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Before signing an advisory agreement, verify the professional’s role, services, total compensation, conflicts, registration history, and the practical terms of your relationship. Read the adviser’s disclosures, check the appropriate regulator database, investigate every unexplained entry, and compare candidates using the same criteria.
Start by defining what you are hiring
“Financial advisor” is a broad marketing description, not a complete statement of legal capacity or service. Ask each candidate to identify, in writing, whether they will act as an investment adviser representative, a broker-dealer representative, or in more than one capacity. Then ask which services will be delivered in each capacity and what standard of conduct applies to each service.
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The answer matters because one person can perform different services under different arrangements. An investment-management relationship, a securities transaction, and a one-time planning engagement may have different disclosures, compensation, and obligations. Form CRS is designed to help you compare these basics. Do not proceed until you can describe, in your own words, what the professional will do, through which firm, and under which capacity.
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- Will the engagement cover investment management, financial planning, retirement-income planning, insurance or securities transactions, or a combination?
- Is the work one-time, ongoing, or triggered only when you request it?
- Who will make recommendations, place trades, monitor the account, and answer questions?
- Which entity will hold your account or receive your payment?
If a proposed service is not listed in the agreement or the firm’s disclosures, ask for an explanation before relying on it.
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Read Form CRS before the sales conversation goes too far
Request the professional’s current Form CRS, also called the relationship summary. It is a short, standardized document that organizes the issues most relevant to a first comparison: services, fees and costs, conflicts of interest, standards of conduct, disciplinary history, and questions you can ask.
Read the document for the specific firm and relationship being proposed, not a generic sample. Note whether the named firm matches the business card, website, proposal, and account-opening paperwork. Mark every service that is not included and every limitation on monitoring, account size, investment selection, or advice frequency.
Use the questions printed in Form CRS
Form CRS is useful because it gives you comparable prompts instead of leaving the interview entirely to a sales script. Ask the candidate to answer each prompt for your circumstances, especially the sections on fees, conflicts, disciplinary events, and the person who will be your primary contact.
The SEC’s Form ADV Part 3 instructions include this fee question:
“Help me understand how these fees and costs might affect my investments. If I give you $10,000 to invest, how much will go to fees and costs, and how much will be invested for me?”
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Ask for a dollar answer using the proposed arrangement, including any charges that would reduce the amount invested. If the answer depends on a product, account size, transaction, or service you have not yet selected, ask for each applicable scenario.
Read the firm’s Form ADV brochure for the detail Form CRS cannot fit
Form ADV is the adviser firm’s more detailed disclosure. Review the brochure for descriptions of business practices, services, fees, conflicts, and regulatory or client problems. Compare it with the proposal and your interview notes.
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- A proposal promises ongoing monitoring while the brochure describes monitoring only when requested.
- A representative describes a broad investment menu while the disclosure identifies limitations or affiliations.
- The quoted fee omits charges described in the brochure.
- The person you meet is not the person or entity named as responsible for the service.
A mismatch is not automatically misconduct, but it is a reason to pause and request a written clarification. Keep the version of each document you reviewed and record the date, because filings and disclosures can change.
Calculate the complete cost, not just the headline percentage
Ask how the adviser and firm are paid and request the total cost in dollars for the service you are considering. Depending on the arrangement, compensation may include an asset-based fee, hourly or fixed planning fees, commissions, product charges, and other payments. Ask which costs recur, which occur only once, and which are paid to someone other than the adviser.
Compare both price and deliverables. A lower percentage is not necessarily cheaper if it excludes planning work, carries transaction charges, or provides less access. A higher fee may include services you actually need, but you should not pay for an unused scope.
| Cost item | Question to ask | Record for comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Asset-based fee | What percentage or dollar amount applies, and to which assets? | Rate, billing frequency, account value used, and whether the rate changes by tier |
| Hourly or fixed planning fee | What is included, what is excluded, and what happens if the work expands? | Quoted amount, payment schedule, deliverables, and revision policy |
| Commissions | When does a transaction generate compensation, and who receives it? | Products or transactions that trigger payment |
| Product and account charges | Are there separate charges connected with the recommended investment or account? | Charge name, amount or method, and payer |
| Other compensation | Does the firm receive payments, incentives, or referral compensation from another party? | Source of payment and conflict explanation |
Ask for an illustration using your expected account size. If the candidate cannot provide a reasonable estimate, ask what information is missing and when the estimate will be supplied. Do not treat an estimate as a guaranteed future result; it is a way to expose the components of the charge.
Identify conflicts and require an explanation of the remedy
Compensation can create incentives that differ from your interests. Ask how the firm and individual make money, which conflicts arise from the proposed arrangement, and how each conflict is addressed in practice.
Use the SEC’s Form CRS conversation starter:
“How might your conflicts of interest affect me, and how will you address them?”
Press for specifics
- If a commission or product payment exists, ask whether comparable alternatives are available and how recommendations are selected.
- If the firm offers several services, ask whether using one service affects the recommendation of another.
- If referrals or affiliated businesses are involved, ask who is paid and how that payment is disclosed.
- If the answer is “the firm manages conflicts,” ask what supervision, review, or client disclosure that statement represents.
