SEC seeks to examine advisers never reviewed before

The Securities and Exchange Commission will target for examinations investment advisers who have been registered for more than three years but have never undergone a review, the agency said Thursday. The regulator also will zero in on whether advisers are acting in the best interests of their clients in wrap-fee investment programs and monitor the use of quantitative trading methods, according to its annual exam priority list. In addition, the SEC will build on two other initiatives that were previously launched. It will continue to monitor payments made by investment advisers and mutual funds to fund intermediaries to ensure that they're not used as payments for preferential treatment for funds. “We are publishing these priorities to highlight areas that we perceive to have heightened risk,” Andrew Bowden, director of the SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, said in a statement.