2024 Investment Adviser Compliance Conference

Conference Registration/Exhibit Hall

Continental Breakfast with Exhibitors

Find your old friends, make new ones, and get to know the exhibitors.

Welcome Remarks

• Karen L. Barr, President & CEO, Investment Adviser Association

GENERAL SESSION: Fireside Chat with SEC Chair

• Karen L. Barr, President & CEO, Investment Adviser Association
• The Honorable Gary Gensler, Chair, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [invited]

GENERAL SESSION: SEC Division of Investment Management: A Conversation with Director William Birdthistle

• William A. Birdthistle, Director, SEC Division of Investment Management [invited]
• Gail C. Bernstein, General Counsel, Investment Adviser Association

Networking Break

Concurrent Compliance Breakout Sessions

Choose one of four sessions to attend. Video recordings of these breakout sessions will be provided.  

AI, Behavioral Prompts, and Other Emerging Technology – Risk Governance and Conflicts Management
Learn best practices around risk governance, conflicts, and advisers’ compliance obligations for the use of artificial intelligence, models, and other new technologies. The panel will also explore the SEC’s proposal on the use of predictive data analytics.

• Jen Klass, Partner, K&L Gates
• Danielle Nicholson Smith, Vice President and Managing Legal Counsel – U.S. Communications and Digital Services, T. Rowe Price
• Sanjay Lamba, Associate General Counsel, Investment Adviser Association (Moderator)

New Private Fund Adviser Rules
This panel will explore new requirements and interpretive questions around new rules for private fund advisers. Hear the latest on how to tackle rules on quarterly statements, restricted activities, preferential treatment, private fund adviser audits, adviser-led secondaries, and recordkeeping.

• Alpa Patel, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
• Andrea Santoriello, Executive Director and Assistant General Counsel, J.P. Morgan Asset Management
• Monique Botkin, Associate General Counsel, Investment Adviser Association (Moderator)

Smaller Advisers: Making the Most of Compliance
This panel will focus on best practices for smaller advisers including maximizing your compliance resources to effectively implement your compliance program. Explore compliance challenges and practical strategies around fees, billing, disclosures, compliance testing, technology, annual reviews, integrating new businesses, and more. Hear how to prioritize your to-do list to make the most impact.

• Bliss Bernal, IACCP®, Chief Compliance Officer, Crestone Capital LLC
• Erik Olsen, Chief Compliance Officer, Vident Asset Management
• Patrick D. Hayes, Partner, Calfee (Moderator)

Registered Investment Companies Update
Examine the latest trends and compliance best practices for registered investment companies, including mutual funds and ETFs, around the 15(c) process for advisers and other governance practices around fees, disclosures and reporting, 38a-1 compliance programs, the names rule, the use of derivatives, fair valuation, and liquidity risk management.

• Naseem Nixon, Vice President and Associate Counsel, Capital Group
• Jennifer Reiche, IACCP®, Chief Compliance Officer, Eventide
• Sara P. Crovitz, Partner, Stradley Ronon (Moderator)

LUNCH: Hot Topics from Inside the Beltway

Gain insights into the latest regulatory and legislative landscape affecting investment advisers and the IAA’s current policy priorities.

• Neil A. Simon, Vice President, Government Relations, Investment Adviser Association
• Karen L. Barr, President & CEO, Investment Adviser Association (Moderator)

Concurrent Compliance Breakout Sessions

Choose one of four sessions to attend. Video recordings of these breakout sessions will be provided.

Marketing Rule Compliance: Best Practices:
This panel will share best practices for compliance and lessons learned on all aspects of the new marketing rule. Learn about interpretations of the rule’s provisions and dos and don’ts. Performance, general prohibitions, recordkeeping, testimonials, endorsements, third-party ratings, and more will be covered, as well as unique issues for private fund managers.

