How to Become a Fiduciary: Series 65, Form ADV, and Bonding

To become a fiduciary, you first pick which kind of fiduciary you want to be, because the requirements are entirely different for each. The most structured path is becoming a financial fiduciary as an Investment Adviser Representative, which means passing the Series 65 exam ($187, 130 questions) and registering with either the SEC or your state securities regulator. Other fiduciary roles — trustee, executor, retirement plan administrator, court-appointed guardian — come through appointment or hiring rather than exams, and each carries its own entry requirements. “Fiduciary” is a legal obligation, not a single credential.

What You’re Signing Up For

A fiduciary is legally obligated to put another person’s interests ahead of their own. That splits into a duty of care (act with the skill and diligence a competent professional would use) and a duty of loyalty (never prioritize your own financial interests over the person you serve, and disclose any conflict that could compromise your judgment).¹

These duties are enforceable. The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 makes fiduciary obligations enforceable against investment advisers through antifraud provisions that prohibit defrauding a client, engaging in any practice that operates as fraud or deceit, or trading for your own account against a client’s interest without written disclosure and consent.² For retirement plan fiduciaries, ERISA imposes a “prudent person” standard: act solely in participants’ interests, for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits, with the care a prudent person familiar with such matters would use.³

Choose Your Path First

Nothing else in this article matters until you know which fiduciary role you’re pursuing. The common ones:

Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) or Investment Adviser Representative (IAR), who gives investment advice and manages client portfolios. This is the path most people mean by “fiduciary financial advisor.”
ERISA plan fiduciary, who manages or oversees an employer-sponsored retirement plan such as a 401(k). Anyone exercising discretion over plan management or assets is automatically a fiduciary under ERISA, whether or not they hold the title.³
Trustee or executor, who administers a trust or settles a deceased person’s estate. You’re appointed by the trust document, the will, or the probate court, and your obligations are governed by state trust and probate law.
Court-appointed guardian or conservator, who manages the personal or financial affairs of someone who can’t manage their own. Courts appoint you after a petition and hearing, and ongoing court oversight is typical.

The rest of this article walks the investment adviser path in detail, because that’s the one with structured licensing. If your route is trustee, executor, or guardian, skip ahead to the court-appointment section.

Pass the Series 65

For the investment adviser path, the entry exam is the Series 65, formally the Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination. NASAA developed it and FINRA administers it.⁴ There are no educational prerequisites. You don’t need a degree to sit for the exam, though a background in finance or economics helps.

The exam costs $187, contains 130 questions, and requires at least 92 correct to pass.⁵ Questions cover four areas: economics and analysis, investment vehicles, investment recommendations and strategies, and laws and regulations governing investment advisers. Most candidates spend two to three months studying, though this varies widely based on prior experience.

Some professional designations may waive the Series 65 requirement in some states. The Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation is among the credentials NASAA recognizes for this purpose. If you already hold one, check with your state securities regulator before you schedule the exam. You may not need it.

Designations like CFP and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) also carry their own fiduciary standards through their codes of ethics. A CFP must act as a fiduciary at all times when providing financial advice to a client under CFP Board standards.⁶ Those obligations sit on top of, not in place of, any regulatory registration you’re required to hold.

Register With the SEC or Your State

Passing the exam doesn’t make you a fiduciary. Registration does. You register through the Investment Adviser Registration Depository (IARD), an online system managed by FINRA.⁷ Which regulator you register with depends on your assets under management (AUM).

SEC or State?

Advisers with less than $25 million in AUM generally register with their state and are prohibited from SEC registration. Advisers between $25 million and $100 million typically register with their state as well, with narrow exceptions. At $100 million SEC registration becomes an option, and at $110 million it becomes mandatory. A buffer keeps advisers from bouncing between regulators: once SEC-registered, you don’t switch back to state registration until AUM drops below $90 million.⁸

If you’re starting a solo practice, you’ll almost certainly begin with state registration.

Filing Form ADV

The primary registration document is Form ADV, filed electronically through IARD. Part 1A covers your firm’s basic information, ownership, and business practices. Part 2A is your “brochure,” a plain-language document describing your services, fees, investment strategies, and any conflicts of interest clients need to know about. You deliver the brochure to every client before or at the time you enter into an advisory agreement.⁹¹⁰

For SEC registration, the agency has 45 days after a complete Form ADV is filed to either grant registration or begin proceedings to deny it.¹¹ State timelines vary. Budget for follow-up, because regulators often request additional information.

What It Costs

IARD charges annual system processing fees. NASAA currently waives the firm-level fee, but each representative pays $15 per year.¹² States charge their own registration and renewal fees on top of that, and amounts vary. Expect to pay several hundred dollars total between exam, IARD, and state filing fees to get started.

The Court-Appointment Path

Trustees, executors, and guardians don’t take an exam. You become one because a trust document names you, a will names you and probate accepts you, or a court appoints you after a petition and hearing. Courts conduct their own background reviews during the appointment process. A history of financial mismanagement, fraud convictions, or prior removal from a fiduciary role will almost certainly disqualify you.

Courts typically also require you to post a surety bond before you can act, generally set at the value of the assets you’ll manage. Annual premiums run from roughly 0.5% to several percent of the bond amount, depending on the bond size and your credit. Some trust documents or wills waive the bond, and courts may waive it for family members in smaller estates.

