A financial planner’s website bio tells you what they want you to know. FINRA BrokerCheck and the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure database tell you what regulators actually have on file, licensing history, exams passed, employment history, and any disciplinary actions or customer complaints. Both are free, public, and take about ten minutes to search properly. Here’s exactly how to use them.
Why this check matters before the first phone call
A referral from a friend, a nice website, or a warm first impression tells you nothing about a planner’s regulatory history. Most planners in Wesley Chapel and across Pasco County have clean records, and this check will usually confirm exactly that. The point isn’t suspicion, it’s confirmation, the same way you’d check a home inspector’s license before hiring one. Do this before scheduling a first meeting, not after you’ve already had a good conversation and started feeling attached to working with someone.
Step one: search FINRA BrokerCheck
Go to brokercheck.finra.org and type the planner’s full name into the search bar. If they work for a firm, search the firm name too, since some planners show up more reliably under their firm’s registration. BrokerCheck covers brokers and brokerage firms registered with FINRA, which includes many financial professionals who sell investment products alongside planning services.
The search returns a summary page showing the planner’s current registration status, the firm or firms they’re associated with, and how many years they’ve been registered. Click through to the full report, which is a PDF, for the detailed history.
What you’ll find on a BrokerCheck report
The full report breaks into sections. Registration history shows every firm the planner has worked for and the dates, which matters because frequent short stints at multiple firms can be worth asking about directly. Exams and licenses show which securities exams they’ve passed, the Series 65 for investment adviser representatives, the Series 7 for general securities, and others depending on what they’re licensed to sell. Disclosures is the section that matters most: customer disputes, regulatory actions, terminations, and financial matters like bankruptcies get listed here with dates and brief descriptions. A completely clean report shows no disclosures at all. One or two older, resolved disclosures aren’t automatically disqualifying, but they’re worth asking the planner to explain directly.
Step two: search the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure database
Go to adviserinfo.sec.gov and search the same name. This database covers investment adviser representatives specifically, people who provide ongoing investment advice for a fee, which is a different registration category than the broker-dealer world BrokerCheck primarily covers. Many financial planners are registered in both places, since they hold both a brokerage license and an investment adviser registration.
The IAPD search returns a summary and a link to the firm’s or individual’s Form ADV, a lengthy disclosure document filed with the SEC or state regulators.
What you’ll find on a Form ADV
Form ADV Part 1 is the regulatory filing itself, dense and technical. Form ADV Part 2, sometimes called the “brochure,” is written in plain language and is the part actually worth reading closely. It spells out the firm’s services, fee schedule, conflicts of interest, and disciplinary history. This is the document that tells you, in the planner’s or firm’s own words, exactly how they’re compensated, which connects directly to the fee-only, fee-based, and commission question covered in our guide on fee-only versus fee-based versus commission advisors. Any planner should hand you this document without hesitation if you ask for it directly, and it should also be available on the IAPD site itself.
State-registered vs. SEC-registered advisers
Not every investment adviser is registered with the SEC directly. Advisers managing assets under a certain threshold typically register at the state level instead, in Florida through the Office of Financial Regulation, rather than with the SEC. IAPD still functions as the search tool for both categories, since it pulls from the same underlying Form ADV data regardless of which regulator has primary oversight, but it’s worth knowing this distinction exists so a smaller, state-registered local planner doesn’t seem less legitimate simply because the SEC isn’t the direct regulator. The size of a firm’s assets under management, not the quality of its advice, is what determines which registration category applies.
Reading a disclosure without panicking over every entry
Not every disclosure means walk away. A single customer complaint from a decade ago that was resolved with no finding of wrongdoing reads very differently than a pattern of recent complaints or a regulatory suspension. Context matters: what was the complaint about, how long ago, and was it resolved in the planner’s favor, through a settlement, or through a finding against them. If a report shows anything you don’t understand, ask the planner directly to walk you through it. How they answer, calmly and specifically versus defensively and vaguely, tells you almost as much as the disclosure itself.
Saving your search results for later
Both BrokerCheck and IAPD let you download the full report as a PDF, which is worth doing and keeping, rather than relying on the live web page. Regulatory records can be updated, and a planner’s status today isn’t a guarantee of what it looked like when you first researched them or what it will look like years into the relationship. Saving a dated copy of the report from your initial research gives you a reference point, and it’s a simple habit worth building into how you vet anyone handling your money, not just a one-time step before a first meeting.
What neither database will tell you
BrokerCheck and IAPD show regulatory history, not whether a planner is a good communicator, whether their typical client looks like your household, or whether their investment philosophy matches how you think about risk. A completely clean record is a baseline, not a full endorsement. Pair this check with direct questions about experience with situations like yours, whether that’s a 401k rollover, an inherited IRA, or a small business retirement plan, and with a clear-eyed look at how they’re compensated.
Building this into how you evaluate any planner, including one we match you with
Wesley Chapel Wealth Pro is a referral and matching service, not a financial advisory firm, and not a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer. When we connect a household with a local planner, verifying that planner through BrokerCheck and IAPD is still a step worth taking yourself before your first meeting, the same as you would for anyone else. Our fiduciary advisor matching service is built around helping you ask the right questions going in, and once you’re evaluating an ongoing relationship rather than a single project, understanding what wealth management actually involves as a coordinated, continuing service helps you know what you’re vetting a planner for in the first place.
How long does it take to check a planner on both databases?
Usually under fifteen minutes for both searches combined, longer if you read the full Form ADV Part 2 closely, which is worth doing for anyone you’re seriously considering.
What if I can’t find a planner on either database?
That’s a real flag worth asking about directly. Anyone providing investment advice or selling securities products should be registered somewhere. If a name doesn’t appear on either database, ask the planner to explain their registration status before moving forward.
Do these databases cover insurance agents who sell annuities?
Not fully. Insurance licensing is handled at the state level through the Florida Department of Financial Services, separate from FINRA and SEC registration. An agent who only sells insurance products and doesn’t provide investment advice or sell securities may not appear on BrokerCheck or IAPD at all, which is worth knowing if you’re specifically evaluating an annuity recommendation.
Should I still check a planner if a matching service already vetted them?
Yes. A matching service can confirm licensing status and fee structure as part of intake, but running the check yourself takes ten minutes and gives you direct access to the same public record regulators maintain, which is worth doing regardless of how you were connected to a planner.
Verifying a planner’s background is one of the few parts of this process that’s entirely within your control before you’ve committed any time or money. If you’d rather start with a planner who’s already been through an intake and matching conversation, call Wesley Chapel Wealth Pro at (813) 680-3195.