STP Institute

Congratulations to Our NICSA Nova Emerging Leaders!

We are thrilled to announce that three exceptional members of our team at STP Investment Services have been recognized with the prestigious NICSA Nova Emerging Leaders Award: Kaisha Schnoll, David Likens, and Sam Landset. This honor highlights their remarkable contributions to our firm and the broader financial services industry.

Third-Party Cyber Risk Likely to Stay a Focus for Trump’s SEC

The agency under the Trump administration is expected to focus on cybersecurity controls in its examinations at a time when cyberattacks are considered one of the top threats to financial services firms.

STP’s Lori Weston, Head of Compliance, said, “Cybersecurity has been a regulatory concern for over a decade, and now we’ve got that emerging issue of artificial intelligence.  At the end of the day, it’s still the advisor that’s responsible for protecting their firm and client data. So, politics aside, with the proliferation of methods that cyber criminals use to access data, firms should expect that they and their vendors will experience a breach at some point. It’s a question of when, not if.”

STP launches ComplianceAdvisor to meet increasing regulatory needs

STP’s Dan Houlihan, CEO, shared insights with Private Funds CFO reporter Jennifer Banzaca on the launch of STP’s ComplianceAdvisor.

Dan noted that while STP has in the past offered some basic compliance services, they were only offered to institutional firms who outsourced some or all of their investment operations to STP.  STP ComplianceAdvisor greatly expands STP’s capabilities as well as its outreach, offering comprehensive regulatory and compliance services to address the ever-evolving regulatory landscape for all investment advisers; including hedge funds, private equity advisers, wealth managers and family offices.

SEC warns firms to get their AI house in order

STP’s Lori Weston, Director of Product and Strategy was mentioned in FinancialPlanning’s SEC warns firms to get their AI house in order.

The SEC might have stepped back from a new proposal meant to make advisors responsible for eliminating conflicts of interest in AI-generated investing recommendations. But artificial intelligence, machine learning, and similar technologies remain top concerns for the industry watchdog, as evidenced by a report on examination priorities released Monday.

Lori says the concerns extend to third-party firms who might use AI to provide outsourced services to advisory firms. This is particularly true for vendors who provide help with investment selection and management.

“Advisors should review their overall policies regarding the supervision and oversight of all third-party providers, with a particular focus on the third-party provider’s use of AI,” Weston said. “In today’s interconnected environment, AI risks can infiltrate a firm’s operations via third-party vendors.”

Read more about this article and what Lori shares here.