Approved IAR CE Courses

As the senior client population continues to grow, so does the importance of protecting this vulnerable group, which is frequently targeted for financial exploitation. In many cases, age-related factors may affect a client's ability to make sound financial decisions, making it the IAR's responsibility to remain vigilant, apply appropriate safeguards, and act in the client's best interest at all times. This course prepares IARs to meet their fiduciary duty when working with aging investors by recognizing red flags, documenting concerns, and applying SEC-compliant reporting protocols. You'll explore real-world scenarios, evolving regulatory expectations, and best practices for safeguarding vulnerable clients, including how to communicate effectively, identify diminished capacity, and respond to potential elder abuse. By the end of this course, you'll be equipped to act decisively, protect your clients, and ensure your actions meet today's heightened regulatory standards.

Clients with bitcoin may seek to fund a trust, retain a concentrated position, provide for beneficiaries, or prepare for incapacity and death. Investment advisers need to identify how ownership, decision authority, custody and administration fit together, and where legal, tax or fiduciary expertise is required. This workshop examines direct trust ownership, trust-owned LLC structures, directed and discretionary roles, and the main categories of custody arrangement. Participants consider concentration, liquidity, conflicts of interest, recordkeeping and succession through a hypothetical client case. The focus is the adviser's role in evaluating the situation, documenting unresolved issues and coordinating the appropriate professionals.

Instructor conflict disclosure and mitigation: The instructors are affiliated with Unchained, a sponsor of the event. Christina McDonagh is Chief Investment Officer of Gannett Trust Company, an independent subsidiary of Unchained, and Stephen Pollock is a Growth Director at Unchained. Unchained contributed subject matter input to the course. To mitigate this conflict, the course materials were reviewed by an independent content reviewer with no commercial interest in the subject matter; custody and trust approaches are compared generically across the categories available in the market; no company, product, platform, logo or URL appears in the instructional materials; the affiliation is disclosed on the opening slide and orally; and no sales solicitation, contact collection or follow-up offer is permitted. BFFS staff attend the full session.

As clients live longer and wealth remains invested well into retirement, financial advisors increasingly face complex situations involving diminished capacity, family conflict, and potential elder financial exploitation. In this session, securities attorney Michelle Atlas-Quinn will provide a practical legal framework for navigating these sensitive situations while protecting both clients and advisory firms. The program will explore how regulators evaluate advisor responsibilities when working with aging clients, how legal capacity differs from observable warning signs of cognitive decline, and why advisors must document concerns carefully without attempting to diagnose medical conditions. Michelle will also discuss account titling considerations, jurisdictional issues, the limits of custodian involvement, and the litigation risks advisors face after a client’s death. The session will further review the federal regulatory framework, including SEC Rule 2165 and Regulation S-P, along with practical risk-mitigation strategies advisors can implement to recognize red flags, escalate concerns appropriately, and respond to suspected exploitation while maintaining compliance and client confidentiality.

This course provides a practical, compliance-focused examination of the rules governing gifts, gratuities, and non-cash compensation in the financial services industry. Registered representatives, investment adviser representatives (IARs), CFP® professionals, and other associated persons are subject to detailed regulatory requirements that restrict — and in some cases prohibit — the giving and receiving of gifts, meals, entertainment, and other items of value in connection with their business activities.

Developed in alignment with FINRA Rule 3220 (Influencing or Rewarding Employees of Others), FINRA Rules 2310 and 3110 as they relate to non-cash compensation, NASD Rule 2830, and related FINRA guidance, this course covers the regulatory framework in depth — including applicable limits, recordkeeping obligations, supervisory requirements, and the consumer protection rationale underlying these rules. The course also addresses how these requirements apply in IAR contexts under applicable state investment adviser standards, and maps directly to Domain A (Professional Conduct and Regulation) of CFP Board's 2021 Principal Knowledge Topics.

NASAA, FINRA, the SEC, industry groups, and courts have all made significant changes to the rules related to investment advisers and their investment adviser representatives ("IAR's")during 2024 and 2025. IAR's should know and understand how these recent developments affect the following areas, among others:Prior to the FinCEN Final Rule, there were no Federal or State regulations requiring IAs to maintain AML/CFT programs, including a CIP program or records under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA);The amendments to Regulation S-P enhance the protection of consumer financial information by broadening the scope of information covered by Regulation S-P's requirements for covered institutions, inter alia broker-dealers,and investment advisers;Amendments to Regulation S-P will likely require modifications to cybersecurity programs; andUpdated Security Policy Templates are available on The Web - In partnership, the Cybersecurity Risk Foundation (CRF) and SANS have created a library of free cybersecurity policy templates to help organizations quickly define, document, and deploy key cybersecurity policies. The templates were updated April 15, 2025.

