Investment adviser

Individuals or firms that receive compensation for giving advice on investing in securities such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or exchange traded funds are deemed to be Investment Advisers (U.S. financial law spelling uses adviser, while elsewhere the spelling is advisor).

Investment Advisers (IA) are subject to regulatory authority depending on their classification. An Investment Adviser who registers with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must adhere to a fiduciary standard which acts in the client's best interest. An adviser registered with the SEC is known as a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA).

Although many individuals who are employed by advisers fall within the definition of “investment adviser,” the SEC generally does not require those individuals to register as advisers with the SEC. Instead, the advisory firm must register with the SEC. The adviser’s registration covers its employees and other persons under its control, provided that their advisory activities are undertaken on the adviser’s behalf. Therefore, only firms can be Registered Investment Advisers (RIA), while its employees can only be Investment Adviser Representatives (IAR).

Registered Investment Advisers are not permitted to use the term “registered investment adviser” unless they are registered, nor should this term be used to imply a level of professional competence, education or special training. The term “RIA” should not be used after a person’s name because using initials after a name usually indicates a degree or a licensed professional position for which there are certain qualifications; however, there are no federal qualifications for becoming an SEC-registered adviser. For example, it is not permitted to use "RIA" on a business card.

Investment advisers who manage less than $100 million in assets must be registered with the state securities agency in the state where they have their principal place of business.

Anyone registered with the FINRA typically makes commissions and fees from the products they sell (brokerage or mutual fund company). They must provide to their clients products that are "suitable" (the suitability standard), but not necessarily the cheapest or the best.

Regulations
Section 202(a)(11)(C) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 exempts from the definition of an Investment Adviser (and therefore the associated fiduciary standard) "any broker or dealer whose performance of such services is solely incidental to the conduct of his business as a broker or dealer and who receives no special compensation therefor."

In Release 34-51523; the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the US Securities Self Regulatory Organization (SRO) having authority over Brokers and Dealers, determined that Broker-Dealers are "not to be deemed investment advisers" and therefore are not subject to the same fiduciary standards as Investment Advisers when recommending investments to clients, as are Registered Investment Advisers (RIA).

Registered Representatives (RRs) affiliated with a Broker Dealer are therefore required to recommend securities that are deemed "suitable" for non-institutional clients.

Suitability
Suitability means that a broker can sell any fund or any investment as long as it fits the purpose. For example, if stocks are suitable for an investor, then it doesn't matter if a broker advises an 8% load stock fund that has 3% in annual fees because it's agreed that stocks in general are a suitable, thus any diversified stock mutual fund will do.

Suitability is quite different than fiduciary standard. Under a fiduciary standard, not only does an investment adviser have to recommend suitable investments, the adviser must recommend funds that are in the best interest of the client. Clearly, a fund with an 8% load and 3% in fees is not in the best interest of investors. Low-cost index funds are in the best interest of clients.

This is the difference between investment recommendations of brokers under a suitability standard and those of investment advisers under a fiduciary standard.

Background checks
Those considering a business relationship with an investment adviser (financial adviser, broker, or investment firm) should perform due diligence to validate background credentials and complaints on file. The SEC and FINRA provide free tools to help consumers with this process.

Investors should use both tools. If a financial adviser cannot be found in SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IARD) database, but is found in FINRA's Broker Check, then this adviser should be considered as a product salesperson.

SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure
The SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) database provides information about current and former Investment Adviser Representatives (IARs) and Investment Adviser firms registered with the SEC and/or state securities regulators. Choose either Individual or Firm to start. Be sure browser cookies are enabled. The results will contain links to "Investment Adviser Firm" or "Brokerage Firm" as applicable.
 * Investment Adviser Search, from the SEC

Brokerage firm
The Brokerage Firm link will launch into the FINRA's BrokerCheck (below) which provides additional information such as a state-by-state breakdown where a broker is licensed to practice, or if any complaints have been filed.

Investment adviser firm
The "Investment Adviser Firm" link goes to Form ADV (Uniform Application for Investment Adviser Registration), each section appearing in a menu on the left-hand side. Among other items, Form ADV can be used to determine if a firm does financial planning as opposed to providing investment advice.

Go to "Item 5 Information About Your Advisory Business" in the ADV and look for:


 * 5F(1): Do you provide continuous and regular supervisory or management services to securities portfolios?

If the answer to 5F(1) is No, this firm is not in the investment advisory business. It might give investment advice and sell investment products, but that doesn’t make it an investment adviser you want to manage your money.

Critically important is "Item 11 Disclosure Information." Every “No” box on this page should be checked because a “Yes” indicates that the firm has violated some of the laws and regulations governing registered investment advisers.

Where a “Yes” has been checked, the firm must detail on the ADV the date and nature of the infraction, and how it was settled. A minor infraction, perhaps from some administrative error involving small amounts of money, may be forgiven, but any “Yes” on this page should be scrutinized closely.

FINRA BrokerCheck
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, known as FINRA, is the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business with the United States public—more than 5,000 firms employing more than 660,000 registered representatives. FINRA was created in 2007 through the consolidation of NASD and NYSE Member Regulation.

FINRA BrokerCheck is a free tool to help investors check the professional background of current and former FINRA-registered securities firms and brokers. It should be the first resource investors turn to when choosing whether to do business with a particular broker or brokerage firm. Note that financial advisers can also be registered brokers.
 * BrokerCheck
 * Enable browser cookies. At the report summary, select "View Full PDF Report" (upper right corner) to get the full details. If applicable, the FINRA report will contain complaints filed against the adviser.

Forum discussions

 * Ameriprise employees sue firm for lousy 401k choices, forum discussion.
 * Investment Advisor or do it ourselves, forum discussion.
 * A Firm is an RIA, Not a Person., forum discussion