Approved IAR CE Courses

Familiarity with the Bank Secrecy Act will help you to stop money laundering - a major international crime that supports a host of other illegal activities such as drug trafficking, terrorism and arms dealing. This course will describe why, as an employee of a bank, financial institution or firm, it is essential to know your clients and their banking habits, and to recognize when they deviate from their normal routines.

This course provides an ethical model for investment adviser representatives (IARs) basedupon government legislation, self-regulatory rules organization (SRO) rules, and regulatorybest practices. It includes an introduction to ethical theory, ethics, and conflicts of interest withinthe securities industry, and current ethical issues in the marketplace. This course focuses on anIAR's requirements acting in a fiduciary capacity and provides examples on how that can beseen in practice. The course offers possible motivations for "white collar" crime and detailssteps to take when struggling with ethical dilemmas. The course concludes with a review of common unethical business practices presented to IARs and how to mitigate them.

This course introduces Environmental, Social, and Governance "ESG" factors as a topic area forthe financial services industry. While the term ESG has been used by investors and lenders asthey do their analysis before making investment decisions, it has taken on a broader meaning. Tomany, the term ESG now represents the ways in which businesses and those who invest in them are thinking about the longer-term sustainability of their firms, industries, and capitalism itself. Thiscourse explores these themes, provides learners with a basic understanding of core ESG concepts,and discusses ongoing debates in the field.

This foundational course begins with a look at ethical issues facing the securities industry,i.e., conflicts of interest, and briefly defines ethical standards and why they are important.This course covers the common types of conflicts, and the steps investment adviser(IARs) can take to prevent potential regulatory problems and sanctions as well as theassociated loss of client goodwill.

This course focuses on how ethics fit into the moral and regulatory framework ofinvestment adviser representative (IAR) regulations. Specifically, the course discusses insider trading, private securities transactions, personal trading accounts, agency cross transactions, and the ethical standards inherent in each. The trading practices alsoinclude recent SEC guidance and best practices as well as case studies that illustrate each.

Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) have grown rapidly since their inception in 1993. This course will explain their features and characteristics, how they trade, the creation/redemption process, and some applications.

This course delves into key concepts related to ETFs including the creation and redemptionmechanism as well as arbitrage. Both passive and active management strategies are discussed including index, inverse and leveraged ETFs.

This course explains what robo-advisors are and this evolving industry as a whole. It reviewssome of the biggest providers, as well as the services that robo-advisors offer. It also assesses thestrengths and weaknesses of robo-advisors and financial advisors, and how they complement each other.

This course covers key concepts related to separately managed accounts (SMAs) and their potential benefit to investors. It reviews the operational aspects of SMAs and compares themto more commonly utilized investment vehicles such as mutual funds and ETFs. This course also discusses the characteristics of SMAs with regard to structure, fees and tax implications,and explains the potential advantages, disadvantages and suitability of using SMAs instead of other types of investment vehicles.