How to Verify a SEBI-Registered Investment Advisor (INA Number)
Shlok Sobti
How to Verify a SEBI-Registered Investment Advisor (INA Number)
Anyone can call themselves an advisor. Only a registered entity has an INA number you can check before you pay a rupee.
Step 1: Ask for the registration number
A SEBI-Registered Investment Advisor's number looks like INA followed by nine digits. Invsify's registration number is INA000020572. It should appear on the website, on the advisory agreement, and in email disclosures.
Step 2: Check it against SEBI's own list
Go to the SEBI website and open the list of recognised intermediaries for Investment Advisors, then search by the registration number or the entity name. Confirm three things: the number exists, the entity name matches exactly who is invoicing you, and the registration is current rather than lapsed or surrendered.
Step 3: Match the name on the payment
The fee should be paid to the registered entity named in the agreement, never to an individual's personal account and never to a third party.
Step 4: Read the agreement and the fee
A registered advisor must sign an advisory agreement with you that sets out the services and the fee. If there is no agreement, there is no advisory relationship, whatever the number on the website says.
What an INA number does not mean
It is not a guarantee of returns. Registration and NISM certification say nothing about performance.
It does not mean SEBI has approved any specific recommendation.
It does not mean the advisor holds your money. A fee-only advisor should not take custody of your assets.
It does not make past results a promise of future results.
If something is wrong
Raise it with the advisor first. Invsify's compliance contact is [email protected]. If it is unresolved, an investor can escalate through SEBI's SCORES platform, the regulator's investor grievance redressal system, and through the applicable ODR mechanism.
Invsify is a SEBI-Registered Investment Advisor (Registration No. INA000020572). Investments are subject to market risks. Registration granted by SEBI and certification from NISM in no way guarantee performance of the intermediary or provide any assurance of returns to investors.
