Legacy Bridge Sees 30% Faster Advertising Review
Executive Summary
Legacy Bridge, a growing Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) firm, struggled with a slow and inefficient advertising review process, hindering timely campaign launches and increasing compliance risk. Golden Door Asset implemented a streamlined, AI-powered compliance workflow featuring automated checks and a centralized document repository. The result was a 30% reduction in advertising review time, accelerating campaign deployment and improving marketing agility, while simultaneously enhancing compliance oversight.
The Challenge
Legacy Bridge, managing over $750 million in assets for high-net-worth individuals, recognized the critical role of marketing and advertising in attracting new clients. However, their existing advertising review process was a significant bottleneck. The process relied heavily on manual review, requiring multiple stakeholders, including Patricia Brennan, the Chief Compliance Officer, to meticulously examine each marketing piece for regulatory compliance.
Before Golden Door Asset, Legacy Bridge's advertising review process unfolded as follows: a marketing team member would draft an ad, which could be anything from a social media post highlighting a recent portfolio performance to a brochure detailing a new investment strategy. This draft would then be printed, physically routed to Patricia Brennan for compliance approval, and subsequently sent back to the marketing team for revisions based on her feedback. If revisions were needed – often the case with advertisements mentioning performance data – the process would restart, creating a time-consuming loop.
This cumbersome process typically took an average of 5 business days per advertisement. This delay often resulted in missed opportunities to capitalize on market trends or to launch timely promotional campaigns. For instance, a campaign designed to attract clients during a market downturn was delayed by a week, potentially losing the firm opportunities to acquire clients who were actively seeking financial guidance during that volatile period. Patricia Brennan estimates that each week of delay resulted in potentially losing out on opportunities that could translate to $50,000 - $100,000 in AUM, based on their average client size.
Furthermore, the manual nature of the review process increased the risk of human error and non-compliance. With the constant changes in regulations, it was challenging for Patricia Brennan to stay on top of every detail and ensure that all advertisements met the stringent requirements of the SEC and FINRA. A single compliance violation could lead to significant fines, reputational damage, and even regulatory sanctions. For example, accidentally misrepresenting investment performance in an advertisement could trigger an investigation and lead to fines exceeding $10,000. The firm recognized the need for a solution that could streamline the advertising review process, reduce the risk of non-compliance, and enable them to launch marketing campaigns more efficiently.
The Approach
Golden Door Asset approached the challenge at Legacy Bridge with a two-pronged strategy: automation and centralization. The first step involved a detailed audit of Legacy Bridge’s existing advertising review workflow, identifying bottlenecks and areas for improvement. We interviewed Patricia Brennan, marketing team members, and other relevant stakeholders to gain a comprehensive understanding of the current process.
Based on this analysis, we proposed a cloud-based workflow management system with integrated compliance rules and automated alerts. This system would serve as a centralized hub for all advertising materials, eliminating the need for physical documents and manual routing.
The core of the solution was the integration of AI-powered compliance checks. We pre-loaded the system with a comprehensive library of regulatory rules and guidelines from the SEC and FINRA, tailored specifically to the types of advertising Legacy Bridge typically utilized. The system was configured to automatically scan each advertisement for potential compliance issues, such as unsubstantiated claims, misleading statements, and missing disclosures.
The system also incorporated Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to analyze text within images and PDF documents. This allowed the system to identify potential compliance issues even in advertisements that were not in a readily searchable format. For example, if an advertisement contained a performance chart embedded as an image, the OCR technology would extract the data from the chart and verify that it was presented accurately and in compliance with regulatory guidelines.
To further streamline the review process, we implemented a workflow with pre-defined approval steps. Once an advertisement was uploaded to the system, it would automatically be routed to Patricia Brennan for review. The system would also generate automated alerts to remind stakeholders of upcoming deadlines and pending approvals.
Throughout the implementation process, we worked closely with Legacy Bridge to ensure that the system was configured to meet their specific needs. We provided training to all relevant stakeholders on how to use the system and how to interpret the results of the automated compliance checks.
Technical Implementation
The implementation of Golden Door Asset's solution involved several key technical components:
- Cloud-Based Workflow Management System: We chose a leading cloud-based workflow management system known for its security, scalability, and integration capabilities. This system provided a centralized platform for managing all advertising materials, tracking review progress, and storing audit trails. We specifically selected a platform that was compliant with industry standards such as SOC 2 and HIPAA, ensuring the confidentiality and security of Legacy Bridge's data.
- Integrated Compliance Rules Engine: We developed a custom compliance rules engine that was integrated directly into the workflow management system. This engine contained a comprehensive library of regulatory rules and guidelines from the SEC and FINRA, specifically tailored to the types of advertising commonly used by RIAs. The rules engine was designed to be easily updated as regulations change, ensuring that Legacy Bridge remained compliant at all times. Rules were coded in a combination of Python and Javascript, allowing for flexibility and integration with various data sources.
