Approved IAR CE Courses

This course will provide advisors with a comprehensive overview of Incentive Stock Options (ISOs), including the life cycle of an option grant and the tax and planning implications of qualified versus disqualified dispositions. Specifically, the course will address key concepts such as grant and exercise dates, bargain element, holding period requirements, and advanced strategies like the AMT crossover calculation. In addition, it will explore strategies for timing exercises to minimize or avoid AMT liability, coordinating ISO exercises with tax planning goals, and evaluating considerations for both public and private company scenarios. Lastly, the presentation will highlight approaches to maximizing tax efficiency through qualified dispositions, optimizing client outcomes through tools like StockOpter, and guiding clients in balancing liquidity needs with the potential benefits of preferential long-term capital gains treatment.

Incentive stock options (ISOs) can offer employees significant wealth-building opportunities, but navigating their tax implications, exercise strategies, and associated risks requires careful financial planning. In this webinar, Daniel Zajac explores the lifecycle of ISOs, the differences between qualifying and disqualifying dispositions, and the impact of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) on exercise-and-hold strategies. Through practical client scenarios, Daniel demonstrates how financial advisors can evaluate tax-efficient exercise strategies, manage AMT exposure and credits, and balance potential tax savings against concentration risk and cash flow needs. In the webinar, how the timing of ISO exercises and sales can influence financial outcomes and create opportunities for more effective tax planning is also explained.

In this course you will be introduced to terms and concepts used in connection with individual retirement accounts. Each new term is defined in the text and included in the Glossary. The concepts are explained and, where appropriate, are demonstrated through the use of examples.At the conclusion of each important section, a Review Quiz is presented to test comprehension of the material presented. A response is given to each answer you select to the questions in the Review Quiz affirming the correct choice or explaining why the choice you selected was incorrect.

This course provides investment adviser representatives with a comprehensive overview of Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and their role in retirement planning. Learners will explore the history, purpose, and rules governing IRAs, including eligibility, contribution limits, rollovers, transfers, and required minimum distributions. The course also examines the distinctions between Traditional and Roth IRAs, prohibited transactions, and recent legislative changes under the SECURE Acts. Through case studies and practical examples, participants will gain the knowledge to help clients select and manage IRAs effectively in pursuit of their long-term financial goals.

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.

This course explains how an advisory firm manages client information throughout its lifecycle. It addresses regulatory scope, information inventories, access and authentication, secure sharing, vendors, remote work, physical records, identity theft, incident response, continuity, testing, and governance. Learners distinguish prevention, detection, response, and recovery and build evidence-based controls suited to actual advisory workflows.

Infrastructure investing represents a compelling global growth opportunity, driven by powerful megatrends such as digital transformation, the energy transition, and the urgent need to modernize aging infrastructure worldwide. The asset class is defined by essential, irreplaceable services with high barriers to entry, long-life assets, and stable, inflation-correlated cash flows—attributes that have historically supported attractive risk-adjusted returns. With infrastructure AUM and fundraising accelerating faster than other private market categories, the opportunity set continues to expand across energy, transportation, utilities, and digital networks. Despite its institutional-scale adoption, infrastructure remains significantly under-allocated in private wealth portfolios, creating a timely and differentiated opportunity for investors seeking income, diversification, and long-term growth.

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.