Approved IAR CE Courses

The role of the investment adviser is governed by industry rules and regulations such as the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Investment Company Act of 1940. This course provides an overview of rules surrounding registration, as well as industry rules and regulations impacting your role. 

This course will look at important recent compliance and trading changes and how those changes impact your duties as a financial professional. The new marketing rule, the DOL rule, the increasing focus on digital assets, and the uncertainty of the economy short-term are all issues that will impact your life as a financial professional and require changes in your practices.

The SECURE Act introduced significant changes to retirement planning, particularly in the distribution of IRA assets to heirs and beneficiaries. This course explains the rules for inherited IRAs—traditional and Roth—and the requirements for IRA owners and beneficiaries. Given the complexity and potential penalties for mishandling inherited IRA funds, clients need knowledgeable advisors to guide them in making suitable planning decisions.

This course will focus on firms and representatives legal and regulatory obligations to avoid and prevent insider trading, and the barriers that are among the most common preventative measures firms take. It will look at the history, development, and operation of insider trading and the various regulatory barriers established to aid in its prevention.

This course will discuss anti-money laundering (AML), including the rules and regulations surrounding the obligations of anti-money laundering compliance programs.We will also discuss cybersecurity rules and best practices for firms to adopt to protect themselves from cybersecurity attacks.

The irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) is one of the most widely used estate planning tools. Those who work in the estate planning field-or any professional who wants to extend his or her practice into this arena-should become knowledgeable about ILITs, and how and why they are used. The purpose of this course is to provide a general understanding of trusts and how they work, with a specific focus on irrevocable life insurance trusts. Along with an exploration of ILITs, the course explains collateral issues that might arise in their creation and operation including a number of important tax-related issues.

This course reviews the items on the 2025 Dirty Dozen list, explaining the nature of these schemes and their impact on taxpayers and tax professionals. In addition, we have included some items from previous years Dirty Dozen lists; these are focused on fraud associated with certain highly promoted activities (CRATs, foreign treaties, captive insurance companies, and monetized installment sales),consumer-related fraud, and tax-avoidance activities typically engaged in by high-net-worth individuals.The 2025 Dirty Dozen list was originally published in the following order, but for the sake of clarity we have presented them in a slightly different order in this course:1.Phishing and smishing2.Bad social media advice3.IRS individual online account help from scammers4.Fake charities5.False Fuel Tax Credit claims6.Credits for sick leave and family leave7.Bogus self-employment tax credit8.Improper household employment taxes9.Overstated withholding scam10.Misleading offers in compromise11.Ghost tax return preparers12.New client scams and spear phishing

The SEC released a new Marketing Rule, replacing outdated regulations from 1961. It modernized RIA advertising and marketing to address technological changes. It also replaced the old solicitation rule for paid solicitors and introduced new definitions that control the rule’s application.

Financial services professionals often face challenges when seniors show cognitive difficulties but remain legally competent, or when family members question a senior’s decisions. This course helps professionals recognize obstacles to ethical decision-making, such as rationalizations, critical thinking errors, and mental traps, and emphasizes emotional intelligence. It also provides tools for assessing ethical decisions, including the Six Pillars of Character and an eight-step decision-making model.