilities, regulatory inquiries, complex litigation and advisory firm M&A. We routinely counsel advisers of all sizes, ranging from multi-billion-dollar assets under management (“AUM”) SEC-registered firms to under $100 million AUM firms registered with various states.

We also counsel investment advisers that are exempt from registration under state and federal law with respect to all legal aspects of operations, including the firm’s maintenance of a compliance program to assure continued exemption as well as to comply with the myriad laws and rules that apply to exempt and non-exempt advisers alike.

Our practice extends to all regions of the United States, both in terms of the location of our clients as well as the various state and federal regulators that we interact with on a regular basis.[1] We are well-qualified to assist clients with legal needs related to federal laws and regulations and state uniform investment adviser laws, and have been recognized as legal services providers to state registrants by state securities administrators. We are comfortable dealing with advisory issues of all types, ranging from routine registration and compliance matters to those of a more esoteric nature, such as questions involving interpretation of the Advisers Act and its rules, or a high-stakes regulatory enforcement matter.

We also represent independent investment advisers who are registered representatives of a broker/dealer in a so-called “hybrid adviser” arrangement. Advisers in such a situation often have unique legal and compliance questions resulting from their dual compliance structure.

We are also prolific writers on investment adviser law and compliance—in that regard, we invite you to check out our RIA Compliance Blog, where we regularly post on topics of interest to investment advisers, especially an adviser’s CCO and compliance personnel.

To learn more about our unique specialized services for investment advisers, please read on:

• Investment Adviser Formation and Registration
• Ongoing Compliance Services for Investment Advisers
• Regulatory Exams, Inquiries and other Administrative Matters

[1] Please note that our attorneys are not licensed in every state. Please see our individual attorney biographies for detailed licensing information. Also note that our affiliated compliance consulting firm, Century Compliance, LLC, also serves multiple geographic markets.