Documenting your automated assistant in Form ADV and the firm's WSPs

If the firm uses an automated assistant to handle inbound prospect or client communications, that fact is likely worth documenting in the firm's compliance materials. None of this is legal advice — talk to your compliance counsel before changing any filed document — but this post lays out where the automated-assistant disclosure typically fits and what kinds of language firms are using.

Why disclose at all

Two reasons.

Anti-fraud framing. The SEC's Marketing Rule and the broader Section 206 anti-fraud provisions prohibit material misleading statements, including those made by implication or omission. A prospect who calls a firm, talks to what they assume is a human associate, and only later learns the call was handled by an automated assistant has a reasonable basis to feel misled. Disclosing the use of automation in client-facing materials — and on every call itself — closes that gap.

Operational transparency. Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS exist to give clients and prospects an accurate picture of how the firm operates. A material aspect of how the firm receives prospect inquiries is the kind of operational detail that fits naturally in the brochure.

Where it fits in ADV Part 2A

ADV Part 2A is the narrative brochure. The items where automated-assistant use most often comes up:

• Item 4 (Advisory Business): a general description of services. If the automated assistant is part of how the firm engages with prospective clients, a sentence in Item 4 describing the intake process is reasonable.
• Item 5 (Fees and Compensation): usually not directly relevant unless the automated assistant is tied to a specific fee tier.
• Item 8 (Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss): not directly relevant; the automated assistant doesn't perform analysis.
• Item 12 (Brokerage Practices): not directly relevant.
• Item 14 (Client Referrals and Other Compensation): if the automated assistant is the source of paid referrals (e.g. a lead-generation arrangement), this is where to document the relationship.

Sample language for Item 4, in the spirit of plain disclosure:

"Inbound communications to the firm — by phone, web form, or other channel — may initially be handled by an automated assistant that captures basic intake information. All advice-related communications are conducted by a licensed Investment Adviser Representative of the firm. The automated assistant does not provide investment advice and does not represent itself as a human associate."

The exact phrasing belongs to the firm's compliance counsel. The point is that the brochure is honest about how intake works.

Where it fits in the WSPs

Written Supervisory Procedures (WSPs) are the firm's internal compliance playbook. The automated-assistant-related entries typically cover:

• Advertising review. The script the automated assistant uses is an advertisement (or contains advertising). The WSP should reference how the script is reviewed, approved, and version-controlled, and how changes are documented.
• Recordkeeping. How intake transcripts and recordings are retained, where they live, and the retention period (generally five years under Rule 204-2, with the first two on-site).
• Privacy and information security. How prospect and client data captured by the assistant is stored, transmitted, and accessed. If the assistant is a third-party service, the vendor's security posture and contract terms.
• Disclosure and consent. The standard opening of each call (automated-assistant disclosure, recording consent) and the process for ensuring it remains in place across script revisions.
• Vendor due diligence. If a third-party automated assistant is used, the firm's process for evaluating and ongoing oversight of that vendor.

These WSP entries don't need to be long — a paragraph each is typical — but they should exist as documented procedures the firm can produce during an exam.

What the script itself says

Independent of the brochure and WSP entries, the script the automated assistant uses to open each call carries its own disclosure burden. A defensible opening covers three things:

1. Identification of the assistant as automated, not human.
2. Consent to record the call (in jurisdictions where applicable, and as a general best practice).
3. A statement that the call is for intake purposes and that an Investment Adviser Representative will follow up.

Hartlowe ships with a default opening script that covers these three. Firms can customize the wording but the elements stay in place.

Retention and exam-readiness

When an SEC or state exam asks about the firm's intake process, the firm should be able to produce:

• The current and prior versions of the assistant's script, with dates.
• A sample of intake transcripts (with appropriate privacy redaction where applicable).
• Audio recordings of intake calls, retained per the firm's records policy.
• The WSP entries that govern the assistant.
• The vendor agreement with the assistant's provider, if third-party.

If any of these are not available, the firm has a remediation conversation to have with its compliance counsel.

What this changes for the firm

The compound effect of documenting the automated assistant correctly is that it stops being a compliance loose end and becomes a documented part of the firm's operations. Exams don't surface it as a surprise. Clients and prospects know what to expect when they call. The firm's compliance posture is honest about how the firm actually operates, which is the foundation of every other compliance practice.

Hartlowe ships with retention-ready transcripts, versioned scripts, and an opening disclosure that covers the automated-assistant elements. Start your firm at hartlowe.com.