Key takeaways

• On March 15, FINRA released a report on digital investment advice tools, defined as technologies developed or acquired by financial services firms and used to profile investors and/or create and manage their investment portfolios. We recommend broker-dealers carefully consult the report, as the matters contained therein may be expected to begin appearing regularly on FINRA examinations.
• The report stresses the importance of broker-dealers having strong governance and supervision over any investment tools they decide to deploy, so that such tools can be properly integrated into the compliance and supervisory structures within the firm.
• Reliance on digital advice tools is not a substitute for satisfying existing suitability and conflicts-of-interests requirements.