• Tweet ^[1]
• Email ^[2]

• Tweet ^[1]
• Email ^[2]

Thinking about handing over some of your hard earned cash to an adviser or firm? Or have you already handed over your cash to an adviser or firm? Do a background check on the person to see if their on the up and up by using these resources:

NASD’s BrokerCheck ^[3] system has “the professional background, registration/license status and disciplinary history … [of] nearly 5,100 registered firms and more than 660,000 brokers.” This only works for brokers, most advisers won’t be on this unless they’re a registered broker as well. It basically gives you the skinny on the firm, prior names, where they’re registered, what licenses they have, tc.

• NASD Arbitration & Mediation ^[4] search site will let you do a search on all the disputes over a certain time period anyone has had with any financial institution that went through the NASD arbitration process.

North American Securities Administrators Association ^[5] will list the regulators in your state and if you contact your state’s regulator ^[6] they can provide all sorts of juicy information on that broker or firm. Not 100% sure how powerful this is because you actually have to contact someone to use it.

Lastly, a Investment Adviser Public Disclosure form ^[7] must be filed with the state or the SEC by anyone looking to do business in the area. Their search form ^[8] is very powerful and quite fast.