2026 Risk Checklist: What Investment Advisers and Firms Need to Audit Now

The firms that struggle in SEC exams aren't always the ones doing something wrong — they're often the ones whose compliance programs haven't kept up with how the firm has changed.
If your firm has recently merged, added strategies, changed business lines, or is newly registered, your compliance program may not have kept pace with your risk profile.

This checklist helps you find those gaps before an examiner does.

It covers five  risk areas at the center of SEC examination priorities in 2026 — vendor and third-party  oversight, AI governance, the Marketing Rule, and more — with specific action items tied to current regulatory expectations.

Download the checklist to:

• Identify where your program may no longer reflect current operations
• Understand which gaps are most likely to go undetected in established programs
• Prioritize what to address first based on your firm's specific risk profile

   

 If your firm has changed, your compliance program should reflect it. This is where to start. 

About the Author  
Shannon Hull, IACCP®, CAMS®, CTFA®, brings more than 35 years of experience in investment adviser and broker-dealer compliance experience to Ncontracts, where she helps RIAs interpret evolving rules, prepare for exams, and build compliance programs that work in the real world. 

Before joining the company, she spent 12 years in compliance and client service at a standalone RIA (~$20b AUA). Her career includes compliance and operational leadership roles at several dually-registered firms. She has a Master of Legal Studies from Texas A&M University School of Law and holds multiple compliance-related designations.