There is no such thing as a financial advisor license, which is why searching for one is frustrating. The term advisor is not legally protected in the United States, and almost anyone can print it on a business card. What does exist, and what you can actually verify, falls into three separate categories that are routinely mistaken for each other: registration with a regulator, qualifying exams, and voluntary professional credentials.
Registration is the one that is mandatory
Anyone giving investment advice for compensation generally has to be registered, either with the SEC or with a state securities regulator, or be an associated person of a registered firm. This is the part with legal force behind it. You can confirm it in about a minute at adviserinfo.sec.gov or brokercheck.finra.org. If someone is advising on investments for money and appears in neither place, that is the finding that matters most, and no credential makes up for it.
Exams are the closest thing to a license
The qualifying exams are what people usually mean when they say license. The Series 65 qualifies someone to act as an investment adviser representative. The Series 66 combines that with a state securities law exam. The Series 7 qualifies someone to sell securities products as a registered representative. These appear on a BrokerCheck or IAPD report under exams, so you can see exactly which ones a person has passed and when. Passing an exam is a minimum competence bar taken once, not an ongoing measure of quality.
Credentials are voluntary and vary enormously
CFP, CFA, CPA, EA, ChFC and similar marks are issued by private organizations, not regulators. The serious ones require real coursework, an examination, an experience requirement, continuing education, and an enforceable code of ethics. Others require a weekend and a fee. The difference is invisible from the letters alone, which is why it pays to look up the issuing body before being impressed. A credential is a useful signal stacked on top of registration. It is not a substitute for it.
How do I check all three at once?
Search the advisor at IAPD or BrokerCheck and read the report top to bottom. Registration status is at the top, exams are in their own section, and disclosures follow. For credentials, verify each mark with the organization that issues it, since every reputable issuer runs a free public verification tool and revokes marks for misconduct. Fiduciary Check does this check against SEC records for every advisor in our directory and repeats it on a schedule rather than once at signup, and you can run our advisor check tool against any advisor yourself.
Which one should I care about most?
Registration first, because it is mandatory and its absence is disqualifying. Then the fiduciary question, because registration alone does not tell you whether someone must put your interests first at all times. Then credentials, which help you judge depth in a specialty. An advisor with impressive letters after their name and no verifiable registration has the order exactly backwards, and so does anyone who hires them.
