While attending FINRA's annual conference this month, I heard an interesting discussion about how to manage vendor relationships throughout the entire lifecycle, not just when selecting a software provider or third-party relationship. Attendees were surveyed live during the panel, which found that a majority of them, at roughly 36%, ask up to 10 vendors to fill out a due diligence questionnaire. Another 74% of attendees said they perform due diligence on their most critical vendors annually, but only 12% do so more than once a year. The survey was far from scientific but it was interesting to see firms' different approaches to vendor due diligence at a time when the SEC and FINRA are both looking at guidance and regulations surrounding vendor management and who's responsible for reporting data breaches. Read on about FINRA's tips and personal lessons learned of vendor management here, and much more at Financial Planning. Feel free to drop me a line at rachel.witkowski@arizent.com. Helping you from the ground up. | 