Abrdn is a investment adviser based in Philadelphia, PA, that holds a 73.2/100 Fidelon TransparencyScore (th percentile), with 55 registered advisors. Score based on public SEC and FINRA filings.
Abrdn
Abrdn INC. · CRD #111069
A registered investment adviser with a clean regulatory record.
Fidelon Fact Sheet
ABRDN INC. used to be called Aberdeen Standard Investments Inc. It is an investment adviser in Philadelphia, PA that helps clients plan for retirement and manages investment portfolios. The firm also runs private funds and holds client money, which means it or a related party can access those funds. ABRDN INC. charges asset-based fees and fixed fees. Its regulatory record shows no complaints or fines.
How This Firm Works
Registration & Standard of Care
Investment Adviser — this firm is a registered investment adviser, held to a fiduciary standard — legally required to act in clients' best interests.
How This Firm Gets Paid
- Charges a percentage of assets under management
- Charges fixed fees for specific services
- Can earn money selling products alongside advice — the product company pays that, so it never appears on an advisory invoice
What you’d pay
Your balance falls in the All accounts band, charged at 2.00% on the full amount.
This fee is negotiable
Abrdn INC. states in its Form ADV that advisory fees may be negotiated.
From their Form ADV Part 2A. Most investors never ask.
Not included above
- • In addition to advisory fees, clients may incur additional fees related to services such as legal, auditing, consulting, financing, accounting, independent appraisal, valuation, administration and custodian fees and expenses
- • expenses associated with preparing and distributing communications and reports
- • costs of developing and maintaining administrative tools
- • interest on borrowings
- • brokerage fees
- • and taxes. For Private Markets Funds, fees may include management fees and performance-based compensation, with additional expenses like organizational expenses and third-party administrator costs
Estimated from the firm’s Form ADV Part 2A brochure — not a quote. Actual fees are set in your agreement and may differ. Costs charged by others (custodians, fund managers) are not included.
What This Firm Charges
| Account Size | Annual Fee |
|---|---|
| All accounts | 2.00% |
Billed quarterly in arrears
Extracted from Form ADV Part 2A brochure
Specializations
Extracted from Form ADV Part 2A brochure
Who They Typically Serve
Extracted from Form ADV Part 2A brochure
Key Findings
Strengths
- Registered as investment adviser with fiduciary obligation
- Clean regulatory record — no disclosures, arbitrations, or fines
Things You Should Know
- Fee clarity in the client summary — filings provide less detail than higher-scoring peers in this area
- Fee disclosure could be more detailed — regulatory filings describe fee schedules and service terms less clearly than top-scoring peers
Conflict Audit
Multiple structural conflicts identified in regulatory filings. These are disclosed business arrangements — worth asking about, not disqualifying.
Source: Form ADV Part 1, Items 6-8; Part 2A, Items 10-14
What this firm says about how it gets paid
“The more assets there are in your account, the more you will pay in fees. This poses a potential conflict of interest, as we may therefore have an incentive to encourage you to increase the assets in your account.”
Source: the firm’s own Form CRS, filed 2026-03-26 — quoted directly
Regulatory Track Record
0
Disclosures
Clean record — no disclosures found
$0
Total Fines
Clean record — no fines found
Regulatory Events
TransparencyScore Dimensions
Disclosure Record
Customer complaints, arbitrations, and fines. Frequency and recency matter.
99/100
Strong
Avg for investment adviser firms: 82.6 | Top 10%: 99.5
Filing Quality
How clearly the firm describes services, fees, and investment approach in regulatory filings.
78/100
Fair
Avg for investment adviser firms: 84.1 | Top 10%: 100
Conflict Disclosure
How openly the firm explains who pays it and what it's paid to sell. The conflict isn't the problem — hiding it is.
63/100
Fair
Avg for investment adviser firms: 54 | Top 10%: 67
Enforcement History
Self-reported legal and disciplinary history from Form ADV Item 11.
100/100
Strong
Avg for investment adviser firms: 99.7 | Top 10%: 100
Next Steps
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does the TransparencyScore measure?
The TransparencyScore measures how clearly and completely an advisor or firm discloses important information in their regulatory filings — things like fees, conflicts of interest, disciplinary history, and business practices. A higher score means better disclosure quality, not better investment performance.
Where does this data come from?
All data comes from public regulatory filings: SEC Form ADV (Parts 1, 2, and 3), FINRA BrokerCheck, and the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) database. These are official filings that firms and advisors are legally required to submit.
Does a low score mean they're a bad advisor?
Not necessarily. A low score means the firm's public filings are less transparent — they may use vague language about fees, skip details about conflicts, or have a more complex regulatory history. Some excellent advisors work at firms with poor disclosure practices. The score measures the filing, not the person.
How often is this data updated?
Fidelon refreshes data from SEC and FINRA sources on a regular schedule. Form ADV filings are updated annually by firms (with amendments throughout the year), and BrokerCheck data is updated as events are reported. Scores are recalculated after each data refresh.
Can an advisor or firm improve their score?
Yes. Scores are based on what's in public filings. A firm that rewrites its ADV brochure in clearer language, discloses conflicts more specifically, or resolves outstanding regulatory issues will see its score improve at the next refresh. The incentive structure is intentional.
Data Sources
Scores are generated using Fidelon's published scoring methodology and reflect the quality of public disclosures, not the quality of investment advice. A firm that improves its disclosures will see its score improve. Fidelon does not provide investment advice.
Verify on SEC IAPD
Last scored: · Score version: 3.8 · CRD #111069