How to Check Out a Financial Advisor or Investor (Free, in 15 Minutes)
Published July 1, 2026
Every investor we’ve reviewed who ended up convicted had one thing in common: their victims never checked the public record first. The record was there — regulators and courts publish it for free — but nobody looked until the money was gone.
Here is the 15-minute check we run on every name. Do it before you invest, not after.
Step 1 — FINRA BrokerCheck (2 minutes)
Go to brokercheck.finra.org and search the person’s name (and their firm). BrokerCheck covers everyone registered to sell securities in the U.S. — current and former. You’ll see:
- Registration status. If they’re pitching you investments but show “not currently registered,” stop. That alone is disqualifying for securities.
- Employment history — frequent firm-hopping is worth asking about.
- Disclosures — customer disputes, regulatory actions, terminations after allegations, criminal matters, and unpaid judgments or tax liens.
Read disclosure statuses carefully. A pending matter is an unproven allegation. A settled matter may include no admission of wrongdoing. A final, adjudicated action — a bar, suspension, or fine — is a finding. The difference matters, both for fairness and for how much weight you give it.
Step 2 — SEC records for investment advisers (3 minutes)
- adviserinfo.sec.gov (IAPD) — for registered investment advisers. Read the Form ADV: it discloses fees, conflicts of interest, and disciplinary history in plain-ish English.
- SEC Action Lookup — search the name for federal enforcement actions, including against people who were never registered at all.
- Investor.gov — the SEC’s front door for both checks.
Step 3 — Your state securities regulator (2 minutes)
Every state has one, and they discipline people who never show up in federal databases. Find yours through NASAA and ask for a licensing and complaint history.
Step 4 — Court records (5 minutes)
- PACER (or the free mirror, CourtListener) — federal civil suits, criminal cases, and bankruptcies.
- Your state court portal — investor lawsuits often land in state court first.
Search the person’s name and their company names. Read the actual complaint, not a summary — and note whether the case is pending, dismissed, settled, or decided.
Step 5 — The custody question (3 minutes, and the most important)
Ask one question: “Where does my money sit, and who holds it?” Legitimate investments are held at a third-party custodian (Schwab, Fidelity, a fund administrator, a title company) in your name, with statements from that custodian — not from the advisor’s own laptop. Nearly every Ponzi scheme we’ve covered ran through the promoter’s personal or shell-company bank account.
What the red flags look like in real life
Browse our review directory to see how these records read on real people — including the disclosure patterns (pending suits, resignations after allegations, liens) that show up before a conviction ever happens.
If your check turns up something we should cover, send us a tip.