How to check whether an AI financial advisor is registered
To check whether an AI financial advisor is registered, find the legal name of the firm behind the app, search it on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure database and FINRA’s BrokerCheck, then read its Form CRS. Registration shows who is accountable, but it isn’t a quality rating.
Why registration is the first thing to check
Registration is one of the few parts of an AI financial advisor you can verify yourself, in public records, before you hand over a single account number. Much of the rest — how good the advice is, how the model was tested, what it does with your data — depends largely on what the provider tells you.
A firm that gives investment advice for pay is generally required to register as an investment adviser, and a firm that handles securities trades for customers generally registers as a broker-dealer. Each brings rules on disclosure, conduct and examination.
An app that is neither isn’t subject to those adviser and broker-dealer rules, so what it owes you is set largely by its terms of service. To learn more about how the rules apply to AI advice specifically, see What is a fiduciary, and can AI be one?
How do you check if a financial advisor is registered?
Checking a registration takes five steps, all free and none requiring an account.
- Find the firm’s legal name. An AI advisor’s product name is often not the name of the registered company. Look for the entity in the app’s footer, its terms of service or its disclosures — a line like “advisory services offered by [Firm] LLC.” If you can’t find a named legal entity anywhere, treat that as your first answer.
- Search the SEC’s adviser database. Enter the firm’s name, or its CRD number (its registration ID), on Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) and read the record’s registration status, date and regulator. A search hit alone isn’t enough: the database also lists firms that report without being registered, and firms whose registration has ended.
- Search BrokerCheck. FINRA’s BrokerCheck holds broker-dealer records and also surfaces adviser records. If the firm that holds your account is a broker-dealer, it should appear here with its FINRA membership.
- Read the Form CRS. SEC-registered advisers and broker-dealers that serve retail investors publish this short relationship summary. It states what the firm is, what it charges and what standard of conduct applies.
- Read the brochure and the disciplinary history. An investment adviser files a Form ADV Part 2A brochure covering its services, fees and conflicts of interest. Both IAPD and BrokerCheck show any disciplinary events.
A CRD number is the identifier a firm or individual is assigned in the regulatory registration system. Searching by CRD rather than by name avoids mixing up firms with similar names.
Where to look
| Database | Run by | What it covers | Use it to check |
| Investment Adviser Public Disclosure | SEC | SEC- and state-registered investment advisers and their filings | Registration status, Form ADV, Form CRS |
| BrokerCheck | FINRA | Broker-dealers and registered brokers, plus adviser records | Broker-dealer registration, FINRA membership, disciplinary events |
| Investor.gov | SEC | A single search across both, plus SEC enforcement actions | A first pass on any firm or professional |
What is Form CRS?
Form CRS, the client relationship summary, is a plain-language disclosure that SEC-registered investment advisers and broker-dealers must give retail investors. Under the SEC’s Form CRS rules, it is generally limited to two pages and follows a set format, including the services offered, fees and costs, conflicts of interest, the standard of conduct and disciplinary history.
Two parts of it matter most for an AI financial advisor:
- The services section states whether the firm is an investment adviser, a broker-dealer or both, and whether it monitors accounts or acts with discretion. That is where you learn whether the AI can trade for you or only recommends.
- The disciplinary history question is answered yes or no, and every Form CRS points to Investor.gov/CRS so you can check the answer yourself.
An investment adviser’s Form CRS is also known as Form ADV Part 3.
What is the internet adviser exemption?
Some AI financial advisors register with the SEC under the internet adviser exemption, a rule that lets a firm register with the SEC rather than with states when it gives advice only through an interactive website or app.
Investment advisers generally register with their state securities regulator until they reach a level of assets under management, and with the SEC above it. The exemption is an alternative route for advisers whose advice is delivered digitally.
The SEC narrowed it in 2024, with compliance required from March 31, 2025. An adviser relying on it must now:
- keep an operational interactive website or app at all times
- give advice to all its clients exclusively through that platform, with no exception for a small number of offline clients
- deliver advice generated by the platform’s software, rather than advice directed by a person
If an AI advisor’s Form ADV says it relies on this exemption, that tells you something practical: its advice comes through the app, and in-person or phone advice is generally not part of the service.
What registration doesn’t tell you
Registration confirms that a firm is accountable to a regulator. It does not confirm that the firm’s advice is good, that its technology works as described, or that it suits you.
- It is not an endorsement. The SEC does not approve or rate registered firms, and registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
- It does not verify AI claims. In March 2024 the SEC settled charges against two investment advisers for misleading statements about their use of AI. One had marketed itself as the “first regulated AI financial advisor.” Both were investment advisers subject to the Advisers Act.
- It does not extend to you yet. An investment adviser’s fiduciary duty runs to its advisory clients. Reading a provider’s website doesn’t make you one.
Registration answers who is accountable and to what standard. Whether the advice is any good is a separate question, covered in What to look for in an AI financial advisor.
The M1 bottom line
Here is the check, run on M1.
M1 Advisor is offered by M1 Advisory Services LLC, an investment adviser registered with the SEC. Its CRD number is 249787, and its record — including its Form ADV Part 2A brochure — is on adviserinfo.sec.gov.
It is registered under the internet adviser exemption, so its advice is delivered only through the M1 platform. M1 Advisor provides investment advice and generates investment recommendations, but it doesn’t place trades — acting on a recommendation is up to you.
M1 Advisory Services LLC acts as a fiduciary to its advisory clients, and its advisory services cover securities held on the M1 platform. Guidance on topics outside securities recommendations is informational.
Its Form CRS answers the disciplinary-history question “yes.” You can research the records behind that answer through Investor.gov/CRS.
Brokerage accounts are held at M1 Finance LLC, a broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC, which you can look up on BrokerCheck. A self-directed brokerage account is not by itself an advisory relationship.
Frequently asked questions
No. The software itself isn’t registered; the firm that offers it is. When an app describes itself as a “registered AI advisor,” the registration belongs to the company behind it, and that company’s name is what to search on adviserinfo.sec.gov.
An AI tool that isn’t registered may describe itself as offering education or information rather than investment advice. It then generally isn’t subject to the rules that apply to registered advisers, and its terms of service largely set what it owes you. That doesn’t by itself make it a poor choice, but it does change what you can hold it to.
Not necessarily. Which regulator an adviser registers with depends mainly on its size and how it delivers advice, not on its quality. Both types of adviser appear on adviserinfo.sec.gov, and state securities regulators can be found through NASAA.
This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment, tax or legal advice, and it is not a recommendation of any particular service, provider or strategy. Descriptions of registration requirements and regulatory standards are general summaries current as of publication; what applies depends on the firm, its activities and the jurisdiction. Registered investment advisers owe fiduciary duties to their advisory clients; broker-dealers are subject to Regulation Best Interest with respect to recommendations. Investment advisory services are offered by M1 Advisory Services LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training, or an endorsement by the SEC. Brokerage products and services are offered by M1 Finance LLC, member FINRA/SIPC; a self-directed brokerage account is not by itself an advisory relationship. M1 Advisor is included at no additional cost through December 31, 2027.
Use of the M1 platform is subject to a $3 monthly platform fee, waived in any billing cycle in which total M1 assets reach $10,000 on at least one day; other fees may apply. See the M1 Fee Schedule and the Platform Fee Disclosure. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.
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