# Dual registrant

> A dual registrant is a firm registered both as an investment adviser and as a broker-dealer; a person who holds both an adviser registration and a broker registration is called dually registered.

Canonical page: https://find.wellspent.co/glossary/dual-registrant/
Also called: dually registered, dual registration

Many firms are both. The same person can act as an investment adviser representative on one account, charging an advisory fee and owing a fiduciary duty, and as a registered representative on another, earning commissions under Regulation Best Interest.

The SEC's advice to investors is to make sure you understand when your professional is acting as a broker and when as an adviser. The legal standard, the way you pay and the conflicts of interest all change with the role.

A dual registrant can describe both services in one Form CRS of up to four pages. A person with a current broker registration can earn commissions, so they are not fee-only, whatever they call themselves.

## How to check

Search the person on FINRA BrokerCheck and on the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site. If both show a current registration, they are dually registered. For a dual-registrant firm, check the disciplinary history on both its brokerage and advisory records.

## Sources

- [Investor.gov: Form CRS (relationship summary)](https://www.investor.gov/CRS)
- [FINRA BrokerCheck](https://brokercheck.finra.org/)
- [SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure](https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/)

## Related terms

- [Fee-based financial advisor](https://find.wellspent.co/glossary/fee-based.md)
- [Broker-dealer](https://find.wellspent.co/glossary/broker-dealer.md)
- [Registered representative](https://find.wellspent.co/glossary/registered-representative.md)
- [Investment adviser representative (IAR)](https://find.wellspent.co/glossary/iar.md)
- [Form CRS](https://find.wellspent.co/glossary/form-crs.md)