Annual Updating Amendment

Quillon Asset Advisers has a fiscal year ending December 31. Regarding the annual updating amendment to its Form ADV, the firm must file:

1. A.Within 30 days after the end of its fiscal yearThirty days is too short; the annual updating amendment window is 90 days.
2. B.Within 90 days after the end of its fiscal year, updating responses to all Form ADV itemsCorrect. The annual updating amendment is due within 90 days of fiscal year end and refreshes every item.
3. C.Within 90 days after the end of each calendar year, regardless of fiscal yearThe deadline keys to the adviser's own fiscal year end, not the calendar year.
4. D.Only when a material change occurs; no periodic amendment is requiredPrompt amendments for certain items are required in addition to, not instead of, the annual amendment.

Why: An adviser must file an annual updating amendment to Form ADV within 90 days after the end of its fiscal year, updating the responses to all items. Separately, certain items (such as changes to the firm's name, principal office address, or disciplinary information) require a prompt other-than-annual amendment whenever the information becomes inaccurate.

Kestrel Ridge Advisors, a federal covered adviser, has a fiscal year ending December 31. Regarding its annual brochure obligation under the Advisers Act, Kestrel Ridge must:

1. A.File its annual updating amendment to Form ADV Part 1 within 90 days of fiscal year end, which also satisfies the client brochure obligationThis merges the Part 1 annual updating amendment deadline with the separate client delivery duty. Filing an amendment with the regulator sends nothing to clients, and the brochure rule imposes an independent affirmative delivery obligation.
2. B.Redeliver the full brochure to each client at least 48 hours before the anniversary date of that client's advisory contractThe 48-hour standard belongs to the initial delivery alternative at contract inception. There is no anniversary-triggered redelivery cycle, and keying delivery to each client's contract date would fragment a firm-wide fiscal-year obligation.
3. C.Deliver to each client, within 120 days of fiscal year end, either the amended brochure containing a summary of material changes or that summary with an offer to provide the full brochureRule 204-3 requires annual delivery within 120 days of the adviser's fiscal year end and gives the adviser two ways to satisfy it: deliver the updated brochure containing the summary of material changes, or deliver the summary alone together with an offer to provide the complete brochure on request.
4. D.Post the current brochure on the public IAPD system, which relieves the adviser of any duty to send it to existing clientsPublic availability on IAPD is a consequence of filing, not a method of delivery. The rule obligates the adviser to deliver to each client, and passive availability on a website does not discharge an affirmative duty.

Why: The annual brochure requirement runs off the adviser's fiscal year, not the client's contract date. Within 120 days of fiscal year end the adviser must deliver either the updated brochure including the summary of material changes, or that summary alone accompanied by an offer to supply the full brochure on request. The 90-day Form ADV Part 1 annual updating amendment is a separate regulatory filing that delivers nothing to clients.