Design partner program · Limited spots available
Keel automates the SEC Rule 204A-1 paper trail for small RIAs — access persons, holdings, transactions, and attestations — so you can spend your time on work that actually matters.
Purpose-built for RIAs of 1–10 people. No long-term contracts.
The problem
Spreadsheets, PDFs over email, and a prayer that nothing slipped through before the next exam. It works — until it doesn't.
One missed row, one wrong formula. When the SEC examiner asks about it, 'I thought I had it' is not a defensible answer.
You can prove you sent the Code of Ethics. You cannot prove your access person read it, understood it, or agreed to it — unless they signed something.
A three-person RIA is held to the same Rule 204A-1 standard as a three-hundred-person firm. The SEC doesn't issue exemptions for being busy.
How Keel works
Access persons receive a secure invite link. They create their account, set up two-factor verification, and they're in. No IT department, no PDF forms.
Keel opens the right filing windows on schedule. Your team enters their holdings and transactions, uploads brokerage statements, and signs off — in a browser.
Everything queues for your review. Approve or request changes with a full, tamper-evident record that's ready the moment an examiner asks.
Honest roadmap
We'd rather earn your trust with honesty than oversell a roadmap. Here's what's working today, and what's coming next.
Design partners shape what comes next.
How your data is protected
Keel handles sensitive financial data — brokerage account numbers, holdings, and transaction histories. These aren't marketing promises. They are design decisions made before any feature was written.
Everyone at your firm — you included — must verify their identity with a code from their phone before accessing anything. No exceptions, no workarounds.
Your records are completely isolated from every other firm on the platform. Not filtered — invisible. No other firm's user can see your data under any circumstances.
Brokerage account numbers are encrypted before they ever touch the database. Even we can't read them — only the person who owns the record and the CCO can.
Every view, edit, and approval is written to a record that cannot be changed or deleted — not by your team, not by us. The history is always there.
Once a report or attestation is signed, it's locked. The record that was certified is the record that stays — no re-submissions, no edits, no workarounds.
Every record is retained for 7 years — longer than the SEC requires. Deletion within that window is blocked. Not a policy. A hard technical constraint.
Who built this
Keel is built by Dustin Cole at Badger Mountain Digital. Dustin has 13+ years as a Senior Software QA Engineer and QA Manager, with three decades of development experience across the U.S. Marine Corps, Department of Defense, State of Oregon, West Coast Bank, and Parametric Portfolio Associates.
That career is a track record of building in environments where getting it wrong has real consequences — security clearances, banking regulations, public-sector audits. Keel applies that same discipline to a problem most small RIAs have been solving with spreadsheets and a prayer.
This isn't a startup moving fast and breaking compliance. It's the opposite.
Design partner program
You'll get early access to everything that's built, a direct line to the developer, and pricing that reflects your trust in something new. In return, we'd love your feedback on the workflows that matter most to your firm.
Keel is actively developed and production-grade — but it isn't enterprise-ready yet. It's being shaped by real compliance requirements, not guesses. Design partners help make it exactly what a small RIA actually needs.
No long-term commitment. Cancel anytime.