A disclosure tells you that a conflict exists; it does not by itself show how the conflict will affect your account. The useful answer connects the incentive to a concrete policy, limitation, or client-facing explanation.
Check registration and background in the correct official database
Use the database that matches the professional’s role. Investor.gov directs investors to the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure system (IAPD) for adviser information and to FINRA BrokerCheck for broker information when appropriate. A person who works in more than one capacity may require checks in more than one place.
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What IAPD can show
IAPD provides Form ADV filings and information about adviser registrations, employment history, and certain disciplinary events. Search both the individual and the firm when the system allows it. Confirm that the registration information corresponds to the state or states in which you will receive the service.
What BrokerCheck can show
FINRA describes BrokerCheck as a free background and experience research tool. It includes registration information, qualifications, employment history, and certain reported disputes or disciplinary matters. Review the individual’s report and, where relevant, the firm’s record.
Neither database is a substitute for reading the underlying disclosure. Search results can change, and database coverage has defined limits. BrokerCheck’s own explanation says it does not include some categories, such as civil litigation unrelated to investments and certain criminal matters. A clean-looking result therefore does not establish that a person is suitable for you.
Investigate every disclosure instead of guessing from its label
If you find a complaint, regulatory action, termination, arbitration, or another disclosure, determine what happened, when it occurred, how it was resolved, and whether the explanation is consistent across the professional’s report, firm filings, and the person’s account of events.
- Open the full disclosure detail rather than relying on the summary label.
- Record the event date, allegation or action, monetary amount if stated, and resolution.
- Ask the candidate for a plain-language explanation and supporting documents where appropriate.
- Compare that explanation with the filed record and Form ADV disclosures.
- Decide whether the event is relevant to the service and assets you are considering.
An entry is a prompt for investigation, not a stand-alone determination of guilt, competence, or suitability. Conversely, an explanation that is evasive, materially different from the filed record, or unwilling to identify the resolution is itself a reason to stop and seek independent advice.
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Test whether the relationship fits your actual needs
Qualifications and registration do not answer the practical question of whether this person can provide the help you want. Ask how the relationship operates after you sign.
Service and access questions
- What work will you complete in the first 30, 60, or 90 days?
- How often will you meet, and are meetings in person, by phone, or online?
- Who will be my regular contact if you are unavailable?
- How quickly are routine questions and urgent account issues answered?
- What monitoring is included, and what event triggers a review?
- How do I raise a concern, and whom do I contact if the first response does not resolve it?
- What happens if I end the relationship, and are there termination charges or transition steps?
Compare relevant experience with your needs rather than collecting credentials as trophies. For example, the useful experience for a complicated planning question may differ from the experience needed for a straightforward investment-management mandate. Ask for an example of how the professional handles a situation similar to yours without disclosing another client’s confidential information.
Use one comparison sheet for every candidate
Interview candidates with the same questions and complete the same fields. Form CRS provides a consistent starting structure, but your worksheet should include the operating details that matter to you.
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|---|---|
| Role and standard | Capacity for each service and the standard described for that service |
| Service scope | Planning, investments, monitoring, deliverables, exclusions, and term |
| Total cost | Fees, commissions, product charges, billing timing, and estimated dollars |
| Compensation and conflicts | Who pays the professional, incentives created, and how conflicts are addressed |
| Qualifications and experience | Relevant work history and qualifications connected to your needs |
| Registration and history | IAPD or BrokerCheck result, filings reviewed, and explanations of disclosures |
| Communication and escalation | Primary contact, meeting frequency, response process, and complaint contact |
Do not let a polished presentation replace a missing answer. Mark each field as documented, explained but not documented, or unresolved. An unresolved item should be settled before signing, not carried into the relationship as an assumption.
Recognize warning signs before money moves
- The person will not identify the capacity in which they are acting.
- Fees are described as “free” or “minimal” without a complete list of compensation.
- The candidate discourages you from reading Form CRS, Form ADV, IAPD, or BrokerCheck.
- A disclosure is dismissed without dates, resolution, or a consistent explanation.
- The proposal promises services that do not appear in the written agreement.
- You are pressured to transfer assets or sign before receiving documents.
- No one can tell you who will be your regular contact or how to escalate a concern.
One warning sign may have an innocent explanation; several unresolved signs justify declining the engagement. You can request time to review documents and compare another candidate without giving a reason beyond wanting to complete your due diligence.
Finish with a documented decision
Before signing, save the Form CRS, Form ADV brochure, proposal, fee illustration, and database reports you relied on. Write down the questions you asked and the answers you received. Confirm that the final agreement matches the scope and costs you compared.
If the professional is registered in a jurisdiction or capacity you do not understand, contact the relevant state securities regulator for questions about state-specific licensing or records. The federal databases are valuable starting points for U.S. investment professionals, but registration rules and available records depend on role and jurisdiction.
Your final decision should rest on a complete, understandable picture: what the adviser is authorized and engaged to do, what you will pay, how incentives are handled, what the official records show, and whether the communication arrangement works for you. A credential, registration, or clean database result alone cannot establish that the relationship is a good fit.
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