• Robert Shapiro, Assistant Director, Chief Counsel’s Office, SEC Division of Investment Management
• Alejandro Staroselski, Senior Manager, Director of Internal Audit, Prudential Financial
• Mike McGrath, Partner, Dechert LLP

Compliance 101
Whether you are new or seasoned, understand best practices to execute a proactive and tailored compliance program, including fostering an appropriate tone at the top of the firm, risk management, conflicts of interest, and remediation. Hear also about the SEC Division of Enforcement’s focus on creating a culture of proactive compliance.

• Maria Chambers, IACCP®, Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President, Klingenstein Fields Advisors
• Michelle Jacko, Managing Partner, Jacko Law Group, PC
• Ken Joseph, Managing Director, Kroll LLC
• Kurt Wachholz, IACCP®, Managing Director, Bates Compliance

InfoSec: Data Privacy and Regulation S-P
Hear from panelists on best practices for safeguarding sensitive client data and complying with evolving state, local, and federal privacy regulations. Learn about the amended Reg S-P requirements.

ERISA/DOL: Investment Advice Fiduciaries Rule and Other Developments
This panel will explore the Department of Labor’s new proposed rule defining who is an investment advice fiduciary for purposes of ERISA and related potential challenges and impacts for advisers. Learn also about current focus areas under ERISA obligations.

GENERAL SESSION: Off-Channel Communications – Recordkeeping Obligations and the Use of Personal Devices and Messaging Apps

Explore the regulatory landscape around electronic communications, including use, monitoring, supervision, and recordkeeping practices. Discover best practices, compliance strategies, and trends in technology going forward around the use of personal or firm devices, messaging apps, and off-channel communications for business purposes and related compliance and recordkeeping obligations. The panel will highlight lessons learned from SEC enforcement actions.

• Adam Aderton, Partner, Willkie Farr & Gallagher
• Muyka Porter, Principal, Chief Compliance Officer, CIM Group
• C. Dabney O’Riordan, Partner, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP (Moderator)

Networking Break

GENERAL SESSION: ESG Investing and Compliance: Adapting to the Changing Environment

While investor demand for investment products and financial services that incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing factors continues to grow, regulatory requirements and scrutiny continue to increase. Hear about best practices in ESG and sustainable investing compliance programs, including disclosure, marketing, and data and portfolio management. Consider how the latest moves by the SEC, states, and other regulators may impact your firm.

• William Nelson, Associate General Counsel, Investment Adviser Association (Moderator)

GENERAL SESSION: DEI in the Investment Management Industry – Developments and Next Steps

A panel of IAA members and experts will share stories and suggestions for how advisers implement diversity, equity, and inclusion in their initiatives, especially in the evolving legal landscape after the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision in SFFA v. Harvard.

• Ranah Esmaili, Partner, Sidley Austin LLP

What to Expect on Day 2

Cocktail Reception

Conference Registration/Exhibit Hall

Breakfast Compliance Roundtables

Share information with your peers about best practices from your compliance program and the role of compliance in your firm. Choose the roundtable topic that interests you:

Concurrent Meetings

These meetings are for group/committee members only and registration is required.

• IAA Marketing Implementation Group
• IAA Private Fund Advisers Implementation Group
• IAA Smaller Advisers Committee

GENERAL SESSION: Ethics for Advisers: Compliance with Fiduciary Standards – Part 1

An adviser’s code of ethics reflects its fiduciary obligation to its client, including the duty of loyalty and duty of care. Discuss code of ethics requirements and best practices for monitoring, testing, administering, and enforcing these policies and conflicts of interest. This session is approved for one hour of IACCP® continuing education ethics credit.

• Kim Versace, Chief Compliance Officer, National Real Estate Advisors, LLC
• Valerie Mirko, Partner, Armstrong Teasdale (Moderator)

GENERAL SESSION: A Conversation with SEC Divisions of Examinations and Enforcement

• Natasha Vij Greiner, Co-Deputy Director and Co-National Associate Director of the Investment Adviser/Investment Company Examination Program, SEC Division of Examinations (invited)
• Andrew Dean, Co-Chief, Asset Management Unit, SEC Division of Enforcement (invited)
• Corey Schuster, Co-Chief, Asset Management Unit, SEC Division of Enforcement (invited)
• Gail Bernstein, General Counsel, Investment Adviser Association (Moderator)

Networking Break with Exhibitors

Concurrent Compliance Breakout Sessions

Choose one of four sessions to attend. Video recordings of these breakout sessions will be available to attendees shortly after the conference.

