About Us

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc.  offers investment advisory services to retail investors. These services include asset management, financial planning and consulting, retirement planning and consulting, and wrap fee programs. We also provide advisory services by referring clients to unaffiliated investment advisors. If we charge an ongoing asset-based fee, we will perform ongoing monitoring of your account(s) based upon the scope of services we provide as described in our agreement(s). All recommendations regarding your advisory account will be made in an advisory capacity. When we make a recommendation to you, we will expressly tell you orally which account we are discussing.

You have the choice to receive the non-discretionary or discretionary services from us. When we provide non-discretionary services to you, you make the ultimate decision regarding the purchase or sale of investments. When you authorize us to provide discretionary services to you, we can buy and sell investments in your account without discussing with you in advance. While we offer a wide variety of investment products and types of investments, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc.  has created a unified managed mutual fund list that specifies the recommended share class for each fund for use in managed accounts. We have a minimum account size requirement of $5,000 before you can open an account, but exceptions may apply for certain programs or account types. Please refer to our Form CRS supplement for further details.

You will pay a fee for our services based upon the type of service you receive. This can include asset-based fees, fixed fees, hourly fees, set-up fees and program fees. Any fees paid and the frequency charged will be agree upon by you when contracting with Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc. for investment advisory services.

• Asset-based fee – the fee is a percentage of all assets in your account, charged on an ongoing basis
• Fixed fee – the fee is a set amount, charged either one-time or an ongoing basis
• Hourly fee – the fee is a set amount and based on the aggregate number of hours of service provided
• Set-up fee – the fee is a set amount, charged one-time
• Program fee – the fee is an inclusive, or wrap, fee including an asset-based fee for services, custodial and trading fees, strategist fees (if applicable) and set-up fees (if applicable), charged on an ongoing basis

If you pay an asset-based fee, the more assets there are in your account, the more you will pay in fees. This gives us an incentive to encourage you to increase the assets in your account. If you pay a wrap fee, this fee can be higher than a typical asset-based fee because it includes the custodial and trading fees for your account. If you pay an hourly fee, this gives us an incentive to incur more time providing services to you.

You will typically also pay other fees, depending on your account type. These fees include custodian fees, account maintenance fees, transactional fees, and other ancillary fees that are outlines in CRS Supplement.

You will pay fees and costs whether you make or lose money on your investments. Fees and costs will reduce any amount of money you make on your investments over time. Please make sure you understand what fees and costs you are paying.

When we act as your investment adviser, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours. At the same time, the way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests. You should understand and ask us about these conflicts because they can affect the investment advice we provide you. Here are some examples to help you understand what this means. Please refer to our Form CRS supplement for further details. 

• Revenue sharing
• Third Party Payments

Our financial professionals receive fees for the investment advisory services they provide. These fees are one-time and/or ongoing, and are based on a fixed rate and/or as a percentage of assets in your account.

Visit Investor.gov/CRS for a free and simple search tool to research us and our financial professional.