A relative has approached me and requested that I invest and trade accordingly about $500,000 for him. He also has some business associates (non relatives) who are talking to me about doing the same thing. Is an RIA required and what would the steps be to set up the RIA account/"firm", etc Thanks
most states allow a person to have atleast 1 account and some upto 5 accounts before RIA registration is required. check with your home state and also you cannot hold yourself out in public as an RIA i.e. no mass advertising etc.
One guy that I know (who now runs a hedge fund) started out managing friends and family money by helping them set up a brokerage account in their (the friend/family member's) name and logging in as them to execute trades. Obviously becomes unwieldy above a certain number of customers/dollars, but there is a pretty nice simplicity to it. Friend/family needs to have a lot of trust in you to do this!