Form ADV is a regulatory document required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. It is a disclosure document that provides essential information about an investment advisor and their operations. As a result, Form ADV filings data is critically important for diligence professionals.
Over 25,000 firms file ADV filings at least on an annual basis. 18% are exempt reporting advisers, over 15% have their status cancelled or terminated.
These Form ADV filings include data on private funds, with over 62,000 funds managing gross assets of at least USD 10 million. 39% of these funds are private equity funds, 23% are hedge funds, 15% are venture capital funds, 7% are real estate and 1% are private credit funds.
Across all firms, the filings creates a dataset of over 21 million records, which is a significant dataset to determine benchmarks and trends, but also requires sophisticated data techniques. Given the unique nature of the dataset, we observe manager research, operational due diligence, compliance and risk teams leverage the dataset for multiple workflows.
Exploring Investor Insights from Form ADV Filings Data
We identify 10 key areas for investors when working with Form ADV Data.
- Regulatory Compliance
- Background & History including Ownership Details
- Investment Strategies and Services
- Fee Structures
- Client Assets and Account Types
- Conflicts of Interest, Custody and Safeguarding of Assets
- Material Changes
- Civil, Criminal and Regulatory Disclosures (DRPs)
- New Launches and Sourcing of Investments
- Comparing Multiple Advisors, Global Search, and Industry Benchmarks
Download the whitepaper below to review various uses and to build a strategy to integrate Form ADV dataset in your investment and diligence framework.
With most firms about to refresh their ADV filings in March 2024, get ready with your tools to analyze this rich dataset and make informed investment decisions. To learn more about how DiligenceVault can help, explore our data solution for Form ADV Regulatory Filings.
Finally, interested in learning more about digitizing the investment, ESG and operational due diligence processes for your external manager investing program? Explore the complete suite of digital diligence technology offering from DiligenceVault.
