What Questions Should You Ask an Investment Advisor?
A first meeting with an investment advisor can feel one-directional — they ask about your goals, your income, your risk tolerance. It should go both ways. Here are the questions worth asking them, and why each one matters.
"Are you a SEBI RIA or an AMFI distributor?"
These are two distinct, legally different roles in India — a SEBI Registered Investment Adviser is required to act in your best interest and is typically fee-only; an AMFI Registered Mutual Fund Distributor guides fund selection and earns commission from the schemes you invest through them. Neither is inherently better, but you should know which one you're talking to. See our piece on investment advisor vs mutual fund distributor for the full breakdown.
"How exactly are you compensated?"
A legitimate advisor should answer this plainly, without you having to dig. Commission-based and fee-based models both exist for good reasons — the point is transparency, not one model being automatically suspect.
"What's your process for recommending a fund?"
Listen for whether they describe actual research — holdings, expense ratios, track record — or just point to a standard list. This matters even more if ethical or values-aligned investing is a priority for you, since a fund's marketing name alone doesn't guarantee real screening.
"How often will we actually talk after this?"
Financial planning isn't a one-time transaction. Ask specifically what ongoing review looks like — is portfolio rebalancing something they proactively manage, or something you'd need to chase?
"Can you explain this in plain terms?"
Not a trick question — a genuinely useful one. If every answer arrives wrapped in jargon you have to ask them to translate, that's worth noting before you commit to a long-term relationship.
"What happens if I want to change course later?"
Life changes — goals shift, risk tolerance changes, priorities move. Ask how flexible the relationship actually is if your plan needs to change six months or five years in.
"Do you have real experience with what I'm asking for?"
If ethical or values-aligned investing specifically matters to you, ask directly — not every advisor actively works with ESG, exclusion-based, impact, or Shariah-compliant options, and many will only look into it if asked.
If you're comparing advisors, our companion piece on how to choose an investment advisor covers the vetting criteria in more depth, or read about our own work as an ethical investment advisor.
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