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About Us
How Does Adroit Work?
Adroit Compliance was founded in 2016 to fill a specific need. Financial professionals often don't have the need or the resources to support a full-time compliance professional. And yet, it's difficult to manage day-to-day client workload and stay abreast of compliance requirements. Even if a firm has in-house compliance staff, additional support is needed occasionally to assist with regulatory exams or special projects. That's where Adroit can help.
Adroit differentiates itself by providing you with customized services, designed to give you what you want and what you need. By learning about you, your business model, your clients, your processes, Adroit can create solutions that fit, rather than trying to put you into a cookie-cutter template. By working creatively and collaboratively with you, we can work together to develop a compliance program that suits your business needs.
The word "adroit" means skillful, resourceful, and agile, which is how Adroit strives to serve its clients: being skillful in delivering services, resourceful in developing solutions, and agile in addressing your needs. The word is derived from the French phrase "à droite," literally meaning "to the right," but the word can be used to infer doing things fairly and justly. Adroit's goal is to always treat clients with fairness and integrity.
Compliance is often viewed negatively in the financial industry, seen as a hindrance to business development or a way to catch someone in the act of wrongdoing. Adroit's philosophy is that compliance is an integral part of your business, serving as your partner to help enhance your business, acting as a liaison between you and regulators, and finding ways to allow you to conduct business within the parameters of the applicable rules and regulations.
Rita Rhodes
Founder and Managing Member
Most people in the compliance profession don't start out with the intention of being in compliance; often, they accidentally fall into the role. Rita is no exception. Her career path has not been linear, but she really feels she has ended up in the right place. And along the way, she gained insight and knowledge beneficial to her role today.
Rita started her working career in high school as a clerical typist, and since then has held jobs as a lease clerk for an oil company, a legal secretary and paralegal for several law firms, and a trust administrator. At one time, she had aspirations of going to law school, but life got in the way of those plans. Which, in hindsight, was a good thing.
Accidentally, she was introduced to the financial industry, starting out in client service, then trading and back-office operations, then financial planning as a paraplanner. These positions gave her knowledge of a registered investment advisory business from the ground up. As she progressed, she found herself delving deeper into compliance matters. Her paralegal background was beneficial in researching rules and writing policies and procedures. As someone who has always loved rules and structure, Rita had found her niche.
Now, with more than 20 years of experience in regulatory compliance under her belt, Rita has extensive knowledge of the rules and regulations that govern the financial industry and has worked with a variety of business models. Before founding Adroit Compliance, she previously held the position of CCO-North America at Morningstar in Chicago, as well as CCO of an investment adviser in Madison, Wisconsin.
She received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration/Finance from the University of Phoenix, and currently holds the Investment Adviser Certified Compliance Professional® (IACCP®) designation through National Regulatory Services/Investment Adviser Association.
In her spare time, Rita enjoys walking, biking, gardening, bird watching, cooking, traveling, and photography. Often, those hobbies overlap, and she is doing two or more simultaneously.
She and her husband, Neal, have three adult daughters and two cats.