What has the SEC fined advisers for under the Marketing Rule?

We read 31 settled Marketing Rule administrative orders against investment advisers, dated August 21, 2023 to September 4, 2025. Each firm consented to a censure, a cease-and-desist order and a civil penalty without admitting or denying the findings: it agreed to the order without conceding or contesting what the SEC found. Penalties ran from $20,000 to $850,000, and 19 of the 31 orders involved hypothetical performance.

Stated assets under management ran from $42 million to $5.2 billion, so no single size of firm.

What this means for your firm

• Audit your public website for the claims these orders cover: performance figures, no-conflict claims, awards, ratings and testimonials (see what the orders involved and hypothetical performance, ratings and no-conflict claims).
• Write the policy that fits any hypothetical or backtested performance to its intended audience (Rule 206(4)-1(d)(6)(i); see hypothetical performance).
• Keep a copy of every advertisement. A page that offers your advisory services can be one, and Rule 204-2(a)(11) requires a copy; dated versions are how we would document it. Four orders cite missing copies (see missing copies).
• Date each rating and award and name who gave it (Rule 206(4)-1(c)(2)(i)).

Whether a particular piece of yours complies is a judgment for your CCO and counsel. Turret’s Marketing product flags some of this language in a pre-screen and keeps every approved version; a person decides.

Scope

31 settled administrative orders, August 21, 2023 to September 4, 2025, each with its sec.gov order linked in the table; one court action is outside the count (SEC orders; what the table leaves out).

Penalties

$20,000 to $850,000 per order; $4,570,000 across the 31 we read, by our addition of the table, plus $192,454 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest in the Titan order (SEC orders).

Firm size

Stated assets under management from $42 million to $5.2 billion; 20 of the 30 firms that stated a figure stated less than $500 million and 10 stated more; one firm reported none (SEC orders).

Each row below is a settled administrative order under the Investment Advisers Act. In all 31, the firm consented to a censure, a cease-and-desist order and a civil penalty, neither admitting nor denying the SEC’s findings.

Penalty is the civil money penalty in the order. Titan’s order also required $192,454 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest. Stated AUM is as each order gives it. For six of the September 2024 orders (Droms Strauss, Howard Bailey, Integrated Advisors, Professional Financial, Richard Bernstein and Callahan), the penalty is taken from the SEC’s press release 2024-121 table.

The SEC announced three batches as sweeps and stated each batch’s total. By our addition, the penalties in the table match all three. These descriptions paraphrase the SEC’s releases, which are linked in Sources.

• September 11, 2023 (press release 2023-173): nine advisers charged with Marketing Rule violations; the SEC said all nine agreed to settle and pay $850,000 in combined penalties.
• April 12, 2024 (2024-46): five advisers; $200,000 in combined penalties. The SEC called it the second set of cases in an ongoing targeted sweep, as of that date.
• September 9, 2024 (2024-121): nine advisers; $1,240,000 in combined civil penalties.

Earlier, press release 2023-153 (August 21, 2023) announced the Titan order, which the SEC described as the first violation of its amended marketing rule: an $850,000 penalty plus $192,454 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest. For the later orders we cite the orders themselves.

Most often, hypothetical performance: 19 of the 31 orders involved it, and 30 involved an advertisement on the firm’s public website. Other orders concerned claims of no conflicts, third-party ratings and awards, and endorsements.

Counts from the table (an order can appear in more than one line):

• Hypothetical performance (model-portfolio, backtested or both): 19.
• Advertisement on the firm’s public website: 30. The other order, Twenty Acre, involved pitch decks and fact sheets emailed and uploaded to third-party databases.
• A claim that the firm or its advice was free of conflicts: 5.
• Third-party ratings or awards: 4.
• Endorsements or testimonials: 4.
• A Rule 204-2 recordkeeping finding: 5. A Rule 206(4)-7 compliance-program finding: 6.

Not all of them. Stated assets under management ran from about $42 million (Trowbridge Capital Partners) to $5.2 billion (Richard Bernstein Advisors). Of the 30 firms that stated a figure, twenty stated less than $500 million and ten stated more; Global Predictions reported none.

Within a single batch the range was wide: the nine September 2023 firms stated from $42 million to $1.28 billion. The smallest penalties were $20,000 (InSight Securities and Bradesco Global Advisors); the largest single-firm penalty was Titan’s $850,000.

Yes. Four of the 31 orders we read find that the firm did not keep copies of its advertisements, as Rule 204-2(a)(11) requires. Separately, two orders, GeaSphere and Atlas, cite missing records behind performance claims under (a)(16).

“A copy of each … Advertisement … that the investment adviser disseminates, directly or indirectly…”

17 CFR 275.204-2(a)(11)(i)(A)

Three orders say what went wrong. Macroclimate could not produce the staff’s requested copies because “the earliest versions of the relevant webpages … were not saved before they were later revised.” MRA Advisory Group had “failed to ensure that the advertisements had been archived by an outside service provider.” Meridian used a third-party web provider, but “neither Meridian nor this third-party service provider kept copies of all of the advertisements.”

How long to keep them, and what counts as a copy of a website, are covered in How long must an RIA keep advertisements? and Do RIAs need to archive their website?.

Hypothetical performance. The rule allows it only if the adviser meets three conditions. The first is that the adviser:

“Adopts and implements policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that the hypothetical performance is relevant to the likely financial situation and investment objectives of the intended audience of the advertisement”

17 CFR 275.206(4)-1(d)(6)(i)

The September 2023 orders find that the firms advertised hypothetical performance on a public website without those policies. The firms undertook to evaluate and update their policies within 30 days and certify within 40.

