Every TransparencyScore is derived exclusively from public regulatory records — documents filed with, and published by, government and self-regulatory agencies. No purchased data sets. No user reviews. No social media. This page lists every source, what it contains, and how it feeds scoring.
Regulatory Filing Sources
SEC Form ADV (Parts 1, 2, and 3)
Source: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission What it is: The registration and disclosure document every registered investment adviser must file. Part 1 is structured data — registration, ownership, business activities, disciplinary flags (Item 11). Part 2A is the narrative brochure where firms describe their services, fees, and conflicts of interest in their own words. Part 3 (Form CRS) is the client relationship summary. How it feeds scoring: Part 1 flags and structure, Part 2A disclosure quality, and Form CRS clarity all feed the Filing Quality and Conflict Disclosure dimensions. Citations include the specific Item number and filing date.
SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD)
Source: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — adviserinfo.sec.gov What it is: The SEC's public database of registered advisers and individual representatives: registration status, employment history, and disclosure events. How it feeds scoring: Individual registration histories, examination records, and disclosure events feed the Disclosure Record and Credentials & Experience dimensions.
FINRA BrokerCheck
Source: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority — brokercheck.finra.org What it is: FINRA's public record of broker-dealers and registered representatives: registrations, customer complaints, regulatory actions, and disciplinary history. How it feeds scoring: Primary source for the broker-dealer side of the industry — firm regulatory actions, arbitrations, and individual representative records. Fidelon uses BrokerCheck data for investor-protection purposes consistent with FINRA's stated mission for the system. Where BrokerCheck data appears: "This information was obtained from FINRA BrokerCheck. For the most current information, visit brokercheck.finra.org."
Disclosure Reporting Pages (DRPs)
Source: Within Form ADV and BrokerCheck records What it is: The structured records documenting specific events — criminal matters, regulatory actions, civil judicial actions, customer complaints, terminations, and financial disclosures. In plain English: the individual complaint and disciplinary records. How it feeds scoring: A primary input to the Disclosure Record and Enforcement History dimensions. Citations include event type, filing date, and case reference where available.
State Regulatory Filings
Source: State securities regulators What it is: Form ADV filings for state-registered investment advisers (firms below the SEC registration threshold). How it feeds scoring: Same dimensions as SEC filings. State filing requirements vary, so data for state-registered firms can be less complete — a limitation we disclose rather than paper over.
State Insurance License Registries
Source: State departments of insurance and the NAIC's public licensee databases What it is: Public records of active insurance producer licenses. How it feeds scoring: When an adviser holds an active insurance sales license, that is a structural conflict-of-interest signal — commissions on insurance products can compete with advisory duty. Verified active licenses appear in the Conflict Audit and are reflected in advisor scoring.
How AI Is Used
Some filings are narrative documents, not structured data — a Form ADV Part 2A brochure can run over 100 pages. Fidelon uses AI language models to read and analyze narrative filings at scale: extracting fee structures, identifying conflict disclosures, assessing disclosure clarity, and drafting the plain-English profile summaries that appear on adviser and firm pages.
Three constraints govern this:
- AI reads filings; it does not invent facts. Every AI-assisted output is generated from, and traceable to, the underlying public record.
- The same analysis is applied to every firm and adviser. No manual overrides, no exceptions by size or brand.
- Errors are correctable. If an AI-generated summary misstates what a filing says, that is a data error and the Dispute & Correction Policy applies to it like any other.
What We Do Not Use
- Paid or purchased third-party data sets
- User-submitted reviews, ratings, or testimonials
- Social media
- Private client records or account information
- Anything submitted through Fidelon's paid services — profile claims, coaching, document uploads — to influence public TransparencyScores
The separation between the scoring pipeline and everything commercial is structural. See How We Score for the integrity firewall.
Data Currency and Limitations
- Scores reflect regulatory filings as of the most recent scoring cycle, displayed on every profile. Profiles may lag filings by 30–90 days.
- Form ADV brochures are self-prepared by firms. We analyze what firms disclose; we do not audit whether the underlying claims are true. We score what firms actually disclose, not what they should disclose.
- DRPs capture formal regulatory records. Informal complaints or private settlements that never reach a public filing are not visible to us — or to anyone reading the public record.
- State-registered adviser data is less uniform than SEC-registered data.
Reporting a Data Error
If a Fidelon profile misstates what the public record says, tell us. Individual advisers have a formal dispute process; firms have a correction process. Both are described in the Dispute & Correction Policy. Investigations complete within 30 days.