Services for Investors

Paladin provides four information services to investors who rely on financial planners, investment advisors, and money managers to help them achieve their financial goals. Since 2003, hundreds of thousands of investors have used Paladin information and services to help them screen, evaluate, and select financial professionals based on their qualifications and not their sales skills. 

All Paladin services are FREE to investors except optional background checks they can use to evaluate current and prospective advisors who are not profiled in the Registry. 

Advisor Due Diligence

Due diligence is the objective process of reviewing information that planners, advisors, and money managers provide investors when they sell financial advice, services, and products. Paladin provides two levels of due diligence for professionals who are profiled in the Registry.

• One level is based on reviews that are limited to the information that advisors provide Paladin for their credentials, ethics, business practices, and services.
• Financial Advisor Due Diligence (FADD) is a higher level of service that is based on comprehensive background checks that document the accuracy of key information that advisors provide investors.
• Some advisors, who are profiled in the Registry, are FADD Certified

Advisor Quality Ratings

Our due diligence produces quality ratings of one to five stars. We include the professionals' ratings in FADD Findings Reports and Registry profiles.The Registry only profiles financial professionals who achieve five star quality ratings because:

• Investors have told us they only want to talk to advisors with the highest rating
• Advisors will not permit us to publish lower ratings that document their weaknesses 

Advisor Documentation

We ask key questions and document advisor responses in online documentation that describes their credentials, ethics, business practices, and financial services.

• Our information helps investors select advisors with the best qualifications
• Our information reduces their risk of selecting advisors with the best sales pitches 

Advisor Match Service

Paladin provides a free, personalized match service that connects investors to "local" professionals who have received the Registry's five star quality rating.

• Investors tell us their requirements and we match them to pre-screened planners, advisors, and money managers with the best qualifications.
• When the match process is complete (same or next business day), investors are notified by email and a limited number of professionals contact them to discuss next steps.