- Automated Compliance Checks: The compliance rules engine automatically scanned each advertisement for potential compliance issues, such as unsubstantiated claims, misleading statements, and missing disclosures. The system used natural language processing (NLP) techniques to analyze the text of each advertisement and identify potential red flags. For instance, the system was trained to recognize words and phrases that are commonly associated with misleading investment advice, such as "guaranteed returns" or "risk-free investment."
- Optical Character Recognition (OCR): We integrated OCR technology into the system to analyze text within images and PDF documents. This allowed the system to identify potential compliance issues even in advertisements that were not in a readily searchable format. The OCR engine utilized a proprietary algorithm optimized for financial documents, ensuring high accuracy in extracting text from scanned images and PDFs.
- Automated Alerts and Notifications: The system generated automated alerts and notifications to remind stakeholders of upcoming deadlines and pending approvals. These alerts were sent via email and in-app notifications, ensuring that stakeholders were always aware of their responsibilities. We configured the alerts to escalate if an advertisement remained unreviewed for more than 24 hours, preventing bottlenecks and ensuring timely campaign launches.
- Secure Document Repository: The cloud-based workflow management system provided a secure document repository for storing all advertising materials and review records. The repository was designed to meet the stringent security requirements of the financial services industry, including encryption at rest and in transit, access controls, and audit logging. All documents were backed up to multiple geographically diverse data centers, ensuring data availability and disaster recovery.
The system also included a robust reporting module that allowed Legacy Bridge to track key metrics, such as average review time, number of compliance issues identified, and overall compliance performance. This data helped them to identify areas for improvement and to demonstrate compliance to regulators.
Results & ROI
The implementation of Golden Door Asset's solution at Legacy Bridge yielded significant improvements in their advertising review process:
- Reduced Advertising Review Time by 30%: The average review time for advertisements decreased from 5 business days to 3.5 business days. This represents a 30% reduction in review time, enabling Legacy Bridge to launch marketing campaigns more quickly and capitalize on market opportunities. This time saved has allowed the marketing team to focus on creating and deploying more campaigns, resulting in a 15% increase in lead generation in the past quarter.
- Reduced Compliance Risk: The automated compliance checks significantly reduced the risk of human error and non-compliance. The system identified and flagged potential compliance issues that might have been missed in the manual review process. For example, the system flagged a potential violation of the SEC's advertising rule regarding hypothetical performance data, preventing Legacy Bridge from publishing an advertisement that could have led to regulatory sanctions. Patricia Brennan has reported a 75% reduction in time spent manually verifying disclosures.
- Improved Marketing Agility: The streamlined review process enabled Legacy Bridge to respond more quickly to market changes and competitive pressures. They were able to launch timely promotional campaigns and adjust their marketing strategy as needed. For instance, when interest rates began to rise, Legacy Bridge was able to quickly launch a campaign highlighting their expertise in fixed income investments, attracting new clients who were seeking to protect their portfolios from rising rates.
- Increased Efficiency: The centralized document repository and automated workflow eliminated the need for physical documents and manual routing, saving time and resources. The marketing team estimates that they save an average of 2 hours per week on administrative tasks related to advertising review.
- Improved Audit Trail: The system automatically generated a detailed audit trail of all review activities, making it easier for Legacy Bridge to demonstrate compliance to regulators. The audit trail included a record of all changes made to each advertisement, the date and time of each change, and the identity of the user who made the change. This audit trail provided valuable evidence of Legacy Bridge's commitment to compliance.
These improvements have had a tangible impact on Legacy Bridge's bottom line. The faster campaign launches have resulted in increased lead generation and client acquisition. The reduced compliance risk has protected the firm from potential fines and reputational damage. And the increased efficiency has freed up resources that can be used to focus on other strategic initiatives.
Key Takeaways
Here are some key takeaways for other RIAs seeking to improve their advertising review process:
- Embrace Automation: Automate as much of the review process as possible to reduce manual effort and improve efficiency. Leverage AI-powered tools to scan advertisements for potential compliance issues.
- Centralize Your Documents: Create a centralized document repository for all advertising materials to eliminate the need for physical documents and manual routing.
- Establish a Clear Workflow: Define a clear workflow with pre-defined approval steps to ensure that advertisements are reviewed and approved in a timely manner.
- Stay Up-to-Date on Regulations: Continuously monitor regulatory changes and update your compliance rules engine accordingly. Partner with a compliance expert to ensure that your firm is always in compliance with the latest regulations.
- Track Key Metrics: Track key metrics such as average review time, number of compliance issues identified, and overall compliance performance to identify areas for improvement.
About Golden Door Asset
Golden Door Asset builds AI-powered intelligence tools for RIAs. Our platform helps advisors automate compliance tasks, generate personalized client communications, and optimize investment strategies. Visit our tools to see how we can help your practice.