SEC Approves FINRA Projected-Return Marketing Rule
The change lets broker/dealers communicate projected performance and targeted-return information under conditions largely matching the SEC's investment adviser marketing rule.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Advertising
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The Securities and Exchange Commission approved a FINRA rule allowing broker/dealers to communicate projected performance and targeted-return information. The change largely aligns FINRA's broker/dealer marketing framework with the SEC's Investment Adviser Marketing Rule.
Why it matters
Broker/dealers distributing the same materials had generally remained barred from such communications even as advisers could present hypothetical performance under the 2022 marketing rule. The change closes that mismatch for firms operating across the United States' securities markets.
The SEC's Investment Adviser Marketing Rule took effect in 2022, and the new FINRA exception mirrors its framework for broker/dealers. The effective date of the order has not yet been announced by FINRA.
The players
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The federal agency that regulates U.S. securities markets and approved the FINRA rule, having previously adopted the Investment Adviser Marketing Rule.
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
The self-regulatory organization that oversees broker/dealers in the United States and proposed the rule allowing projected-performance communications.
The details
Under the new exception, broker/dealers may distribute materials containing targeted-return and projected-performance information if they meet the rule's conditions. Firms relying on the exemption must maintain written supervisory procedures addressing audience eligibility, disclosures, recordkeeping and the source of projected-performance data.
Timeline
2022: The SEC's Investment Adviser Marketing Rule became effective, allowing private-fund advisers to present hypothetical performance.
Effective date of the FINRA order: to be announced in an upcoming FINRA Regulatory Notice.
Market Landscape
The approval extends the SEC's 2022 Investment Adviser Marketing Rule framework into broker/dealer marketing, narrowing a regulatory gap for private-fund sponsors and placement agents. It positions broker/dealers to compete on comparable marketing terms with registered investment advisers distributing similar products.
Broker/dealers can now distribute projected-return materials under the new exception, which may change the marketing investors encounter for private funds. Firms relying on it must document audience eligibility, disclosures and data sources before using the materials.
The takeaway
Investors evaluating private-fund marketing should check how projected or targeted returns are sourced and disclosed, since the rule requires firms to keep that information on record.
What happens next
FINRA will announce the effective date of the order in an upcoming Regulatory Notice.
Further reading
For more on how marketing standards are set across the industry, see Advertising.
Source note: This article includes information reported by PLANADVISER.
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