C.1 Definition of an Advertisement
While you may think of “advertisements” as something you see in a magazine or hear on the radio between songs, the Marketing Rule's definition of an advertisement includes many forms of communication. The Marketing Rule defines an advertisement based on its content, and it divides its definition into two “prongs.”
The first prong includes any direct or indirect communication made by an investment adviser to more than one person that offers securities-related investment advisory services. These may be communications to prospective clients, investors in a private fund managed by the IA, or current clients. Note that only offers of new services to current clients count as advertisements—when an investment adviser sends information to current clients about their current investments, it is not an advertisement. While the definition states any “direct or indirect” communication made by the adviser, this includes content from third parties (i.e., consultants, placement agents, broker-dealers) that is approved of by the