This course provides a comprehensive, compliance-focused examination of the obligations financial professionals bear when making recommendations to retail customers and advisory clients — and how those obligations are shaped, tested, and complicated by the growing use of artificial intelligence in recommendation workflows. The course integrates FINRA Rule 2111 (Suitability), SEC Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), and the Investment Advisers Act fiduciary standard, then examines how AI-based recommendation tools interact with each framework.

As AI-assisted tools — ranging from algorithm-driven product screeners to fully automated model portfolios — become more prevalent in financial services, practitioners face heightened ethical obligations: to understand the tools they rely on, to exercise independent judgment, to identify and manage conflicts of interest embedded in AI systems, and to ensure that client interests remain paramount. This course addresses those obligations directly.

The course also includes a dedicated section connecting the Reg BI best interest standard to the CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct, making it suitable for submission for CFP CE credit in addition to IAR CE and Firm Element CE.

Developed in alignment with FINRA Rule 2111, Reg BI (Exchange Act Rule 15l-1), Form CRS requirements, the SEC's investment adviser fiduciary standard, NASAA's IAR Model Rule competency framework, and the CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct, this course is designed for financial services professionals at broker-dealers, registered investment advisers (RIAs), and dually registered firms.

This course guides Investment Adviser Representatives (IARs) through trading-compliance requirements under the Advisers Act. You'll learn how fiduciary duties of loyalty and care drive best execution - balancing cost, speed, and research quality - and monitoring trade allocations to ensure fairness. The curriculum covers Rule 204A-1 personal-trading controls, including access-person reporting and pre-approval workflows, as well as principal and cross-trades. In the final module, you'll explore Section 28(e) soft-dollar rules and Rule 204-2 recordkeeping to maintain a comprehensive audit trail. Enforcement case studies and 2025 exam priorities underscore the importance of rigorous documentation to protect client interests.

This self-study course gives Investment Adviser Representatives a clear, practical framework for identifying and managing portfolio risks. Youll distinguish systematic vs. unsystematic risk, translate simple risk measures (volatility, beta, correlation, drawdown) into allocation choices, and apply diversification principles using mutual funds and ETFs. The course emphasizes real-world decision makinghow to set and document an appropriate risk posture in the IPS, construct diversified models, avoid hidden concentrations, and maintain discipline through rebalancing and client education. Designed to align with NASAA IAR CE Products and Practices themes, the course focuses on suitability, fiduciary duty, and plain-English client communications about risk and reasonable expectations.

This program is designed to help Investment Adviser Representatives (IARs) and compliance professionals understand and navigate the SEC's FY2025 examination priorities while strengthening their compliance strategies. Led by a securities attorney, this session will provide an in-depth analysis of the most common compliance deficiencies, practical applications of regulatory requirements, and proactive steps to avoid enforcement actions.The program covers key topics such as the SEC's role and examination objectives, fiduciary obligations, disclosure and transparency requirements, compliance program best practices, custody rule compliance, and risk management strategies. Participants will gain actionable insights into preparing for an SEC examination, maintaining robust compliance programs, and implementing effective internal controls to reduce regulatory risk.Through real-world examples, case studies, and interactive discussions, attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how to strengthen their compliance posture, enhance disclosures, and mitigate risks in an increasingly complex regulatory environment.

Financial professionals often cite 'fit' as the most important factor in maintaining long-term client relationships, but few take the time to formally assess investor personality. This course addresses that gap using the well-established NEO Five-Factor Model, a framework used by psychologists, HR professionals, and educators to predict behavior. Advisors who understand investor personality can guide clients with greater empathy, tailor communication more effectively, and reduce emotional decision-making triggers that lead to suboptimal outcomes.Unlike courses that touch lightly on risk tolerance or investor profiling, this class delivers a structured, scientifically grounded approach to personality assessment. It's designed for CFPs, CPAs, IARs, CIMAs, and other CE-seeking professionals who want to incorporate behavioral insights directly into planning workflows. You'll learn to recognize how key personality traits'such as conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness'manifest in investor behavior and what those traits mean for long-term portfolio guidance.