In recent years, more and more people choose to allocate their assets overseas. In the face of unfamiliar investment markets, investors often choose overseas investment institutions to take care of them. For ordinary investors, it is difficult to understand the depth of the industry, so when choosing an overseas investment institution, we must first understand whether the institution has the corresponding qualifications: RIA (registered investment advisor). Because only investment institutions with RIA licenses can carry out US stock sales and other businesses in China, if they can't obtain relevant qualifications, they can only trade through licensed intermediary platforms.
A term often heard in overseas asset allocation is RIA, the full name of which is registered investment consultant (RIA), which is often used as a proof of strength and qualification in publicity. What is the actual gold content of this license plate itself? This article will answer this question.
Regulatory basis of 0 1 RIA
Before introducing RIA, briefly introduce the license supervision system of American asset management industry.
On the subject of supervision, the subject can be divided into two categories according to its nature: regulatory agencies and industry self-regulatory organizations; From a hierarchical point of view, as a federal country, the regulatory agencies in the United States include national and state levels.
In terms of participants, there are two most common subjects in the American investment management industry. One is investment companies that invest, invest, hold and trade securities, and the other is commodity funds that invest in financial derivatives such as futures and options. On this basis, the United States has formed the following basic licensing supervision system.
RIA is an individual or institution that provides securities investment advice to others and collects fees inside and outside investment companies and other entities.
In the United States, if you want to provide securities investment services for others, you must apply to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the state securities institution where your principal place of business is located for registration as an investment consultant, that is, a registered investment consultant RIA.
The scope of securities investment advice is quite extensive in the United States, including asset management, account management and financial services in the entire securities market. Therefore, the asset pool includes common securities such as stocks, creditor's rights, mutual funds and commodity futures. Hedge fund management and financial planning services are also defined as securities investment business, and employees need to hold RIA licenses.
In the United States, RIA is mainly regulated by the investment advisory law of 1940 in addition to the securities law of 1933 and the securities trading law of 1934. The core of the latter supervision is to emphasize the fiduciary responsibility of RIA, that is, RIA should always put the interests of investors above its own interests. According to the requirements of the Act, RIA needs to fully disclose its remuneration and conflict of interest, and any nominal interest transfer is illegal.
How many RIAs are there in America?
According to the statistical information published by the Investment Consultants Association (IAA), as of 20 18, there were 12,578 RIAs registered with the SEC, and the number of registrations has been on the rise since 20 12. And its total assets under management have reached $82.5 trillion by 20 18.
How to obtain RIA license
First, you need to register an American company.
RIA requires that the company be the main body, so you need to register a company in the United States to apply for RIA license. There are no special restrictions on the company name, as long as there is no duplicate name. The COmmon name is followed by the words CORP (company), LTD (limited company), INC (joint stock limited company), co (company) or LLC. Different states require different registered capital, generally $50,000, without capital verification. A local registered address is required. The general processing time is 25-30 working days.
Secondly, register an account with IAPD in the name of the company. The system is not only used to apply for registration, but also used for the follow-up compliance self-inspection and information disclosure of RIA.
Third, fill in the ADV form online in IAPD system and submit it.
The ADV form consists of two parts. The first part needs to provide information such as company shareholders, shareholders and past punishment records. The second part is divided into two small parts, which need to provide the applicant's exhibition industry, potential customers, conflicts of interest and relevant personal information that needs to be supplemented.
The ADV form has 73 pages and takes an average of 9 hours to fill out.
Fourth, at the same time of completing the online application, you need to pass the Series65/66 exam to get the qualification.
The duration of the 65-series examination is 180 minutes, and the examination contents include various professional ethics, economic knowledge, various investment tools and investment analysis. The correct rate of 72% can be passed, and the license is valid for life without continuing education. The examination duration of Department 66 is 150 minutes, and the correct rate is over 75%. The exam is only open to candidates who have passed the 7-department exam (general securities representatives).
The application only needs to provide the company name and director information, which will be provided by Zhuo Zhi for review.