Every compliance question
you'll ask before you sign up.

FINRA doesn't require passing a specific exam to use a compliant prospecting tool — it requires that all retail communications comply with FINRA Rule 2210 and that a registered principal approves them before use. Stoke's principal pre-approval workflow satisfies this requirement. Your compliance officer reviews and approves each email template before any send, and the approval is logged with a timestamped PDF receipt.

No — and Stoke enforces this automatically. FINRA Rule 2210 prohibits testimonials in prospecting communications without a list of disclosures that defeat the purpose. Stoke's copy generation never produces testimonials, performance rankings, or specific return claims. Every template is framed around value propositions and process — not results. If you paste a draft with a testimonial into the audit tool, it flags it as a Rule 2210 violation instantly.

Stoke generates a per-email PDF receipt for every message sent. Each receipt includes: the full email text, the principal who approved it, the approval timestamp, the recipient, and the send timestamp. All records are stored for six years by default (FINRA books-and-records requirement). The PDFs are designed to be exam-ready — auditors can review a complete outreach audit trail without you assembling anything manually. See a sample compliance receipt →

Cold email is legal and widely used by RIAs — it just must comply with FINRA Rule 2210 (retail communications) and, for SEC-registered advisors, the Marketing Rule (SEC Rule 206(4)-1). The key requirements: truthful and not misleading content, no unsubstantiated claims, easy opt-out, and principal pre-approval before the first send. CAN-SPAM compliance is also required. Stoke's workflow addresses all of these by design — every template is generated with compliance guardrails, then approved before use.

Yes. Any reply containing unsubscribe intent is processed automatically: the prospect is removed from all active sequences, suppressed from future campaigns, and the opt-out is logged with a timestamp. Stoke also includes a one-click unsubscribe link in every email footer — required under CAN-SPAM. Suppressed contacts are permanently blocked from re-entry unless you explicitly remove the suppression, which requires a documented reason.

Yes. Stoke's principal pre-approval workflow was designed specifically for this. Your designated compliance officer or principal reviews each template in the Stoke dashboard, adds any required disclosures, and approves it. Nothing sends until approval is logged. You can also export the approved template plus approval metadata as a PDF to submit to your BD's compliance system — so Stoke works alongside your existing compliance process, not instead of it.

Three ways. First, Stoke sends from your own domain via your authenticated SMTP connection — not a shared sending pool. This means your domain reputation is yours to build and protect. Second, Stoke enforces send-rate limits and per-day caps tuned to avoid spam thresholds. Third, every sequence includes automatic engagement scoring — contacts who don't open are paused before your sender score degrades. Stoke also monitors for hard bounces and removes them immediately to protect deliverability.

FINRA Rule 2210 applies to FINRA-registered broker-dealers and their associated persons. The SEC Marketing Rule (Rule 206(4)-1) applies to SEC-registered investment advisers. If you're dually registered, both may apply — and the stricter requirement governs. The rules overlap significantly on false-or-misleading content and record retention but differ on testimonials (the SEC Marketing Rule allows them with disclosures; FINRA does not). Stoke's templates satisfy the stricter standard — no testimonials, no performance claims — so they're compliant under both frameworks.

This is a legal question that depends on your employment agreement and applicable non-solicitation clauses — not just FINRA rules. Stoke does not screen your contact list for former-employer prospects, and we strongly recommend consulting your securities attorney before contacting anyone from a prior book. What Stoke does handle: ensuring any outreach you are legally permitted to do is FINRA-compliant from the moment you send. The compliance infrastructure is ready; the legal clearance question is yours to resolve first. More on breakaway advisor outreach →

Most advisors are sending within 48 hours. The onboarding sequence: (1) ICP definition call with Sam — 30 minutes — to scope your target prospect profile, (2) Stoke generates your first three FINRA-compliant email templates, (3) your principal reviews and approves them in the dashboard, (4) you upload or connect your prospect list. Founding advisor accounts get a white-glove ICP build included — Sam does the research and builds the first list for you. See the founding advisor program →