How to Do a Background Check on Your Financial Advisor, Investment Advisor, Broker, Financial Planner
/How to Check Out Your Financial Advisor
First Published Date: August 1, 2011 ADawnJournal.com
Investors’ Resources and Tools to Protect Against Fraud and Scams
You work hard for your money, and so are scammers and con artists to grab a bite on your hard-earned money. Scammers and con artists look professional and friendly to give you the impression that they are the real financial professional to hand over your money. So you need to be careful before trusting someone with your life savings. Today, I am going to show you some simple but effective tools you can use to find out if he is really the person he is saying he is.
National Registration Search – Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) website contains database of all financial professionals and firms across Canada, except those registered only in Ontario with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). Here is the link for Canadian Securities Administrators’ National Registration Search.
Only For Ontario Search – If you are in Ontario, you need to search on Ontario Securities Commission’s Check Registration page.
All Other Provinces and Territories Search – Some of the financial advisors are only registered with their own province or territory. To perform a search, try these keyword phrases on Google: Your province or territory securities commission registrant search. For example, someone in Alberta would search for: “Alberta securities commission registrant search.”
Insurance Agent Search – To check if an insurance agent or advisor is registered, try these keyword phrases on Google: Your province insurance council license search. Or try: Your province insurance agent license search.
Disciplinary Action Search – Advisors, who are licensed to sell various products such as stocks, bonds ETFs and including mutual funds are regulated by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). You can search their database for disciplinary actions against advisors taken in the past or currently under investigation, or research the background and qualifications of advisors at IIROC regulated firms here: Know Your Advisor. Advisors, who mainly sell mutual funds, are regulated by MFDA (Mutual Fund Dealers Association), which is the national self-regulatory organization for mutual fund advisors. MFDA’s Enforcement page will give you valuable information on enforcement policies and procedures. Also, the Canadian Securities Administrators website has a list of Disciplined Persons search and listing.
You work hard for your money, and the onus is on you to check for every bit and piece before handing over your money to someone else. One very simple thing you can do is to search on Google for your would-be financial advisor’s name. Try to be creative here by putting words like “complaints,” “fraudulent activities,” etc. next to her name to see if you can find anything. Also, don’t forget to read articles featured on A Dawn Journal’s Internet & Investment Fraud and Scams thoroughly to enhance your knowledge, helping to protect you and your hard-earned money from scammers and con artists.
