Who is legally allowed to tell you what to do with your portfolio: SEBI RIA, distributor, robo adviser, AI chatbot

Ask "what should I do with my portfolio" and you will get answers from a bank relationship manager, an app, a YouTube channel, a chatbot and, if you pay, a registered adviser. They operate under different registrations. Only a SEBI registered investment adviser may give you personal advice as a service, and is accountable for its suitability.

This guide sets out the four categories, what each may say, how each is paid, and where to check a name against SEBI's registers. Corpus is itself in the process of applying for registration as an investment adviser, so we have an interest in this being understood correctly, and until registration is granted this site gives education only.

The four categories

SEBI registered investment adviser

An RIA is registered under the SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013. The registration number begins with INA. An RIA must assess your risk profile and suitability before advising, must act in your interest, must keep records of the advice, and may be paid only by you. The regulations separate advice from distribution, so an RIA cannot earn commission on the products it advises you into. SEBI requires an RIA to implement its advice only through direct plans. Fees are charged in one of two modes SEBI allows: a percentage of assets under advice, capped at 2.5% a year per family of clients, or a fixed fee, capped at ₹1,51,000 a year per family and revised every three years.

Mutual fund distributor

An MFD holds an AMFI Registration Number (ARN). Banks, individual agents and apps that sell regular plans are MFDs. Apps that sell direct plans without commission operate under SEBI's execution-only platform framework instead. A distributor is paid by the fund house out of the regular plan's expense ratio, as a trail commission for as long as you hold the units. SEBI permits distributors to give "incidental" advice connected to the products they sell, but they are not fiduciaries and are not registered to give personal investment advice as a service. A distributor's remuneration comes from the scheme's expense ratio and is disclosed to you under SEBI's rules; an adviser's fee is paid by you directly.

An individual cannot be both an RIA and an MFD. A company can run both activities only through a separately identifiable division, and the same client cannot be given both advisory and distribution services within that group.

Robo adviser

"Robo adviser" is a product description, not a regulatory category. A platform that gives you personal recommendations through an algorithm falls within SEBI's definition of an investment adviser, so the operator needs IA registration, with the same suitability, record-keeping and fee rules, plus a duty to disclose how far it uses AI and to answer for the tool's output. A platform giving personal recommendations without that registration would need to obtain it to do so. The INA number should be on its website.

AI chatbots and general apps

A general-purpose chatbot, a portfolio tracker's "insights" feature, or a finance YouTube channel can explain concepts, show you data and describe options. None of them are registered to advise you, none of them have assessed your suitability, and none of them are accountable if you act on what they say. SEBI's investor-education site has a standing caution about acting on tips from unregistered sources. That includes the output of a language model, however confident it reads.

How to check anyone in two minutes

Two public registers, neither of which costs anything to use.

1. SEBI's list of registered investment advisers. On sebi.gov.in, under Intermediaries, the "Recognised Intermediaries" page lists every RIA with name, registration number and validity. Search the entity's name. If it is not there, it is not an RIA, regardless of what its website says. Look for the INA number on the firm's site and match it.

Registered advisers are also members of BASL, the BSE body that supervises them, and quote a BASL membership number in their own disclosures alongside the INA number.

2. AMFI's distributor search. amfiindia.com has an ARN lookup. Enter the ARN from your CAS, or the name of the app or bank, to confirm it is a registered distributor and see the registration status.

A third check if you are being offered a managed portfolio rather than advice: SEBI's register of Portfolio Managers (registration numbers begin with INP). Portfolio management services carry a regulatory minimum investment of ₹50 lakh. New PMS regulations notified in October 2026 and effective from 1 April 2027 keep that figure and add a separate ₹25 lakh mutual-fund-only route.

Reading the fine print on a website

Four phrases and what they mean in regulatory terms:

• "SEBI registered" on its own is not a category. Ask: registered as what? An RIA (INA), a distributor (ARN, which is AMFI not SEBI), a portfolio manager (INP), a research analyst (INH), a stockbroker (INZ). Each permits different things.
• "Unbiased" or "no commissions" is a claim about pay. An RIA is required to be paid only by the client. For a distributor, "no commission" would not apply, since distributors are remunerated through the scheme, so ask which registration the firm is acting under.
• "Research" or "insights" is the language of a research analyst (INH) or of an unregistered information service. Neither is personal advice.
• "Execution" means the platform places orders. A distributor executes mutual fund orders. An RIA may implement its advice on your behalf only with your consent, only in direct plans, without any implementation fee, and must not earn commission on it.

Where Corpus sits today

Corpus has applied to SEBI for registration as an investment adviser. Until the registration is granted, Corpus does not give investment advice, does not recommend schemes, and does not tell anyone to buy, sell or switch. What is published here is education: how to read your own statements, how the rules work, and how to check who you are dealing with. When registration is granted, the INA number will be published on this site and will appear on SEBI's register, where you can check it the same way as anyone else's.

Frequently asked questions

Can a mutual fund distributor give investment advice?
A distributor may give advice incidental to the products it distributes, and is bound by AMFI's code of conduct. Personal advice as a service, with a fiduciary duty under the IA Regulations, is reserved for SEBI registered investment advisers.

Is my bank relationship manager a financial adviser?
It depends on the registration the desk is acting under. Many bank wealth desks distribute under the bank's AMFI ARN; some banks also hold SEBI investment adviser or portfolio manager registrations. Ask which applies to you and check it on the relevant register.

Can an AI tool legally tell me which mutual funds to buy?
Only if it is operated by a SEBI registered investment adviser, with suitability assessed and the INA number displayed. A general chatbot or an unregistered app cannot.

How do I check if an investment adviser is SEBI registered?
Search the name on SEBI's Recognised Intermediaries list. Match the INA number shown there to the one on the adviser's website.

What is the difference between a SEBI RIA and an AMFI ARN?
INA is a SEBI registration to give investment advice for a fee. ARN is an AMFI registration to distribute mutual funds for commission. They are different roles, and an individual cannot hold both.

Sources: SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013, as amended to November 2025; SEBI Master Circular for Investment Advisers, February 2026 (fee modes, implementation, advertisement code); SEBI investor-education page "Caution to investor" (investor.sebi.gov.in); SEBI Recognised Intermediaries register; SEBI circular of June 2023 on execution-only platforms; AMFI distributor registration and ARN search; SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2020 and the 2026 regulations effective 1 April 2027. Corpus is in the process of registering as an investment adviser with SEBI. Nothing on this page is investment advice. Investment in securities market are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing.