A background check is an important part of evaluating a financial advisor or financial planner. A background check can tell you what industry licenses the advisor has and if there are any records of regulatory disciplinary action against that financial advisor or planner.
It’s important to note that the records kept by the regulatory agencies are not 100% perfect. If a lawsuit is settled against a financial advisor, the accusation won’t show up in the records. In addition, some of the information on registered investment advisors may be self-reported by the investment adviser themselves. So a “bad” advisor may not have any complaints, and a “good” advisor may have a frivolous complaint from an unhappy customer. Nevertheless, it is important to review the record. If the advisor has a pattern of problems or has lied about the licenses they have, it is best to steer clear.
There are several different regulatory agencies which keep records on financial advisors. Unfortunately, you need to check a different agency for different advisors and you may even need to check different places for the different licenses on the same advisor.
Incoming search terms:
- diciplinary actions on investment advisors
- financial adviser license background check
- personal finance advisor