Background History That Can Disqualify You

Every fiduciary path involves background screening, but investment adviser registration is particularly rigorous. Certain events trigger an automatic bar known as “statutory disqualification.” You’re subject to it if you’ve been convicted of any felony or certain misdemeanors within the past ten years, or if a court has enjoined you from violating securities laws. Being barred or suspended by the SEC, CFTC, or any self-regulatory organization also triggers disqualification. Since 1990 even non-securities-related felonies qualify, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act extended disqualification to people who have violated state securities, insurance, or banking laws.¹³

Bonds and Insurance

If you handle funds or property of an employee benefit plan, ERISA requires you to carry a fidelity bond. The bond amount must equal at least 10% of the plan funds you handled in the preceding year, with a minimum of $1,000. The Department of Labor caps the required bond at $500,000 per plan, or $1,000,000 for plans holding employer securities. Deductibles are prohibited for losses within the required coverage, and the bond must come from a surety on the Department of the Treasury’s approved list.¹⁴

Fidelity bonds and probate bonds protect the plan or estate against fraud and dishonesty. They don’t protect you. Fiduciary liability insurance does that, covering defense costs and settlements if someone claims you breached your duties. It’s optional, but fiduciaries can be held personally liable for losses caused by poor decisions, not just fraud, so anyone managing significant assets should carry it.

What You Have to Keep Doing After You’re In

Getting registered or appointed is the start of the obligation, not the end of it.

Continuing Education

Investment Adviser Representatives in jurisdictions that have adopted NASAA’s model CE rule must complete 12 credits each year: six in products and practices, six in ethics and professional responsibility.¹⁵ As of early 2026, 25 jurisdictions have adopted the requirement, with more expected to follow.¹⁶ FINRA also offers an Exam Validity Extension Program that lets eligible individuals maintain the validity of their Series 65 results for up to five years by completing annual CE, which matters if your registration lapses temporarily.¹⁷

Ongoing Disclosure

Registered advisers deliver the Form ADV Part 2A brochure to every client before or at the time of contract, then provide an updated brochure or a summary of material changes annually, within 120 days of the end of your fiscal year. Disciplinary events require prompt delivery of an amended brochure; those don’t wait for the annual cycle.¹⁰

Annual Renewal and Accountings

Registrations aren’t permanent. RIAs and IARs file annual updating amendments to Form ADV and pay renewal fees through IARD. The updated AUM figure determines whether you need to switch between SEC and state registration. Trustees and guardians face parallel obligations through the courts, typically filing annual accountings that detail every transaction, fee, and distribution.

What a Breach Costs

ERISA fiduciaries who fail to meet their responsibilities face personal liability. They can be required to restore any losses the plan suffered and to disgorge any profits made through improper use of plan assets. Co-fiduciaries who knowingly participate in a breach, conceal it, or fail to act to correct it share in that liability.¹⁸ The SEC can impose substantial civil penalties on investment advisers for fiduciary breaches; in one recent case an adviser paid $5.8 million for failing to act in clients’ best interests in wrap fee accounts.¹⁹

In probate and trust settings, courts can issue a “surcharge,” a personal order requiring the fiduciary to repay money to the estate or trust from their own funds. Surcharge actions commonly arise from excessive fees, improper expenditures, or poor investment decisions that caused losses.

When a breach crosses into embezzlement or theft, criminal prosecution follows. Federal law under 18 U.S.C. Chapter 31 imposes penalties up to 10 years imprisonment for embezzlement of most types of entrusted funds. For bank officers and employees who embezzle or misapply funds, the penalties rise to a fine of up to $1,000,000 and up to 30 years imprisonment.²⁰ The line between a civil breach and a criminal charge usually comes down to intent. A genuinely poor investment decision is a civil matter. Diverting client or plan assets into your personal account is a crime.

1
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Commission Interpretation Regarding Standard of Conduct for Investment Advisers
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 80b-6 – Prohibited Transactions by Investment Advisers
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 1104 – Fiduciary Duties
4
NORTH AMERICAN SECURITIES ADMINISTRATORS ASSOCIATION. Series 65 Exam Content Outline
5
NORTH AMERICAN SECURITIES ADMINISTRATORS ASSOCIATION. Exam FAQs
6
CFP Board. Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct
7
SEC.gov. IARD – Setting Up Your IARD Account
8
SEC.gov. Transition of Mid-Sized Investment Advisers from Federal to State Registration
9
SEC.gov. Form ADV
10
eCFR. 17 CFR 275.204-3 – Delivery of Brochures and Brochure Supplements
11
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Frequently Asked Questions on Form ADV and IARD
12
IARD. 2026 Investment Adviser Renewal Program
13
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Statutory Disqualification Review Process
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Protect Your Employee Benefit Plan With an ERISA Fidelity Bond
15
NORTH AMERICAN SECURITIES ADMINISTRATORS ASSOCIATION. IAR Continuing Education FAQ
16
NORTH AMERICAN SECURITIES ADMINISTRATORS ASSOCIATION. IAR CE Map
17
FINRA. Series 65 – Uniform Investment Adviser Law Exam
18
U.S. Department of Labor. ERISA Fiduciary Advisor – What Are My Liabilities as a Fiduciary and How Can I Limit Them
19
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC Charges Investment Adviser for Breaching Its Fiduciary Duty to Clients in Wrap Accounts
20
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC Chapter 31 – Embezzlement and Theft