The Free-Dinner Seminar, the 8% "Floor," and the Personal CRM

This is a retail communication and it requires principal approval before use. Marcus is not a principal. The branch manager being on vacation does not create an exception - find another registered principal, use a pre-approved template, or move the date. Sending it on the rep's own authority is the violation, and the mailing date does not justify it.

The copy problems:

• "Income you cannot outlive" - an unqualified promise. It reads as a guarantee of lifetime income and does not disclose the conditions, costs, or the possibility of depletion.
• "8% floor on your retirement money" - a "floor" implies protection against loss. If this describes a specific product feature (for example an income rider on a variable annuity), it must be described accurately with all material conditions, costs, and limitations, and it cannot be presented as a general property of "your retirement money." If it describes nothing in particular, it is a misleading projection and cannot be used.
• Communications must be fair and balanced and cannot omit material facts or contain misleading statements.

Also: retain the final version and the principal's approval in the firm's records system.

It can be done, but not the way he has framed it.

Required disclosures. A retail communication containing a testimonial about the firm's investment advice or performance must prominently disclose that:

1. The testimonial may not be representative of the experience of other clients;
2. It is no guarantee of future performance or success; and
3. Because more than $100 in value was paid, that it is a paid testimonial.

The substance is the bigger problem. "Doubled my retirement money" must be accurate and must be representative of what the firm actually did. Ask: over what period, in what market, from what starting point, and was it the result of the rep's advice or of one concentrated position in a bull market? A true statement that is cherry-picked to imply typical results is still misleading. If the experience is an outlier, use a different client or a different claim.

Approvals: principal approval of the video before it is shown, firm approval of the $300 payment and its documentation, and approval of the LinkedIn post. A "personal" LinkedIn page that identifies him as a registered rep is still a firm-related communication.

Also note: paying a client creates a conflict of interest and should be pre-approved and disclosed, not arranged between the rep and the client.

No on both counts.

The client data belongs to the firm. Names, emails, and phone numbers collected at a firm-sponsored seminar are firm records. Loading them into a personal CRM - particularly one that follows the rep if he changes firms - raises customer-privacy issues and creates off-channel records the firm cannot supervise or produce. Follow-up must happen through firm-approved systems, and the seminar sign-in sheets and RSVPs are books and records the firm must retain. Personal cell phones for client business create unrecorded, unreviewable communications.

The do-not-call matches are binding. The firm's internal DNC list must be honored regardless of how the list was purchased. Scrub those 14 names before any mailing or call. The mailer itself may not be telemarketing, but the follow-up calls are, so firm DNC procedures and calling-time restrictions apply to every name on the list. Also confirm the purchased list was lawfully obtained and that it carries no consent restrictions.

Sequence to give Marcus: principal approves copy → list scrubbed and loaded into the firm's system → seminar run by the firm → follow-up logged in the firm's CRM.