Embrace Quality and Transparency in All Your Public Sessions

The volunteer “workshop watchdogs” are coming (see this month’s RFR). So if invitational presentations are part of the way you market your services to the public, what will you do about it? Get angry at AARP and NASAA? Stop doing public outreach? Do background checks on attendees before you admit them? There’s a better response . . . use the opportunity to truly educate the public, while demonstrating your commitment to full transparency.

Think about it. This is the Madoff era where “free lunch seminars” have been used to promote criminal activity from Ponzi schemes to worthless oil and gas deals. But it’s also an era where countless people have received tremendously valuable information at a public session. If your workshop does have a watchdog in attendance, what better time is there to demonstrate your ability to deliver helpful educational content? And while delivering this content, what better opportunity to be fully transparent to your audience?

To these ends, here are several tips for delivering great sessions while also not running afoul of the regulators.

1. Think of yourself as an educator, not a marketer. Your goal should always be to deliver useful content, not sales hype.
2. Get your presentation materials (and all related marketing resources) approved by your broker-dealer and make sure they’re compliant with all state insurance regulations.
3. Make sure your presentation visuals, comments, and materials stay within the scope of your license. For example, if you are not securities licensed, do not give investment advice.
4. At the top of the seminar, talk in detail about your education and experience. Make sure people know who you are and who you aren’t. For example, if you’re not an attorney, be upfront and encourage them to consult an attorney for legal advice. 
5. Review all of your licenses. If you’re insurance licensed, encourage attendees to verify that you are in good standing with your state insurance department. If you’re securities licensed, encourage attendees to access your CRD record using the FINRA BrokerCheck service.

Bottom line: You may not like the idea of watchdogs attending your session. But in reality, it’s more an opportunity to shine than a problem. Seminar watchdogs should only concern advisors with something to hide.