{"id":21,"date":"2026-11-02T11:45:23","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T11:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arzynet.com\/insights\/how-to-check-an-investment-firm\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T11:57:17","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T11:57:17","slug":"how-to-check-an-investment-firm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/arzynet.com\/fr\/insights\/how-to-check-an-investment-firm\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Vet An Investment Firm Yourself (In 15 Minutes)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"az-hero-h2d5\">\n<div class=\"az-wrap-q4m8\">\n<div class=\"az-hero-copy-c8j2\">\n<nav class=\"az-crumbs-b5a1\" aria-label=\"chapelure\">\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"\/fr\/\">Maison<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/fr\/insights\/\">Connaissances<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-current=\"page\">How To Vet An Investment Firm Yourself (In 15 Minutes)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/nav>\n<p class=\"az-eye-p9r3\">Guide<\/p>\n<h1>How To Vet An Investment Firm Yourself (In 15 Minutes)<\/h1>\n<div class=\"az-lead-l9k3\">\n<p>You don&#8217;t need a lawyer or an accountant to run a basic verification on an investment firm. You need 15 minutes, a browser, and the willingness to actually read what comes back. This guide walks you through the exact checks a US investor should run before sending money anywhere.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"az-hero-art-a6n9\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/arzynet\/assets\/images\/page-insights.webp\" alt=\"How To Vet An Investment Firm Yourself (In 15 Minutes)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" fetchpriority=\"high\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"az-wrap-q4m8 az-content-c6b1\">\n<article class=\"az-page-pg7z\">\n<div class=\"az-prose-p3w9\">\n<section id=\"step-1\">\n<h2>Step 1: Pull Up The SEC&#8217;s IAPD<\/h2>\n<p>The SEC&#8217;s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) database at <a href=\"https:\/\/adviserinfo.sec.gov\">adviserinfo.sec.gov<\/a> is the master list of US-registered investment advisers. Search by firm name. If a legitimate adviser doesn&#8217;t show up, that&#8217;s a problem.<\/p>\n<p>Read the registration section carefully. Which states can they operate in? What services are they registered for? If someone pitched you &#8220;international forex managed accounts&#8221; but the firm is only registered as a state RIA for financial planning, something is off.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"step-2\">\n<h2>Step 2: Cross-Check FINRA BrokerCheck<\/h2>\n<p>If the person who contacted you claims to be a broker, head to <a href=\"https:\/\/brokercheck.finra.org\">brokercheck.finra.org<\/a>. Search for the individual by name and look for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Which firms they&#8217;ve been registered with (and when);<\/li>\n<li>Any disclosed customer disputes, regulatory actions, or criminal matters;<\/li>\n<li>Which licenses they hold (Series 7, Series 63, etc.) and whether those cover what they&#8217;re offering.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Multiple prior firms in short order is a yellow flag. Any disclosed regulatory action is a red flag.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"step-3\">\n<h2>Step 3: Match The Domain &amp; Contact Details<\/h2>\n<p>Clone firms are a huge problem. A real company&#8217;s name and brand are copied by scammers who build a lookalike website with a slightly different URL and ask you to send money there. Compare:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The website address shown on IAPD vs. the one the pitch came from (even one letter off is bad);<\/li>\n<li>The phone number on IAPD vs. the one you were given;<\/li>\n<li>The email domain on IAPD vs. the one in your inbox.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If anything differs, call the number on IAPD and ask whether the person you spoke to actually works there.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"step-4\">\n<h2>Step 4: Find Out Who Actually Holds Your Money<\/h2>\n<p>A legitimate adviser does not hold your money themselves. They direct it to an independent custodian \u2014 a bank or brokerage like Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Pershing, or similar. Ask: &#8220;Which custodian will hold my funds?&#8221; Then verify that custodian independently.<\/p>\n<p>If the answer is &#8220;we hold it&#8221;, &#8220;we have our own in-house custody solution&#8221;, or anything vague \u2014 stop. That&#8217;s the structure most fraud uses.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"step-5\">\n<h2>Step 5: Google The Firm And The Names<\/h2>\n<p>Search the firm name plus &#8220;scam&#8221;, &#8220;complaint&#8221;, &#8220;fraud&#8221;, and &#8220;SEC enforcement&#8221;. Search any individual&#8217;s name plus their state. Look at results more than 6 months old. Fresh websites with no history are themselves a red flag.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"when-stuck\">\n<h2>When It&#8217;s Still Unclear<\/h2>\n<p>Some firms are fine but their paperwork is messy, or the person pitching you is new. If you&#8217;re stuck, book a <a href=\"\/fr\/services\/check-a-firm-or-offer\/\">firm &amp; offer audit<\/a>. We charge a flat fee and send you a written report in days.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<nav class=\"az-rel-r4b2\">\n<h2 class=\"az-rel-h2-b2k9\">Keep Reading<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/fr\/insights\/\"><svg class=\"az-icon-i3b7\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"1.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M5 12h14M13 6l6 6-6 6\"\/><\/svg>All ArzyNet guides<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/fr\/services\/check-a-firm-or-offer\/\"><svg class=\"az-icon-i3b7\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"1.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M5 12h14M13 6l6 6-6 6\"\/><\/svg>Get a firm &amp; offer audit<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/fr\/contact\/\"><svg class=\"az-icon-i3b7\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"1.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M5 12h14M13 6l6 6-6 6\"\/><\/svg>Ask us a question<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home Insights How To Vet An Investment Firm Yourself (In 15 Minutes) Guide How To Vet An Investment Firm Yourself (In 15 Minutes) You don&#8217;t need a lawyer or an accountant to run a basic verification on an investment firm. You need 15 minutes, a browser, and the willingness to actually read what comes back. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":20,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Check an Investment Firm Before You Invest a Dollar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Step-by-step: how to check an investment firm against FINRA, SEC, and state registries, plus the red flags most people miss.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arzynet.com\/fr\/insights\/how-to-check-an-investment-firm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How 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