How do I verify an advisor on FINRA BrokerCheck?
FINRA BrokerCheck is the public database for any advisor who is or was registered with FINRA. FINRA is the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The site is free, it is fast, and it is the right place to look up an advisor before you hire them. You can search by name, firm, or CRD number. The report shows registration status, past and current firms, exam history, and any disclosure events. Disclosure events include client disputes, regulator actions, criminal matters, civil judgments, and bankruptcies. Each event is summarized. Many include the firm's written response and the regulator's findings. BrokerCheck does not cover advisors who only ever worked at an SEC or state-registered RIA without a FINRA registration. For those, search adviserinfo.sec.gov instead. Most fee-only fiduciaries appear there. Many also appear on BrokerCheck thanks to a past employer's registration.
How to run the search
- Go to brokercheck.finra.org.
- Type the advisor's first and last name. Add a city or state if the name is common.
- Click the matching person. Confirm the CRD number is the one your advisor gave you.
- Read the Summary for current registrations.
- Open Disclosures. Read every item. Note the year, type, and outcome.
- Open Employment History. Look for short tenures and frequent firm changes — those are not automatic red flags but they are worth a question.
What counts as a red flag
- Two or more customer disputes with arbitration awards or settlements.
- Any regulatory action by FINRA, the SEC, or a state.
- A criminal disclosure of fraud, theft, or breach of fiduciary duty.
- A pattern of switching firms every two years.
A single, old, settled item is not the end of the world. A pattern is.
Cross-check with IAPD
After BrokerCheck, search the same person at adviserinfo.sec.gov. The two databases share a lot of data but each one has events the other does not. Reading both is the safer move and takes about ten minutes total. The full Form ADV Part 2A only shows up on IAPD, so the cross-check also lets you confirm the firm's fee model in the same sitting.
What to do with what you find
If the report is clean, save the PDF for your records and move on. If you see one old, settled item, ask the advisor to walk you through it in writing. If you see a pattern, hire someone else.