What changed for state-registered RIAs' marketing in 2026?

Check your state's rule, not the model text. NASAA announced on May 4, 2026 that its members voted to amend four model rules on investment adviser advertising. A model rule is a template that states may adopt, and your state's own rule governs your firm.

What this means for your firm

• Find the regulator that registers your firm, and read its current advertising and books-and-records rules. Ask it whether, and when, it adopted NASAA's May 4, 2026 amendments. Start with the questions to put to your state regulator below.
• Do not assume a testimonial, endorsement or rating that the SEC rule permits on conditions is permitted in your state. NASAA's July 2025 request for comment said the model rules then in force prohibited them explicitly.
• Keep a copy of each advertisement and the support behind it. The model recordkeeping rule 411(c)-1 has a paragraph (11) that tracks Rule 204-2(a)(11).
• Record who reviewed each piece and when. For SEC advisers, the Compliance Rule (17 CFR 275.206(4)-7(a)) asks for written policies "reasonably designed to prevent violation"; a dated record is one way to show yours are applied.

Model rule

A rule NASAA publishes for states to adopt or adjust; NASAA's July 2025 request for comment presented its model marketing rule as an option for states, not a requirement (NASAA, Request for Public Comment).

What was amended

Four model rules, amended May 4, 2026: 102(a)(4)-1, 502(b), 203(a)-2 and 411(c)-1 (NASAA announcement).

Which rulebook governs

The SEC Marketing Rule covers advisers "registered or required to be registered with the Commission" (SEC risk alert, Sept. 19, 2022); a state-registered adviser follows its state's rule.

NASAA announced on May 4, 2026 that its members voted to amend four model rules on investment adviser advertising: 102(a)(4)-1, 502(b), 203(a)-2 and 411(c)-1.

By title, two are conduct rules and two are recordkeeping rules: Unethical Business Practices Rule 102(a)(4)-1, Prohibited Conduct Model Rule USA 2002 502(b), Recordkeeping Requirements Model Rule 203(a)-2 and Recordkeeping Requirements (USA 2002) Model Rule 411(c)-1.

NASAA's announcement says the amended rules give states a framework to let state-registered advisers use testimonials, endorsements and specific performance reporting within set guardrails. It adds that they were first released for public comment in July 2025. The announcement page we checked states no adoption dates for any state, and we did not check any state's status.

Not on its own. NASAA's July 2025 request for comment described its model marketing rule as one "for members to adopt should they choose to do so." Your state's own rule governs your firm; check with your state securities regulator.

The request for comment is a proposal, written before the May 2026 vote, and calls the result "an option for incorporation by reference."

Model Rule 102(a)(4)-1 also says whom it is written for:

"This rule is intended for jurisdictions that have adopted the Uniform Securities Act of 1956. Italicized text is explanatory or intended for adjustment by a jurisdiction to accord with the jurisdiction's existing statute or regulations."

NASAA Model Rule 102(a)(4)-1, p. 1

Model Rule 411(c)-1 carries the same note for the Uniform Securities Act of 2002. Our reading: until your state adopts a model rule, its text is not your firm's rulebook.

Before the vote, NASAA's request for comment said:

"Under existing NASAA model rules, testimonials, endorsements, and third-party ratings are explicitly prohibited"

NASAA, Request for Public Comment (July 29, 2025), p. 2

The amendments give states a framework to permit them within guardrails. Model Rule 102(a)(4)-1 offers two routes. Alternative 1 points to the SEC rule:

"Publishing, circulating or distributing any advertisement which does not comply with Rule 206(4)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940."

NASAA Model Rule 102(a)(4)-1(m), Alternative 1

Alternative 2 restates the long form: general prohibitions, testimonials and endorsements, third-party ratings and performance, mirroring the SEC rule with "Administrator" in place of "Commission".

So a state can adopt by reference or by writing the text out. What your state did is in your state's rule. The SEC's conditions are set out in our testimonials and third-party ratings answer.

The SEC Marketing Rule, 17 CFR 275.206(4)-1, is an SEC rule. The SEC's Division of Examinations put its scope this way:

"Any advertisements disseminated on or after the Compliance Date by advisers registered or required to be registered with the Commission are subject to the Marketing Rule."

SEC Division of Examinations risk alert, Sept. 19, 2022, p. 1

Staff risk alerts are the views of the staff, not a rule or a statement of the Commission. A firm registered with a state securities regulator looks to that regulator's advertising rule. That rule may restate the SEC's, as NASAA's long form does, or point to it, as Alternative 1 does. Either way, the text that binds you is your state's. Your state securities regulator's website is the place to find its current rules.

If you are unsure which regulator your firm answers to, settle that first.

Rule 204-2 itself covers SEC-registered advisers. A state-registered firm follows its state's rule, which may copy 204-2's list. NASAA's Model Rule 203(a)-2, amended May 4, 2026, is a template for states.

The model's retention paragraph reads:

"... shall be maintained and preserved in an easily accessible place for a period of not less than five years from the end of the fiscal year during which the last entry was made on record, the first two years in the principal office of the investment adviser."

NASAA Model Rule 203(a)-2(e)(1)

The SEC rule says "an appropriate office" where the model says "principal office". For states that incorporate the SEC rule, Model Rule 203(a)-2's Alternative 2 points to Rule 204-2's list of books and records, even for an adviser not registered under the Advisers Act.

Model Rule 411(c)-1 has a paragraph (11) on copies of advertisements, third-party rating questionnaires and testimonial documentation. Our retention answer compares the model's period with Oregon's.

Take these to your regulator; they are also questions for your CCO and counsel.

• Has the state adopted the May 4, 2026 amendments, and from what date?
• Does the state rule incorporate SEC Rule 206(4)-1 by reference, or write out its own conditions for testimonials, endorsements, ratings and performance?
• How long must a copy of an advertisement be kept, and from what date does the clock run? Under the SEC rule, advertisements run from the end of the fiscal year in which the piece was last disseminated, a different trigger than most records (worked example).
• Where must records be kept for the first two years, and is a cloud archive acceptable?

Turret's marketing review keeps each upload as a new version and never changes earlier ones. A named approver approves, rejects or requests changes, and each decision is 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. That clock follows the SEC rule; our checklist does too, so check your state's period and text. Marketing is $99/mo for 5 submitters, no setup fee, 15-day free trial. Turret does not capture social media, review sites or texts.

Sources opened October 27, 2026.

1. NASAA, NASAA Modernizes Investment Adviser Advertising Rules to Align with Federal Standards (May 4, 2026)
2. NASAA, Request for Public Comment on proposed model rule amendments (July 29, 2025)
3. NASAA, Unethical Business Practices of Investment Advisers, Model Rule 102(a)(4)-1 (amended May 4, 2026)
4. NASAA, Recordkeeping Requirements for Investment Advisers, Model Rule 203(a)-2 (amended May 4, 2026)
5. NASAA, Recordkeeping Requirements for Investment Advisers, Model Rule USA 2002 411(c)-1 (amended May 4, 2026)
6. eCFR, 17 CFR 275.204-2, Books and records to be maintained by investment advisers
7. eCFR, 17 CFR 275.206(4)-1, Investment adviser marketing
8. SEC Division of Examinations risk alert, Examinations Focused on the New Investment Adviser Marketing Rule (Sept. 19, 2022)
9. Cornell LII, 17 CFR 275.206(4)-7, Compliance procedures and practices