What is in the RIA Launch Checklist?

The nine steps to start an RIA in the order a breakaway advisor does them, each with the SEC, FINRA or NASAA rule behind it; a checkbox list for every step; six questions to settle with counsel before starting; and what has to be ready on resignation day.

Do I need to register with the SEC or my state?

It depends on assets under management. Firms with $100 million or more can register with the SEC and must at $110 million, and a firm already registered can stay until it falls below $90 million. Most firms below $100 million register with their home state, which sets its own fees and, in some states, minimum net worth or surety bond requirements.

How long does it take to start an RIA?

The SEC has 45 days after a complete application to grant registration or begin proceedings to deny it, and state timelines vary. The full launch, from forming the entity to moving clients, takes longer, and Winthrop & Co.'s launch work typically runs four to nine months depending on the firm's size and how much is prepared before resignation.

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The RIA Launch Checklist

Every step to start your own RIA and build it from scratch, in the order a breakaway advisor does it, as a checklist you can work through.

What's inside

Starting an RIA is nine steps, and the order matters as much as the steps. This checklist puts each one on a page you can mark up: SEC or state registration, the legal entity, licensing, the custodian and technology, the compliance program, Form ADV, the resignation, repapering clients, and the obligations that start on day one, each tied to the SEC, FINRA or NASAA rule behind it.

The nine steps at a glance, with the rule behind each and when it happens
A checkbox list for every step, from the SEC-or-state decision to the first annual review
Six questions to settle with counsel before step 1
What has to be ready on the day you resign

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Nine steps, and most of them happen before you resign

Starting your own RIA takes a legal entity, registration with the SEC or the state, a Form ADV filed through the IARD system, a written compliance program with a named chief compliance officer, a qualified custodian and a plan for the day you resign. Firms with $100 million or more under management can register with the SEC and must at $110 million; most smaller firms register with their state. Once a complete application is filed, the SEC has 45 days to grant registration or begin proceedings to deny it. The regulator's clock is short. The work that decides how a launch goes is what comes before the filing.

Why the order matters for a breakaway

An advisor leaving a wirehouse or a broker-dealer is building a firm while still employed by another one. What may be done before resigning depends on the employment agreement and on FINRA's outside business activity rules, and registration has to be effective before the first client signs. The checklist separates what can be prepared in advance from what waits for resignation day, and lists the questions to settle with counsel before any of it begins.

Common questions

What is in the RIA Launch Checklist?+
The nine steps to start an RIA in the order a breakaway advisor does them, each with the SEC, FINRA or NASAA rule behind it; a checkbox list for every step; six questions to settle with counsel before starting; and what has to be ready on resignation day.
Do I need to register with the SEC or my state?+
It depends on assets under management. Firms with $100 million or more can register with the SEC and must at $110 million, and a firm already registered can stay until it falls below $90 million. Most firms below $100 million register with their home state, which sets its own fees and, in some states, minimum net worth or surety bond requirements.
How long does it take to start an RIA?+
The SEC has 45 days after a complete application to grant registration or begin proceedings to deny it, and state timelines vary. The full launch, from forming the entity to moving clients, takes longer, and Winthrop & Co.'s launch work typically runs four to nine months depending on the firm's size and how much is prepared before resignation.