SEC’s 2026 Exam Priorities Put Spotlight on Retirement Investors

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations is sharpening its focus on the protections afforded to retirement investors and the products they rely on, according to its Fiscal Year 2026 Examination Priorities, released Tuesday.

The priority list signals heightened scrutiny across investment advisers, funds and broker/dealers.

As part of the SEC’s 2026 priorities, the commission intends to focus on how advisers uphold their fiduciary duties when guiding older investors and individuals saving for retirement. Examiners plan to review whether recommendations align with clients’ objectives, risk tolerance and personal circumstances, particularly in cases of advice to older investors and those saving for retirement.

This includes evaluating whether advisers consider costs, liquidity, volatility, exit fees and market sensitivity when steering clients toward various investment products. The notice did not mention cryptocurrency.

The SEC also stated it would scrutinize alternative investments, which have attracted industry interest following an August executive order from President Donald Trump mandating that regulators provide guidance on how fiduciaries can include private assets in retirement plans.

The SEC will be taking a closer look at firms acting as advisers to newly launched private funds and advisers that have not previously advised private funds, reviewing for regulatory awareness, liquidity, valuation, fees, disclosures and different treatment of different investors, including the use of side letters and exchange-traded funds that invest in illiquid assets such as private equity or private credit.

Because mutual funds are central to 401(k)s, and ETFs are important for investors in individual retirement accounts and other retirement accounts, the SEC is again making registered investment companies a focus. Examiners will assess fund fees, operating practices, expense waivers and whether portfolio management and disclosures reflect actual investment risk and strategy.

The SEC will also intensify reviews of broker/dealer sales practices, including compliance with Regulation Best Interest. Emphasis will be placed on recommendations involving:

• rollovers from workplace retirement plans to IRAs;
• account-type recommendations, such as opening advisory, margin or options accounts; and
• complex or tax-advantaged products frequently pitched to retirees, including variable annuities, registered index-linked annuities, 529 plans, private placements, structured products and other alternative investments.

The report further detailed that the SEC intends to scrutinize how financial advisers utilize new technologies, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence.

In particular, the SEC stated that it intends to ensure advisers implement adequate measures to verify that the advice or recommendations generated by automated tools align with their regulatory responsibilities to all investors, including retail investors and older clients.