Securities

INVESTMENT ADVISERS

The Illinois Securities Law of 1953 requires that any person with more than five (5) clients who offers financial planning services to consumers, in exchange for compensation, or who manages and supervises $25 million or less of investments, with limited exceptions, is required to be registered as an investment adviser with the Illinois Securities Department. This group of investment advisers are termed state registered investment advisers.

In addition, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), under provisions of federal law, also plays a key role in the regulation of certain other investment advisers. Passage of federal legislation in 1996, The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, used the benchmark of "assets under management" to divide the regulatory jurisdiction for investment advisers between the SEC and state securities regulators. The federal SEC now exercises primary jurisdiction over those investment advisers with managed assets of more than $25 million. This group is termed federal covered investment advisers.

Investment adviser representatives are persons who are employed by investment adviser firms and engage in such activities as rendering investment advice, making recommendations concerning securities, soliciting new customers or are active in managing accounts or portfolios for clients, among other duties. Investment adviser representatives must pass a qualifying examination and are required to be registered with the Illinois Securities Department. Other frequently used terms to describe persons rendering these types of services include: financial planner, money manager, financial consultant, asset allocation analyst, or fee-only planner.

Most filing requirements for investment advisers and investment adviser representatives are met thru the use of the Central Registration Depository (CRD) and the Investment Advisor Registration Depository (IARD) electronic filing systems.

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The Secretary of State, Illinois Securities Department or their information providers shall not be liable regardless of the cause or duration, for any errors, inaccuracies, omissions or untimeliness of the information, or for any delay or interruption in the transmission thereof to the user, or for any claims or losses arising therefrom.