We plan your IT around the obligations financial firms actually carry: customer data protection under Regulation S-P or the GLBA Safeguards Rule, communications archiving, incident response, vendor oversight and the controls your cyber insurer asks about. On top of that you get responsive day-to-day support from people who know advisory platforms.
Many IT providers treat an advisory firm like any other small office with computers. That holds up until an examiner asks for archived communications, your cyber insurer wants evidence of multi-factor authentication and endpoint protection, or your portfolio platform stops syncing the morning of a rebalance. NerdSquad Managed IT Services, a Managed Service Provider (MSP) based in Naples, works with investment advisers, broker-dealers, wealth managers, accounting practices, insurance agencies and multi-adviser offices across Southwest Florida, with remote support for firms nationwide. Here is what that looks like in practice.
Financial firms answer to more than one set of rules, and which ones apply depends on the firm:
The SEC's 2023 cybersecurity disclosure rules apply to public companies, not to private advisory firms, and the same is true of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX).
We are not your compliance officer. We know what these frameworks expect on the technology side and build your environment to support your compliance program: encrypted and tested backups, communications archiving, access control with audit logs, endpoint protection and documentation your compliance team can hand to an examiner. For detail, see SEC, FINRA and GLBA requirements for financial firms and cybersecurity for financial services. NerdSquad is not a law firm; confirm your obligations with your compliance counsel.
We support the environment around the software advisory firms rely on: CRMs such as Salesforce Financial Services Cloud, Redtail and Wealthbox; portfolio and reporting platforms such as Orion and Tamarac; archiving tools such as Smarsh and Global Relay; planning software; and custodian portals. When an integration stops syncing or an adviser loses access before a client meeting, we work out where the problem sits and coordinate with the vendor so you aren't relaying messages between support desks. The full list is in financial platform support.
Advisers keep required records under Advisers Act Rule 204-2. Broker-dealers keep records under Exchange Act Rule 17a-4 and FINRA Rule 4511, which since 2022 allows either write-once (WORM) storage or an audit-trail alternative. In practice, email, Teams messages and texts used for business need to be captured, retained and produced on request. The SEC's off-channel communications cases are a reminder that messages sent on unapproved channels still count. We set up archiving, monitor it and check that it hasn't quietly stopped capturing a channel months after deployment.
Account numbers, Social Security numbers, tax records and asset details make financial firms attractive targets at any size. Our cybersecurity services combine endpoint detection and response (EDR) with 24/7 SOC monitoring, multi-factor authentication (MFA), encrypted backup and disaster recovery and security awareness training, which is a standard part of our cybersecurity plans. These are the same controls regulators and cyber insurers ask about, so one well-documented program serves both conversations. Cyber insurance itself is available through our licensed insurance partner.
Most of what we do for financial firms is keeping things running. A workstation that won't start before a client presentation, a new adviser who needs accounts and devices ready on day one, secure remote access for advisers who travel, and VoIP phone systems that work with the rest of your office technology.
Every managed IT plan includes an industry-leading SLA, and the specific commitments are written into your service agreement. We run two support tiers: the technician who answers works the problem, and if a specialist is needed, it goes straight to one without you having to explain it again.
If your firm has requirements we aren't set up to support, we'll say so before you sign anything. If we are a good fit, we'll show you how we would approach your environment. We guarantee to add value, and we would rather earn your trust with a clear conversation up front than with promises later.
Already a client? Call (239) 465-0079 or submit a ticket. If something is down, call so we can start right away.
Not a client yet? NerdSquad Managed IT Services is a Managed Service Provider (MSP) based in Naples, Florida. We support businesses onsite across Southwest Florida and remotely nationwide. Book a discovery call or call (239) 465-0079.