ACA's Top 10 Webcasts of 2021

As 2021 winds down and we prepare for the new year, we thought we would take a moment to look back at our most popular webcast topics of 2021. These webcasts reflect new trends and regulatory requirements that came to the forefront over the past year and will likely continue to be areas of concern into 2022.

All the following webcasts are available on demand to view at your convenience.

1. The New Marketing Rule
   The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments late last year to modernize Rule 206(4)-1 (the Advertising Rule) for the first time since the Rule’s adoption. We hosted a number of webcasts that explored the implications of these amendments.
   • New Amendments to the Marketing & Advertising Rule: What You Should Know
   • FAQs: Amendments to the Marketing & Advertising Rule
   • The New Marketing Rule: A Focus on Performance
   • Get Ready to Comply: SEC Marketing Rule Preparation Timeline
   • Industry and Regulatory Trends Update: Marketing and Performance Advertising
2. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)
   Investors and regulators have a growing interest in global environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Now more than ever, investment advisers are under increased pressure to integrate ESG and sustainability factors into their investment process. This webcast discussed today’s ESG trends and how to better address sustainability and responsible investing issues in the year ahead. Watch now
3. 2021 SEC Examination Priorities: What You Should Know
   The SEC’s Division of Examinations (formerly, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations) FY2021 Examination Priorities continued to focus on protecting retail investors and assessing ongoing and emerging market-wide risks. They include an increased focus on private fund risk disclosures and conflicts of interest, alternative data, digital assets, cybersecurity, technology, advanced analytics, anti-money laundering (AML), and Broker-Dealer and Registered Investment Company risks. They also reflected a significant shift and interest in climate and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) related risks and strategies. This webcast discussed the 2021 Examination Priorities and how they may have impacted your firm and your compliance program. Watch now
4. The Year in Review: What’s Happened in Regulatory Compliance, Cybersecurity, ESG, and Performance in 2021
   ACA’s industry thought leaders shared trends, insights, and developments in the areas of regulatory compliance, ESG, cybersecurity and risk, and performance from 2021 and discuss what to expect in 2022. Watch now
5. Implementing the Updated PRI Framework
   Signatories reviewing the 2021 United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI) framework may have noticed the increased breadth and depth of the scored questions compared to prior reporting periods. Many questions that were previously unscored and/or optional are now required and scored, leaving some signatories with misaligned program elements that may result in scores unlike what they may have achieved in the past. ACA’s ESG Advisory specialists discussed key PRI areas where signatories may have room to improve and ways to mitigate the program gaps going forward. Watch now
6. FINRA Priorities and Hot Topics 2021
   FINRA’s Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities report for 2021 has a new format that combines two previously published annual reports, the Report on Examination Findings and Observations and the Risk Monitoring and Examination Program Priorities Letter. The report outlines noteworthy takeaway's and practices from recent exams, and addresses 18 regulatory risk areas. This webcast reviewed key priorities and emerging risks identified by FINRA, shared perspective on key challenges firms are facing in these areas, and provided effective practices firms can implement. Watch now
7. Getting Your House in Order: Priorities for Operational Resiliency
   Firms are under pressure to meet SEC’s expectations for operational resilience as well as their own internal and client expectations for cybersecurity and privacy. The SEC Division of Examinations' Risk Alert on November 19, 2020 demonstrated that regulators do not believe firms are doing enough for cyber and compliance. Weaknesses and deficiencies relating to the Compliance Rule (Rule 206(4)-7 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940) were found across maintenance of written policies, due diligence processes, third-party oversight, cybersecurity, client safeguards for privacy, and more. This webcast reviewed what you need to do to establish a robust cybersecurity program to protect your firm and meet regulators' expectations. Watch now
8. Common Practices for GIPS^® Compliance
   The 2020 Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) provide a detailed framework for calculating and presenting performance, and claiming compliance can demonstrate how a firm is proactively pursuing best practices. ACA has gathered all of the common best practices of performance teams complying to the GIPS standards, and during this webcast, we discussed the most common question we receive from clients, "What do other firms do?" This webcast also reviewed common practices for GIPS compliance. Watch now
9. The Modernization of the Marketing Role: Reimagining Function and Collaboration
   This insightful webcast discussed how the pandemic allowed financial service organizations to rethink the role of marketing, and open up new opportunities for work-flow design and further automation. This webcast also highlighted the recently adopted new Marketing Rule and how further adoption of technology can support the marketing function. Watch now
10. Lessons Learned from 2021's Scariest Cyber Breaches
    The dramatic increase in cyber incidents in 2021 has led cybersecurity to be a growing concern for organizations of all sizes. The webcast recounted the horrifying retelling of the scariest cyber incidents of the past year. By learning from these incidents, your firm can apply best practices to improve your security, educate employees, and protect your business. Watch now

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