Ratings and awards. Abacus stated it was a “Top 12 Financial Advisor” by Barron’s “when, in fact, Abacus was rated a ‘Top 1200 Financial Advisor’”. The rule asks for the date of a rating and the period it covers (206(4)-1(c)(2)(i)); see testimonials and third-party ratings.

No-conflict claims. Meridian “claimed it ‘refuse[d] all conflicts of interest,’ without providing any context for this claim.”

• SEC v. Black Dragon Capital, LLC, et al., a federal court action (Southern District of Florida; litigation release LR-26095, September 3, 2024) citing Rule 206(4)-1(a)(6). The defendants consented to an injunction and civil penalties without admitting or denying, subject to court approval; the release states no amounts. It is not an administrative order, so it is not counted.
• Risk alerts and the staff FAQ are guidance, not enforcement.

Turret’s Marketing plan ($99/mo, 5 submitters, no setup fee, 15-day free trial) runs an AI pre-screen that flags each piece for your approver, including hypothetical or backtested performance, gross performance without net, ratings and awards, testimonials and no-conflicts claims. A named approver decides; each version is kept and each decision recorded. Turret computes each piece’s Rule 204-2(e)(3) clock: five years from the end of the fiscal year it was last disseminated. Website archiving keeps dated versions of your site. It does not capture social media or calculate performance.

SEC Marketing Rule checklist for small RIAs · Marketing compliance · Website archiving

Sources opened October 27, 2026.

1. eCFR, 17 CFR 275.206(4)-1, Investment adviser marketing
2. eCFR, 17 CFR 275.204-2, Books and records to be maintained by investment advisers
3. SEC, SEC Sweep Into Marketing Rule Violations Results in Charges Against Nine Investment Advisers (Press Release 2023-173, Sept. 11, 2023)
4. SEC, SEC Charges Five Investment Advisers for Marketing Rule Violations (Press Release 2024-46, Apr. 12, 2024)
5. SEC, SEC Charges Nine Investment Advisers in Ongoing Sweep into Marketing Rule Violations (Press Release 2024-121, Sept. 9, 2024)
6. SEC, SEC Charges FinTech Investment Adviser Titan for Misrepresenting Hypothetical Performance of Investments and other Violations (Press Release 2023-153, Aug. 21, 2023)
7. SEC press release 2024-36, SEC Charges Two Investment Advisers with Making False and Misleading Statements About Their Use of Artificial Intelligence (Mar. 18, 2024)
8. SEC, SEC v. Black Dragon Capital, LLC, et al. (Litigation Release 26095, Sept. 3, 2024)
9. SEC, In the Matter of Titan Global Capital Management USA LLC (IA-6380, 2023-08-21)
10. SEC, In the Matter of Banorte Asset Management Inc. (IA-6404, 2023-09-11)
11. SEC, In the Matter of BTS Asset Management Inc. (IA-6405, 2023-09-11)
12. SEC, In the Matter of Elm Partners Management LLC (IA-6406, 2023-09-11)
13. SEC, In the Matter of Hansen & Associates (IA-6407, 2023-09-11)
14. SEC, In the Matter of Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC (IA-6408, 2023-09-11)
15. SEC, In the Matter of Macroclimate LLC (IA-6409, 2023-09-11)
16. SEC, In the Matter of McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC (IA-6410, 2023-09-11)
17. SEC, In the Matter of MRA Advisory Group (IA-6411, 2023-09-11)
18. SEC, In the Matter of Trowbridge Capital Partners LLC (IA-6412, 2023-09-11)
19. SEC, In the Matter of Delphia (USA) Inc. (IA-6573, 2024-03-18)
20. SEC, In the Matter of Global Predictions, Inc. (IA-6574, 2024-03-18)
21. SEC, In the Matter of Gea Sphere, LLC d/b/a GeaSphere Advisors (IA-6585, 2024-04-12)
22. SEC, In the Matter of InSight Securities Inc. (IA-6586, 2024-04-12)
23. SEC, In the Matter of Monex Asset Management Inc. (IA-6587, 2024-04-12)
24. SEC, In the Matter of Credicorp Capital Advisors LLC (IA-6588, 2024-04-12)
25. SEC, In the Matter of Bradesco Global Advisors Inc. (IA-6589, 2024-04-12)
26. SEC, In the Matter of Twenty Acre Capital LP (IA-6628, 2024-06-14)
27. SEC, In the Matter of The Pacific Financial Group, Inc. (IA-6646, 2024-08-09)
28. SEC, In the Matter of Abacus Planning Group, Inc. (IA-6678, 2024-09-09)
29. SEC, In the Matter of AZ Apice Capital Management LLC (IA-6679, 2024-09-09)
30. SEC, In the Matter of Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. (IA-6680, 2024-09-09)
31. SEC, In the Matter of Howard Bailey Securities LLC (IA-6681, 2024-09-09)
32. SEC, In the Matter of Integrated Advisors Network LLC (IA-6682, 2024-09-09)
33. SEC, In the Matter of Professional Financial Strategies Inc. (IA-6683, 2024-09-09)
34. SEC, In the Matter of Beta Wealth Group, Inc. (IA-6684, 2024-09-09)
35. SEC, In the Matter of Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC (IA-6685, 2024-09-09)
36. SEC, In the Matter of TS Bank d/b/a Callahan Financial Planning (IA-6686, 2024-09-09)
37. SEC, In the Matter of Wahed Invest, LLC (IA-6763, 2024-11-01)
38. SEC, In the Matter of Atlas Financial Advisors, Inc. (IA-6803, 2024-12-20)
39. SEC, In the Matter of Meridian Financial, LLC (IA-6916, 2025-09-04)