Over the past few years, more and more firms are diversifying services and products. In an effort to support this business development and attract new talent, broker-dealers (“BDs”) are permitting associated persons to affiliate with independent, non-affiliated investment advisory firms (“IAs”) and vice-versa, which allows the representative to conduct both brokerage business (as a registered representative or “RR”) through the BD and advisory services (as an investment adviser representative or “IAR”) through the IA. This also allows for greater prospective client development opportunities, which leads to revenue generation. However, with more diversity come greater compliance challenges that necessitate engagement of legal counsel during particular transactions. This legal tip will provide important information regarding challenges compliance officers have in overseeing the “hybrid” business model, with a case study involving special considerations for supervision of outside business activities and revenue flow.

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