This March marked the 10th anniversary of Red Oak Compliance. The journey started for our founders in 2006 when they initially worked together at a hybrid broker-dealer/RIA and built an internal advertising review system. In 2010 they left the company, initially to start a compliance consulting firm, and it quickly turned into an opportunity to create a comprehensive advertising review solution.

“Great customer service is not about what we do; it’s about who we are. We are all extended family. We build, sell, and implement products to help our extended family have better work experiences. We love what we do, we love our customers, and we love helping others. Happy customers will always be our most successful sales team.” – Cathy Vasilev, Red Oak Founding Member, Chief Operating Officer & Senior Vice President

Red Oak Compliance was born out of the need to help financial firms globally, both small and large, improve their advertising review process. Clients of Red Oak typically see at least 35% faster approvals and 70% fewer touches while maintaining 100% books and records compliance. The core product values from our beginnings, very much exist today in the product:

• • • Centralize the compliance review process
    • Obtain faster approval for materials
    • Reduce re-work
    • Successfully meet regulatory requirements

As a privately-owned company, we are delighted to reach this milestone with our customers. From a one-person broker-dealer to global investment firms, our success is due to the trust our clients place in our people and product. Their feedback and kudos drive us to continue investing in features that matter most to them.

“For Red Oak, being Agile isn’t about process. It’s about having a culture where we interact with our customers directly to discuss issues, solve problems, or get feedback. It’s about treating our customers as business partners and embracing their ever-changing needs as they also embrace our changing needs. Our software is the best because our customers predominantly inform its direction.” – Rick Grashel, Red Oak Founding Member & Chief Technology Officer

When asked to look back on what made Red Oak successful, Stephen Pope, Red Oak Founding Member & Chief Executive Officer, stated:

“Starting a new business is never easy, and our plan was risky, to say the least. Risks aside, we had done our homework and believed that many of the more established firms, whom we hoped to compete with eventually, had abandoned client-focus in pursuit of short-term profits or faster growth. In many cases, this was driven by outside financial interests wanting a quick return by investing in business development (which typically resulted in high quotas, aggressive sales tactics, and unhappy clients), or through the acquisition of product to gain a fast increase in revenue. Red Oak successfully resisted the temptation for quick growth through outside investment or acquisitions. We built our own products. We sell them, implement them, support them, and continue to invest in them. Ten years later, we are proud to be winning awards for our products and growth; however, this is not what drives us. Our values have not changed, and we are grateful every day for the support and partnership we have with our clients.”

To our employees, thank you for making a tremendous impact every day by focusing on our customers. Having direct access to the Red Oak team is part of our client-centric culture. It is undoubtedly a key reason we made the Inc.5000 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies for 2019 and the RegTech100 annual list of 100 of the world’s most innovative RegTech companies, for the first time in 2019.

Here’s to another 10 years, leading the industry in advertising review software, and finding ways to help our customers in all their compliance needs.

Red Oak is the advertising review software of choice in the financial services industry, with clients having over $19 trillion in assets under management. Partners of Red Oak benefit from quick implementation timelines, agile technology that responds to your needs and is 100% Books and Records compliant, all resulting in 35% faster approvals, and 70% fewer touches. Are you ready to minimize risk, relieve the regulatory burden, and improve efficiency?  Contact the Red Oak team to learn how.