Approved IAR CE Courses

Many advisors focus on the "Great Wealth Transfer," estimated to be around $124 trillion through 2048, projected to shift assets from Baby Boomers to their heirs. However, of this amount, approximately $54 trillion is expected to first be passed through inter-spousal transfers to widows, of which more than 95% is expected to go to women.Advisors should prepare married couples for intentionally transferring wealth through titling of assets, making irrevocable lifetime gifts, and structuring inheritances at death through trusts and outright bequests. This session will review the federal estate and gift tax exemption under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (including the effects of any potential sunset or revision thereto), explore some of the various types of trusts for the benefit of a spouse, and discuss some common hypotheticals for planning for these married couples.With intentional and holistic planning, married couples can thoughtfully prepare, plan and protect for their future, especially upon the death of the first of them to die.(NOTE: The instructor for this course, Brian Balduzzi, Esq., Tax LL.M., MBA, CFP, CEPA, AEP, IPA, was previously qualified as an instructor for NAPFA as instructor #150408, for course #C27698.)

Succession planning is far more than an end-of-career exit strategy. It is an ongoing fiduciary responsibility to protect clients whenever normal advisory service is interrupted. This course gives IARs a practical roadmap for turning business continuity from a passive compliance document into an active, client-centered protection process. Through realistic advisory scenarios, learners will examine plan activation, backup adviser arrangements, confidentiality safeguards, communication protocols, client consent, and successor selection during temporary disruptions and longer-term transitions. This course is designed to help advisers preserve client trust, support the value of their practice, and respond to disruption with greater fiduciary and regulatory discipline.

This presentation provides education on succession planning as a core component of risk management and long-term estate planning for RIA owners. Attendees will learn how the absence of a clear succession strategy can create risks for clients, firm continuity, and enterprise value, and how to evaluate internal and external transition options through a planning lens.

OpenAI Codex provides sudden acceleration of financial advisor productivity. It's a breakthrough.
Financial planners can use Codex to improve client outcomes by:
automating creation of spreadsheets
converting spreadsheets into textual analysis you can review and share with clients
converting portfolio reports data into personal updates on a financial plan
consolidating and analyzing data from disparate sources

This course develops a practical method for connecting client facts to investment recommendations. It covers objectives, financial circumstances, risk willingness and capacity, liquidity, time horizons, product understanding, relevant alternatives, costs, restrictions, documentation, implementation, and monitoring. Learners work through household goals and changing circumstances and prepare recommendations that explain the connection between the evidence and the proposed action.

This self-study continuing education course provides a comprehensive review of one of the most consequential SEC Division of Examinations 2026 priorities: whether investment recommendations are consistent with product disclosures and with each client's investment objectives, risk tolerance, and financial and personal background. Participants will learn the analytical framework examiners use, examine five specific sub-areas of heightened scrutiny, and apply the principles to realistic scenarios involving older investors, dual-hatted advisers, newly launched private funds, volatility-sensitive products, and advisers new to the private fund space.

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.