Lesson 2 of 50 for advisers · MFD or RIA: who may advise · 4 min read · Reviewed 13 Nov 2026
No. Only a SEBI-registered investment adviser may use names like Independent Financial Adviser, IFA or Wealth Adviser. A distributor may give advice only as incidental to selling, and must describe itself as an AMFI-registered Mutual Fund Distributor with its ARN on every communication.
Nobody may act as an investment adviser, or present themselves as one, without SEBI registration. A distributor registered with AMFI is exempt only for advice incidental to its main work of selling.
Since 30 Sep 2020 a distributor may not use Independent Financial Adviser, IFA or Wealth Adviser. AMFI adds Adviser, Financial Adviser, Investment Adviser and Wealth Manager to that list.
Every communication carries the words AMFI-registered Mutual Fund Distributor with the name and ARN, in at least 12-point type.
A CA who gives advice on specific securities, even alongside tax work, needs part-time IA registration. Advising on gold, property or crypto as a business rules a person out of it.
Key idea: Selling with incidental advice needs an ARN. Advice as a service needs SEBI registration.
Try the short quiz on this page to check what stuck.
Advice a distributor gives as part of selling a product, without charging for it as a separate service. Regulation 4(d) of the IA Regulations exempts it.
Yes. An individual or partnership with an unrelated main business may register as a part-time investment adviser.
Investment advice under the IA Regulations covers securities SEBI regulates. Advice on other products needs a disclosure and a client declaration that SEBI offers no recourse for them.
For learning only, not investment advice. Built in India by a team that tracks its own money on Reva.