What Does Investment Advisor Mean?
As defined by the Investment Advisors Act of 1940, any person or group that makes investment recommendations or conducts securities analysis in return for a fee, whether through direct management of client assets or via written publications. An investment advisor who has sufficient assets to be registered with the SEC is known as a Registered Investment Advisor, or RIA. Investment advisors are prohibited from disseminating advice known to be deceitful or fraudulent, and from acting as a principal on their own accounts by buying and selling securities between themselves and a client without prior written consent. May also be referred to as a “financial advisor”.