A Different Kind of Rule Change
Back in the day, adviser ads were simple. You’d find them in the Sunday paper, maybe with a black-and-white headshot and a few polite sentences about “trusted guidance for your financial future.” Nobody was tweeting about market outlooks or posting client reviews online because the technology didn’t exist. Ah, the nostalgia.
Fast-forward to now: advisers are on Instagram, hosting podcasts, uploading market explainers to YouTube, and collecting Google reviews. A “marketing campaign” might be a neatly edited client testimonial video or a LinkedIn carousel showing quarterly performance highlights. The gap between how advisers advertise and how the rulebook defines “advertising” has been getting wider for years.
NASAA’s new proposal is an attempt to close that gap—and it’s a big one for state-registered advisers.
Why NASAA Is Doing This Now
If you’ve ever tried running the same ad in three different states, you know the frustration. One state lets you post testimonials, another insists on a wall of disclaimers, and the third doesn’t even define what a testimonial is.
It’s annoying, it’s costly, it slows down approvals, and it makes marketing teams feel like they need a law degree just to post on social media. NASAA has been watching the SEC’s 2020 Rule 206(4)-1, the Marketing Rule, in action at the federal level, and now it’s proposing to bring state rules into alignment.
The aim: create a common language so advisers can spend more time actually connecting with clients and less time trying to interpret rules written before smartphones existed. This is a model rule—meaning each state will decide whether and when to adopt it, so firms will need to track their jurisdictions closely.
What’s Behind the Push for Change
The old rules were built for a world where adviser marketing meant brochures, seminars, and maybe a radio spot. That world is gone. Today, credibility often comes from:
- A client’s five-star review on Google.
- A third-party award or ranking you’ve earned.
- Bite-sized videos explaining market shifts in plain language.
Investors expect to see this stuff. Regulators want to make sure it’s real, balanced, and doesn’t cherry-pick the good news while hiding the bad. The proposal also touches related model rules on recordkeeping and unethical business practices to make sure the advertising framework is enforceable in the real world.
What’s in the NASAA Proposal
Here’s what NASAA is looking to change, in plain English:
- Testimonials and endorsements? You’ll be able to use them, but only with proper disclosures, adviser oversight, and proof that they’re authentic. “Ineligible persons,” such as promoters with certain disciplinary histories, will be barred from giving paid endorsements.
- Third-party ratings? Allowed—if the rating process is fair and you tell people exactly how the rating was determined, including the methodology, date, and relevant period.
- Performance advertising? You’ll need to be clear about net versus gross returns, show specific time periods, and handle hypothetical and predecessor results with care. Hypothetical performance will require policies to ensure it’s only shown to audiences it’s relevant for, along with clear disclosures of assumptions. Predecessor performance will be allowed only when there’s continuity of the team primarily responsible and accounts are substantially similar.
- Social media and digital content? Officially covered, so the same rules apply whether it’s a printed brochure or a 30-second Instagram video.
- Recordkeeping? More explicit requirements so you know exactly what you have to keep on file to back up your claims—which, under both SEC and proposed NASAA standards, means keeping the creative, the disclosures, the supporting data, and the approval record.
These proposed updates reach beyond advertising itself, pulling in related model rules on recordkeeping and unethical business practices, which means their impact will be felt across more than just client-facing content.
What This Looks Like in Real Life
Let’s look at examples. Picture your marketing over the past year. You shared a glowing client quote on your website. You proudly posted a “Top Adviser” badge from a local magazine. You sent a quarterly performance chart to your mailing list.
Under the proposed rules:
- That client quote needs disclosures—including whether they were paid or rewarded in any way.
- The award post needs to explain how winners were chosen and whether you paid to enter.
- The performance chart may require balanced time frames and results shown after fees.
One quick caution on performance that trips up even careful firms: if you share hypothetical results in a webinar deck or blog, treat it like a power tool. Only show it to an audience that actually needs it, keep the assumptions front and center, document how you built the numbers, and store the model. The SEC has already charged firms for pushing hypothetical returns to the general public without those guardrails, and states will be watching for the same patterns as they align with NASAA’s model.
If you find it annoying, remember: it’s all about making sure every claim you put into the world can stand up to scrutiny—whether from a regulator, a competitor, or a client who wants to double-check the details. And yes, it means compliance and marketing are about to become even better acquainted. In the long run, that’s a good thing.
How It Affects Your Firm
For some advisers, this will be a few small adjustments. For others, it will mean completely reworking how marketing content is approved and archived.
It’s worth looking at:
- Whether your disclosure templates are flexible enough to adapt across different platforms.
- How many layers of review your content goes through before it’s published.
- Whether everyone on your team knows what counts as a testimonial or performance claim under the new definitions.
- How you’ll handle states adopting the rule at different speeds.
The firms that start making these changes now are the ones that won’t be scrambling when the effective date arrives.
The Clock Is Ticking
The public comment period runs until August 28, 2025. This is the window where advisers can point out what works, what doesn’t, and what might have unintended consequences. NASAA has a history of making adjustments based on feedback, especially when it’s specific and backed by real examples.
If you’re going to weigh in, don’t just say “we support” or “we oppose.” Give scenarios from your own experience. Talk about where the proposed rule solves a problem or creates one. And submit it through NASAA’s official process so it’s on record.
Smartria’s Role in All This
Compliance can feel like a moving target, but you don’t have to chase it on your own. Smartria’s tools can help you:
- Review ads against both NASAA’s proposal and the SEC’s Marketing Rule.
- Use pre-approved disclosure templates that save you hours.
- Get alerts when your state finalizes its adoption of the changes.
- Have an expert walk you through the gray areas before they turn into problems.
Think of it as having someone in your corner who’s already read the fine print. Or just give Smartria a try.
Your Action Plan
You don’t need to flip your marketing process upside down tomorrow, but you do need to start:
- Right now: Audit your materials for testimonials, ratings, and performance claims. For each, create a “substantiation file” with the creative, the disclosures, the data source, the approval record, and a date stamp.
- Over the next few months: Train your team and refresh your internal policies.
- Before August 28: Send your comments to NASAA.
- After that: Keep an eye on your state’s adoption timeline and adjust as needed.
Small, steady steps now will make the transition painless later.
Before You Get Back to Work
Regulations like this change how advisers tell their story, what proof they can share, and how much trust they can build in public view. This proposal is your chance to shape those rules while they’re still in draft form.
So read it. Talk about it with your team. Send in your comments. And if you’d rather spend your time on clients than combing through rule text, Smartria’s here to keep you in the clear—and maybe, just maybe, even make compliance something you don’t dread (someday).
