Anyone can call themselves a "financial advisor", a "wealth coach", or a "market expert". Very few are actually authorised to give you investment advice. In India, providing personalised investment advice for a fee requires registration with SEBI as an Investment Adviser (IA). Here are five checks — about ten minutes — to run before you part with any money.
1. Ask for the registration number
A genuine IA has a registration number in the format INA followed by nine digits (for example, INA000019673). It should appear on their website, their agreement, and their email footer. No number, no deal.
2. Match it against SEBI's own list
Don't take the number on faith — verify it at the source. SEBI publishes the list of registered Investment Advisers on sebi.gov.in (under Intermediaries → Registered Investment Advisers). Confirm that the name, registration number, and validity match what you were told. Registration can be "individual" or "non-individual"; both are valid.
3. Check BASL membership
Every SEBI-registered IA must also be a member of the Investment Adviser Administration and Supervisory Body (BASL), established under BSE. Ask for the BASL membership number and confirm it. Someone who claims SEBI registration but isn't a BASL member is a red flag.
4. See where the fee goes
A registered IA charges an advisory fee within SEBI's prescribed limits, and collects it in the registered entity's bank account — never a random personal account, never cash, never crypto. SEBI also caps how advisers may charge (a percentage of assets under advice, or a fixed fee, each with a ceiling). If someone wants payment to a personal UPI, or offers to "manage" your money inside their own account, walk away.
5. Watch for the things a real adviser never does
- Guarantees returns. No registered adviser can promise or assure returns. The standard warning — "investments are subject to market risks" — exists for a reason.
- Asks for your trading password or OTP. An adviser advises; they never need to log in as you.
- Earns a commission on what they tell you to buy and charges you a fee. Under current rules, for a given client an entity is either your adviser (fee) or your distributor (commission) — not both at once.
- Rushes you. Urgency ("offer closes today") is a sales tactic, not advice.
Why this matters
Most investment frauds in India don't involve exotic instruments — they involve someone unregistered (or impersonating a registered firm) promising fixed, high returns and collecting money into a personal account. The five checks above defeat almost all of them.
And if a dispute does arise with a registered IA, you have recourse: the adviser's own grievance process, then SEBI's SCORES portal, and the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) mechanism. An unregistered "advisor" leaves you with none of that.
Ten minutes of verification is the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy.