SEC Extends Rule for Adviser Client Brochure Updates
Published Date: 7/2/2025
Notice
Summary
The SEC is extending the paperwork rules for investment advisers who must share updated brochures with their clients every year. This helps clients know what’s going on with their advisers and keeps things transparent. About 15,000 advisers spend around 4 hours yearly on this, so no big changes or extra costs are coming—just a smooth continuation of the current process.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Advisers must keep annual brochure duty
If you run a registered investment advisory business, you must keep delivering a brochure to each client at the start of the advisory relationship and annually thereafter (or provide a summary of material changes). You must also send amended brochures or a statement when disciplinary information becomes materially inaccurate. The SEC estimates this keeps a burden of about 4.04 hours per adviser annually (median 95 clients) and, with 15,464 advisers as of March 31, 2024, a total annual burden of 62,525 hours.
Clients keep annual brochure transparency
If you are a client or prospective client of a registered investment adviser, you will continue to receive the adviser's brochure at the start of the relationship and each year (or a summary of material changes). These disclosures help you see adviser fees, conflicts, and disciplinary information, and they are provided directly to clients and prospective clients rather than filed confidentially with the SEC.
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