Marketing Rule FAQs
Marketing Compliance FAQ
Marketing Compliance Frequently Asked Questions
Read the current text at the source ↗Guide: Testimonials, Endorsements and Third-Party Ratings Under the Marketing Rule
Guide: Performance Advertising Under the Marketing Rule: Net, Gross, Hypothetical and More
- Applies to
- SEC-registered investment adviser
- Last amended
- January 15, 2026
When this applies
Staff guidance, in the staff's own words: “These responses represent the views of the staff of the Division of Investment Management. They are not a rule, regulation, or statement of the Securities and Exchange Commission.” The staff adds that the FAQs, like all staff guidance, “have no legal force or effect: they do not alter or amend applicable law.” Useful, and not the thing you cite as your obligation.
What the rule says
A description of the source text.
The Division of Investment Management's running answers on the Marketing Rule. The current set covers compliance timing, gross and net performance, extracted performance and how it may be presented, portfolio characteristics such as yield, volatility and attribution and whether fees must be deducted from them, the use of a model fee in net performance, and disqualification events for testimonials and endorsements. Last updated 15 January 2026.
What it requires
Luna's plain-English reading, not the Commission's words.
- 01Read these before designing a performance presentation. Several practices that look prohibited on the face of the rule are addressed here.
- 02They change without notice and without a Federal Register entry, so a compliance file that quotes an FAQ should record the date it was read.
What examiners find
Luna's observations, not a Commission publication.
- Policies built on a superseded version of an FAQ.
- Reliance on an FAQ position described internally as though it were the rule.
Topics
Source last checked against the regulator's copy on October 14, 2026. That date is written by an automated check, not by hand.
Luna Compliance is software, not a law firm. This page is not legal advice and reading it creates no attorney-client relationship. Where this page and the regulator's copy differ, the regulator's governs.