Approved IAR CE Courses

Investment Adviser Representative: Overview of Alternative Investments provides an overview ofalternative investments and the elements that investment adviser representatives must consider, including their risks, time horizons, investment minimums, fees, suitability/best interest assessmentsand investor goals and perspectives. Since alternative investments are more lightly regulated by theSEC than traditional investments, are complex products, and have a relative lack of liquidity, manyalternative investment assets are considered appropriate only for institutional investors or the accredited, high-net-worth individuals considered capable of evaluating them. Many alternative investments also have high minimum investments and fee structures as compared to mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). IARs have a fiduciary duty and an enhanced need tounderstand these complex investments to best serve customers.

We expect technology to make things easier by doing the work for us'but ethical issues can behidden when humans are taken out of the loop. Because what is right or wrong in the securities industry is still right or wrong, regardless of the tools you use. Even in this wild west era of Artificial Intelligence, the SEC has tools to enforce AI-related misconduct even without adoption of AI-specific SEC rules. And while ignorance of developing law is no excuse, compliance becomes moredifficult because the very nature of AI is its inscrutability. This means, for IARs, an enhanceddiligence towards compliance when using artificial intelligence is an ethical requirement and partof your fiduciary duty to clients. This course, The Ethics of AI steps through what AI is, how itlearns, how it can perform in the financial services industry, and, ultimately, how human advisersare ethically responsible on several levels for the outcome of this mysterious but fully real tool they are using to enhance business. It ends with a recent action against IA firms for 'AI whitewashing.'

Social media has fundamentally revised how professionals operate and IARs now negotiate a completely different customer experience. What was once a profession of private, deliberate communication is now conducted in a space that rewards immediacy and visibility. Posts, comments, direct messages, videos, and reactions form part of an adviser’s public professional record. An IAR can communicate with hundreds of people instantly, often outside traditional supervisory structures. Regulators view this shift as an expansion of risk. State and federal regulators assert that ethical obligations tie to conduct, not platforms. The duty of care, loyalty, full disclosure, and fair dealing applies whether advice is delivered in a client meeting, email, or social media interaction. Social media ethics is not a checklist exercise, but a judgment discipline in which advisers anticipate investor interpretation, manage conflicts transparently, and choose restraint over persuasion. This course is designed to help IARs recognize high risk situations, understand regulator reasoning, and apply fiduciary values in public and digital communication. It examines how ethical failures occur on social media, how regulators analyze those failures, and how IARs can apply sound judgment to avoid misconduct, even where rules appear unclear. Scenarios and case studies throughout the course present realistic areas of conflict and ethical resolution. Lesson-specific learning objectives are provided for each chapter.

Investment advisers and their representatives take on specific obligations in helping customers workthrough the bewildering range of investment offerings. Under the SEC's Investment Advisers Act of1940 and even state rules and regulations, an investment adviser registered under the '40 Act must adopt a Code of Ethics to establish the business conduct standards expected of the IA's supervisedpersons. The Code should reflect the investment adviser's fiduciary obligations to its investment advisory clients and require compliance with the federal securities laws. Many states have similarethical requirements. This course examines the expected and ideal behavior demonstrated by the investment advisers who put their clients first and uphold the standards of the profession-as well asscenarios that reveal the disappointing and unethical behavior of those who fail their fiduciary obligations. This course is not to supersede any firm's Code of Ethics but examines the origin ofof the responsibilities IAs assume when working with clients.

To be most effective, investment adviser representatives must understand human psychology as well as the markets. Traditionally, IARs are taught to head off issues that may arise by uncovering a client's risk tolerance early in the financial planning process so they do not make recommendations that trigger risk-related objections. But there is another factor'the individualclient's unconscious beliefs about money. Working with a client's financial biases means being able to recognize, interpret, and ethically respond to and counterbalance these cognitive shortcuts thatcan negatively influence client decision making. This short, half-credit ethics course is designed tofamiliarize IARs with the financial biases that may be at work in clients and lists practical, respectful methods of addressing them.