When most people hear Form ADV, they think “compliance.” After all, it’s a required regulatory filing for registered investment advisers (RIAs).
But for investment sales professionals, Form ADV is far more than just paperwork — it’s one of the most valuable tools available for understanding allocators, uncovering opportunities, and building stronger relationships.
In particular, fundraisers rely on Form ADV filings to monitor RIA AUM by client segment and custodian information. These two data points alone can shape targeting strategies, reveal where assets are held, and highlight opportunities for new relationships.
The challenge is that this information is buried deep within the IAPD website and can be time consuming to track down and hard to organize. That’s where dakota marketplace comes in — making all of this data accessible in an organized, digestible format.
In this article, we’ll discuss why Form ADV data matters for sales teams, how to use it effectively, and how dakota marketplace turns these filings into a powerful fundraising resource.
Why Form ADV Data Matters for Sales Teams
At its core, investment sales is about targeting the right opportunities and building trust. Form ADV data provides the transparency needed to do both. By reviewing these filings, sales professionals can identify allocators that fit their strategy… whether that’s firms with a certain AUM size, a particular client mix, or a focus on services that align with their offering.
The filings also offer valuable insight into how firms operate. Details on marketing practices, wrap fee programs, and custody arrangements reveal how advisers position themselves and manage client relationships. For fundraisers, this makes it easier to tailor outreach and position solutions in a way that resonates.
Form ADV data is equally useful for competitive intelligence. By seeing which managers allocators are already working with, sales teams can benchmark their competition and spot gaps where new opportunities may exist. On top of that, ownership structures and leadership disclosures help map decision-makers, making it clear who holds influence and who should be prioritized in relationship building.
With this level of detail, sales teams can approach allocators with context, confidence, and credibility to transform what might otherwise be a cold introduction into a warm, informed conversation.
dakota marketplace - Form ADV Database
Dakota Marketplace makes it simple to turn Form ADV filings into actionable insights. Instead of clicking through the IAPD website line by line, marketplace brings all of the information together in one clean, searchable platform. For every RIA, you can view:
- Regulatory AUM – see the full picture of assets under management.
- Client base breakdown – including AUM tied to each client type.
- Advisory services – quickly filter firms by services offered, such as those providing solutions to outside managers.
- Wrap fee programs – identify which advisers participate.
- Advisory business details – including marketing practices, SMA business, and custody arrangements.
- Custodians – view all custodial relationships.
- Private funds – access details on any private funds the adviser manages.
- Ownership – review firm owners and organizational structure.
This information is seamlessly integrated with dakota’s allocator profiles, contact information, and fund data, giving investment sales teams the ability to not just see the raw filing, but understand who allocates capital, how much, and through what channels. Pre-built customer reports make it easy to get started, while advanced filters let you drill into exactly the segment of the RIA landscape that matters most to you.
By embedding Form ADV directly into dakota marketplace, we’ve transformed what was once just a regulatory filing into a powerful resource for fundraising and distribution teams.
The Bottom Line
Form ADV data has always been essential for due diligence and compliance — but for sales professionals, it’s also a roadmap to opportunity. The disclosures in these filings can help you evaluate potential partners, identify new prospects, and strengthen client conversations with hard data.
With dakota marketplace, you get more than access to Form ADV filings. You get a complete, connected view of the allocator landscape — empowering your team to spend less time researching and more time building relationships that drive results.
To explore more on Form ADV data in dakota marketplace, book a demo!
