In short, a testimonial is a statement about an adviser from a current client or investor; an endorsement is a statement about the adviser from a non-client or non-investor. The SEC Marketing Rule provides the following definitions: Endorsement. Statement by person other than current client or investor that: Indicates approval, support, or recommendation of the investment adviser or its supervised persons Directly or indirectly solicits any current or prospective client or investor to be a client of, or an investor in a private fund advised by, the investment adviser Refers any current or prospective client or investor to be a client of, or an investor in a private fund advised by, the investment adviser Testimonial. Any statement by a current client or investor in a private fund advised by the investment adviser: About the client or investor’s experience with the investment adviser or its supervised persons That directly or indirectly solicits any current or prospective client or investor to be a client of, or an investor in a private fund advised by, the investment adviser That refers any current or prospective client or investor to be a client of, or an investor in a private fund advised by, the investment adviser

Absolutely! Improving your Google rankings sends positive trust signals to "Answer Engines" like Chat GPT. The higher you rank, the more likely you are to appear in response to relevant questions. We also provide tools to compliantly display testimonials on your website in a structured schema that is easy for search engines and answer engines alike to read and undstand.

In 2020, the SEC announced a new, modernized “Marketing Rule” to update and replace the prior advertising and cash solicitation rules. The change acknowledges that consumer expectations for information have increased and is designed to “allow advisers to provide investors with useful information as they choose among investment advisers and advisory services, subject to conditions that are reasonably designed to prevent fraud.” The Marketing Rule addresses the use of testimonials, endorsements, and third-party reviews. It lays out clear requirements and limitations as to how these forms of client feedback are collected, used, shared, or promoted. However, the SEC has also released guidance on how it may weigh various factors when evaluating a firm’s compliance with the Marketing Rule. Advisers should have a system in place to ensure they comply with the Marketing Rule’s requirements, as well as be aware of their firm’s specific policies, before engaging with testimonials, endorsements, and third-party reviews.

We take data security and storage seriously. We use state-of-the-art practices to encrypt all data in transit and at rest. We partner with Amazon AWS for industry-leading cloud data center reliability and conduct ongoing penetration testing to keep your information secure. You can download full copies of all of your stored data at any time.

Testimonial IQ was designed to support advisers registered with both FINRA and the SEC. Testimonial IQ includes workflows to require pre-approval for all content shared with prospective clients and maintains an audit trail of the review/approval process, which is in line with requirements from both FINRA and the SEC. We encourage all advisers to work with their compliance departments to determine if they are permitted by their regulatory authorities to leverage testimonials or endorsements.