Form ADV is an important mandatory collection of information about the ownership, services, and procedures for those firms under regulatory compliance by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or relevant state securities authorities. It applies to all registered investment advisers (RIAs) and certain advisers who are exempt from reporting to the SEC but still must complete information about their business. 

Form ADV contains many basic items of information about the firm, including the name and address of the firm, its fees, the regulatory assets under management (AUM), and the number and types of clients served. It also provides deeper information covering direct and indirect ownership, a description of certain investment practices, extent of fiduciary responsibilities, copies of client-friendly narrative descriptions of the firm’s nature and activities, and descriptions of methods and filings about disciplinary actions impacting the firm or its staff, among other information. Form ADV must be updated annually or whenever a material change has occurred.  Form ADV Part 1 (the questions to be answered by the firm) and Part 2 (a narrative brochure for clients) are publicly available on various regulatory and governmental websites, serving the important goals of disclosure and transparency for the protection of investors and clients.

RIAs and their related business lines, e.g., a multifamily office (MFO), must make their Form ADV available to all clients at the outset of the relationship and periodically thereafter. At the least, clients should read and understand the narrative descriptions about services and procedures, which are required to be written in plain English with minimal jargon. Clients should check any filings regarding disciplinary actions concerning the firm.  Any variation from described procedures or questions about whether a firm is operating consistently with its Form ADV is cause for concern and should be part of standard risk management by the client.