What is the SEC Marketing Rule and why does it matter for advisor reviews?
The SEC Marketing Rule — formally Rule 206(4)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 — replaced two older rules and took full effect on November 4, 2022. Before that date, Registered Investment Advisers were effectively banned from using client testimonials, endorsements, or third-party reviews in their marketing. The Marketing Rule reverses that ban, but only under conditions: every testimonial must be clearly labeled as such, the relationship between the speaker and the firm must be disclosed, and any cash or non-cash compensation paid for the testimonial must be disclosed in plain language, alongside any material conflicts of interest. The rule is the legal foundation that makes verified advisor review platforms — including Fiduciary Check's review system — possible at all.
What the rule allows
Under the Marketing Rule, an RIA can:
- Publish client testimonials with the required disclosures.
- Use third-party endorsements with the required disclosures and policies.
- Cite hypothetical performance under specific conditions tied to the audience's likely use.
- Show case studies if presented in a fair and balanced manner.
What the rule still prohibits
The rule keeps a long list of prohibitions. Advertising cannot contain untrue statements, omit material facts, imply something the SEC has not, or present performance without required context. Cherry-picked testimonials are still off-limits. Compensation paid for a review of more than $1,000 within the prior twelve months must be disclosed prominently, not buried in fine print.
Why it matters for consumers reading advisor reviews
Before November 2022, a firm with hundreds of happy clients legally could not show a single quote from any of them. Consumers had no review surface for fiduciary RIAs comparable to what they had for restaurants, hotels, or even brokers (whose firms operate under different FINRA rules). The Marketing Rule closed that information gap — but only for firms with the compliance infrastructure to use it correctly. A reviewer's testimonial without proper disclosure can trigger SEC enforcement against the firm. That is the reason most RIA review systems are built on top of explicit consent flows and labeled testimonials, rather than the Yelp-style anonymous-review model.
How to spot a properly disclosed review
A compliant testimonial under the Marketing Rule will:
- Identify whether the reviewer is a current client.
- Disclose any compensation, including non-cash compensation, that exceeds the de minimis thresholds.
- Disclose any material conflicts of interest.
- Not cherry-pick — firms are expected to present a balanced picture, not only the best reviews.
A review that lacks these disclosures may still be authentic, but the firm using it without them is exposed to enforcement, and the consumer has less basis to trust it.
What this means for Fiduciary Check
Fiduciary Check's review surface is built to comply with Rule 206(4)-1. Reviews are tied to verified client identity. The firm-level review pages cannot suppress negative reviews. Compensation, if any, is disclosed. The compliance posture is what allows the system to work without putting the verified advisor at regulatory risk.