Cybersecurity Programs
Hear the latest on the SEC’s proposed cybersecurity risk management rules, including how to put into practice lessons learned from recent Division of Examinations Risk Alerts and Division of Enforcement cases. Keep apprised of the latest cybersecurity updates. Benchmark your program to proactively improve cyber hygiene and risk governance through information security and operational resiliency to protect your firm against ransomware, account takeovers, and credential compromise.

• Smaller and Medium Firms
• Larger Firms

Private Equity Fund Advisers: Hot Topics in SEC Examinations
This panel will examine top examination areas for private equity fund advisers, including calculation and allocation of fees and expenses, contractual obligations and disclosure, portfolio management and fiduciary duty considerations, and valuation practices.

• Sean Murphy, Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, EIG Partners
• Jason Brown, Partner, Ropes & Gray LLP (Moderator)

Compliance in the Era of M&A
This panel will explore challenges and opportunities in structuring a compliance program in the evolving landscape of mergers and acquisitions of advisory firms. Gain insights about initial due diligence and regulatory considerations; integrating processes, systems, and technology around portfolio management, billing, and CRM; and the impact acquisitions have on the annual compliance program testing.

• Matt Ahlstrand, Vice President of Product Management and Solutions Consulting, SS&C Advent
• Chad Estep, Chief Compliance Officer, Corient, LLC
• Jamie Lynn Walter, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP (Moderator)

Lunch: Use of AI in Investing and Compliance

Concurrent Compliance Breakout Sessions

Choose one of four sessions to attend. Video recordings of these breakout sessions will be available to attendees shortly after the conference.

Outsourcing and Vendor Due Diligence
Join one of these breakout panels to learn best practices and insights for initial and ongoing due diligence, risk management, and monitoring of outsourcing to service providers of the adviser. Hear the latest about the SEC’s proposed requirements for outsourcing “covered functions” to service providers.

• Smaller and Medium Firms
  • Joe LaFemina, Director, Solutions Management, Managed Services, SS&C Advent
• Larger Firms

Safeguarding/Custody
This panel will provide clarity and practical insights into current custody rule challenges and the SEC’s proposed safeguarding rule under the Advisers Act. The proposed rule would broaden application of the current custody rule beyond clients’ funds and securities to include all client assets, expand the segregation requirements for qualified custodians, and include new real-time asset verification rules. Understand how proposed contract, recordkeeping, and audit provisions may impact advisers too.

• David Bartels, Partner, Dechert LLP
• Laura Grossman, Associate General Counsel, Investment Adviser Association (Moderator)

Proxy Voting
Learn the latest on recent actions by the SEC related to proxy voting and what advisers should focus on as we head into proxy season, including advisory agreements, policies and procedures, and oversight of third parties. Hear practical steps to take to comply with new reporting on amended Form N-PX for Form 13F filers on executive compensation “say-on-pay” votes.

• Ian J. McPheron, Head of Legal–Americas, Aviva Investors
• Mari-Anne Pisarri, Partner, Pickard Djinis and Pisarri LLP (Moderator)

Ethics for Advisers: Compliance with Fiduciary Standards – Part 2

This session will cover the protection of material nonpublic information (MNPI) and prevention of insider trading, whistleblower policy issues and scenarios, and best practices for monitoring, testing, administering, and enforcing these policies. This session is approved for one hour of IACCP® continuing education ethics credit.

• Gordon Eng, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, SKY Harbor Capital Management, LLC
• Steve Farmer, Chief Compliance Officer, Confluence Investment Management
• Robert Saperstein, Chief Compliance Officer, Guggenheim Investments
• Stephanie Avakian, Partner, WilmerHale (Moderator)

Closing Remarks and Conference Adjournment

• Karen L. Barr, President & CEO, Investment Adviser Association