The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 is the last of six federal securities laws passed in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression. The Advisers Act (the “Act”) is of enormous importance. Approximately 14,000 investment advisers are registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and another 4500, such as hedge fund and venture capital fund advisers, file reports with the SEC.1 Many of the largest investment advisers are household names, such as BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street, and Fidelity. The amount of assets under management held by SEC-registered advisers in 2020 was close to $100 trillion, an astounding figure.2 It is hard to imagine an economic sector more important to both Wall Street and Main Street.