For an SEC-registered investment adviser, a blog post can be an advertisement under the SEC marketing rule, so the content team should plan every draft as something compliance will review. The rule's general prohibitions, its conditions on testimonials, endorsements, and third-party ratings, and its performance requirements all bear on what a post can say. Which parts apply to a given post is a decision for the firm's chief compliance officer or counsel, not the writer.
An adviser may stop blogging, or limit itself to market commentary, when review feels slow and unpredictable. Part of the delay comes from drafts that arrive with problems the writer could have flagged: an unattributed client quote, an award badge, a chart of returns dropped in for color.
A writer who knows the main parts of the rule can bring cleaner drafts and better questions to compliance. That is the goal here.
This article summarizes public SEC materials for content planning. It is not legal or compliance advice. State-registered advisers follow their state's rules, and broker-dealers follow FINRA's.
Who does the marketing rule cover?
The rule is Rule 206(4)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act, codified at 17 CFR 275.206(4)-1. The SEC's small business compliance guide says it "applies to any investment adviser registered or required to be registered with the Commission."
Many smaller advisers register with states instead. The SEC's investment adviser overview says advisers that manage less than $100 million in regulatory assets under management "generally are prohibited from registering with the SEC." SEC registration and state registration are not interchangeable labels, and the rules that govern a state-registered adviser's content come from that state. NASAA's investment adviser page notes that "States also have sole regulatory oversight of all investment adviser representatives," the financial professionals who work directly with retail investors, "whether the adviser is registered with a state or with the SEC."
Broker-dealer communications fall under FINRA. FINRA Rule 2210 sorts member communications into correspondence, retail communications, and institutional communications, and says that "An appropriately qualified registered principal of the member must approve each retail communication," subject to listed exceptions. FINRA has a proposed change to Rule 2210 pending, and its extension letter for SR-FINRA-2026-004 gave the SEC until October 23, 2026 to act, so the reviewer should confirm the rule's current text. A dually registered firm may need to satisfy more than one set of requirements, which the reviewer sorts out.
When is a blog post an advertisement?
The SEC's guide describes a two-part definition. The first part "generally includes the kinds of communications traditionally covered by the advertising rule." The second part "generally includes any endorsement or testimonial for which an adviser provides cash" or non-cash compensation.
Whether a particular post fits the definition is not a writer's call. Raise it before drafting: "Is this post an advertisement under our policies, and what does that change about how we write it?" The answer may shape the topic, the examples, and the disclosures from the start.
Every advertisement is subject to the rule's general prohibitions. Among them, an advertisement may not include an untrue statement of a material fact, may not include "a material statement of fact that the adviser does not have a reasonable basis for believing it will be able to substantiate upon demand by the Commission," and may not "Otherwise be materially misleading." For a writer, the practical upshot is to keep a source for every factual claim and hand those sources to compliance with the draft.
Testimonials, endorsements, and client quotes
The rule permits testimonials and endorsements under conditions. Required disclosures, made clearly and prominently, include whether the person is a current client or investor, whether compensation was provided, and a brief statement of any material conflicts of interest. The rule also requires adviser oversight, including a written agreement in many compensated arrangements.
The SEC's Division of Examinations has published what it found when it checked compliance. Its December 2025 risk alert on marketing rule observations describes advisers using "hyperlinked disclosures rather than including the required clear and prominent disclosures," and disclosures in "a smaller or lighter font than the testimonials or endorsements." It also describes cases where an adviser "did not provide the disclosures at the time the testimonial or endorsement was disseminated."
The content lesson: never add a client quote to a draft without flagging it, and plan for the disclosure to sit next to the quote in the same visual weight, not behind a link. Compliance decides the wording.
Third-party ratings and awards
An award badge in a footer or a "named to a list" line in an author bio can be a third-party rating. The rule allows them only if the adviser has a reasonable basis for believing that any questionnaire or survey used to prepare the rating makes it equally easy to give favorable and unfavorable responses and is not designed to produce a predetermined result, and discloses, clearly and prominently, the date of the rating and the period it covers, the identity of the third party, and whether the adviser paid compensation.
The same December 2025 risk alert describes rating logos "that did not clearly and prominently identify the third party," and advisers that "paid third-party rating providers fees to be considered for the ratings" without disclosing it. If a draft includes any rating or award, list it for compliance with its source and date.
Performance has its own requirements
Most blog posts do not need the firm's performance. If one does, the rule's requirements become central. Among them, an advertisement may not present gross performance without also presenting net performance with at least equal prominence, calculated over the same period with the same methodology. Portfolio performance generally must include one-, five-, and ten-year periods, each presented with equal prominence, subject to the rule's conditions.
The SEC staff's marketing compliance FAQ, last updated January 15, 2026, addresses questions such as extracted performance and net performance calculations. It also states that the responses "are not a rule, regulation, or statement of the Securities and Exchange Commission" and "have no legal force or effect." Compliance will know how the firm treats them.
Keep portfolio construction and portfolio results in separate pieces unless compliance asks otherwise. A post about how the firm builds portfolios is not a post about how its portfolios performed.
A drafting workflow compliance can work with
Take a fictional SEC-registered advisory firm in Pennsylvania that wants to publish a monthly article for retirees about how its planning meetings work. Its compliance officer asks the content team to submit each draft with a short cover sheet.
| Draft element | What the cover sheet flags |
|---|---|
| Factual claims | Each claim with the source or internal record behind it |
| Client quotes or stories | Whether any appear, their origin, and whether compensation was involved |
| Ratings, awards, or memberships | Name, issuer, date, period covered, and any fees paid |
| Performance or specific investments | Whether any appear at all, so compliance can apply the rule's conditions |
| Excerpt, headline, and social text | The shorter versions, reviewed with the same care as the body |
The writer drafts from material the firm has already approved: its brochure, its meeting process, and its planners' own explanations. The writer should not have to invent the firm's process or its client experience, and should not try. The SEC's guide also says, "Investment advisers must make and keep copies of all advertisements they directly or indirectly disseminate," so the approved version and its cover sheet go into the firm's records.
In Hudson South's process, Authority Asset gathers the firm's approved business knowledge and evidence, including disclosure documents and the list of testimonials compliance has cleared. AEO Creation turns those inputs into answer-first content. Our article on website proof that helps buyers choose covers evidence more broadly.
Two related pages in this series need the same review: the page that explains how the firm charges and the one that presents credentials a client can verify. All of it sits inside our overview of how financial firms get named in AI answers.
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- 17 CFR 275.206(4)-1, Investment adviser marketing. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Read 2026-10-15.
- Investment Adviser Marketing. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Read 2026-10-15.
- Investment Advisers. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Read 2026-10-15.
- Investment Advisers. North American Securities Administrators Association. Read 2026-10-15.
- 2210. Communications with the Public. FINRA. Read 2026-10-15.
- SR-FINRA-2026-004, Extension of Time for Commission Action. FINRA. Read 2026-10-15.
- Additional Observations Regarding Advisers' Compliance with the Advisers Act Marketing Rule. SEC Division of Examinations. Read 2026-10-15.
- Marketing Compliance: Frequently Asked Questions. SEC Division of Investment Management. Read 2026-10-15.