Vanessa Horton

Vanessa L. Horton has been appointed national associate director of the IA/IC Exam Program, effective March 10, and will also oversee the Division’s Private Funds Unit. In this role, she will direct the Division’s examination of investment advisers, investment companies, broker-dealers, and private funds. Ms. Horton is currently an associate regional director in the IA/IC examination program and the co-acting regional director in Chicago. She has been with the Commission for more than 20 years. Before joining the SEC, Ms. Horton spent more than 13 years in the private sector, where she served as the chief compliance officer to a dually registered broker-dealer and investment adviser. Vanessa’s background is specifically in trading, operations, and compliance. She has held several FINRA securities licenses, including the Series 7, 24, 55, 65, and 63 and the Certified Fraud Examiner designation. Ms. Horton graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Gies School of Business for undergraduate studies and DePaul University in Chicago for graduate studies. In addition to her specialized industry experience, Ms. Horton participates in multiple National Examination Program (NEP) and Commission-wide initiatives, including acting as a subject matter expert in the SEC’s National Exam Training program,  Co-chair of the SEC’s People Committee, member of the EXAM’s Executive Committee, the Chicago Diversity Committee and National Diversity Council, and the Private Fund Special Working Group, among others.