No commissions, no ads, no advice. This Merit Financial Advisors profile draws only on public records, each linked so you can confirm it yourself.

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The short answer: is Merit Financial Advisors a fiduciary?

Yes. Merit Financial Advisors is a fiduciary when it acts as your investment adviser, and with $23.9 billion in client assets it is among the larger SEC-registered investment advisers. Publicly, it files with the SEC as Merit Financial Group (CRD #142457). According to its latest Form ADV (filed September 24, 2026), the firm reported $23.9 billion in regulatory assets under management (a firm-reported figure). That filing (Item 5.E) lists how it is paid: a percentage of assets under management, hourly charges, fixed fees, and other. You don't have to take this on trust. The filings are public, and checking them is quick.

The same legal entity, Merit Financial Group, LLC (CRD #142457), is also registered as a broker-dealer, according to its IAPD record. Accounts it handles in that brokerage capacity fall under Regulation Best Interest instead. Our take: for a Merit client, "is it a fiduciary?" matters less than a narrower question. Ask the firm, in writing, which capacity covers each of your accounts. The firm must tell you. Get started with Truthifi

What "fiduciary" means: a fiduciary is legally bound to place a client's interests above its own. (More on fiduciary duty)

Merit Financial Advisors at a glance

✅ Verified from public filings, last checked October 5, 2026. Merit Financial Advisors (SEC CRD #142457) is a fiduciary when acting as your adviser, on an advisory-fee basis, with $23.9 billion in regulatory assets under management. Every figure below links to its primary source.

What	Merit Financial Advisors	Source
SEC CRD	#142457	IAPD
Registration	Investment adviser and broker-dealer	IAPD
Registered since	January 31, 2007 (SEC)	IAPD
Fiduciary?	Yes, when acting as your adviser	SEC adviser standard
Fee model	Advisory fees (no commissions reported in Item 5.E)	Form ADV Item 5.E
How it's paid	A percentage of assets under management, hourly charges, fixed fees, and other	Form ADV Item 5.E
Regulatory Assets Under Management	$23.9 billion (Form ADV filed September 24, 2026)	IAPD
Client accounts	20,710 (20,702 discretionary)	IAPD
Employees	470 (229 in advisory roles)	IAPD
Ownership	Parent-owned	Form ADV Schedule A
Disclosures	Form ADV answers No to firm-level disciplinary questions	IAPD
HQ	Alpharetta, GA	IAPD

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Merit Financial Advisors fees: what you'll pay

How Merit Financial Advisors earns determines what it costs you. The firm charges advisory fees: according to its Form ADV (Item 5.E), it reports no commissions for its advisory services. The same filing reports broker-dealer, insurance or other sales activity by the firm or a related company, business that can be paid by commissions. Because Merit's broker-dealer registration sits on the same entity as its advisory business, one firm can be paid both ways. Ask how each part of the relationship is paid. The details are in its Form ADV Part 2A. Get started with Truthifi

Advisory fees are what clients pay the adviser directly. Commissions earned through a related broker-dealer or insurance business are a separate source of pay.

Who owns Merit Financial Advisors, and what conflicts does it disclose?

Merit Financial Advisors' ownership is spelled out in the public record. According to Schedule A of its Form ADV, Merit Financial Advisors is owned by Merit Intermediate Holdings, LLC. (Form ADV Schedule A)

Its Form ADV Part 2A describes the firm's conflicts of interest, including how it and its advisers are paid.

Merit Financial Advisors SEC record: disclosures

To check Merit Financial Advisors' regulatory record, start with the firm's own filings. On its Form ADV, Merit Financial Advisors answers No to the firm-level disciplinary-history questions. You can confirm that on the public record. Individual advisers can have their own records, so look them up on IAPD and BrokerCheck too. With 229 people in advisory roles, the record of the person you actually meet can tell you more than the single firm-level answer.

On the record, it has been registered with the SEC since January 31, 2007, makes notice filings in 53 jurisdictions, and reports 470 employees, 229 of them in investment advisory roles. Whether Merit Financial Advisors is legit, in the narrow sense, is settled by its public registration, CRD and filings. That confirms it is a registered adviser, not that it suits you. The part worth your time is what you're paying and earning.

Reading Merit Financial Advisors reviews against the public record

Star ratings describe how working with Merit felt. They rarely show what the firm reports to regulators. Three items from the filings sharpen any Merit Financial Advisors review you read. First, pay: advisory fees with no commissions reported, alongside a broker-dealer registration on the same entity. Second, ownership: Merit Intermediate Holdings, LLC sits above the firm, and Part 2A lists the conflicts. Third, history: its Form ADV answers No to the firm-level disciplinary questions. A review from a brokerage client and one from an advisory client may describe two different legal relationships with the same firm.

How to verify Merit Financial Advisors yourself

Here's how to confirm all of it in three steps:

1. Check the SEC adviser record (IAPD): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/142457.
2. Read the filings (Form ADV / Form CRS): linked from the IAPD page.
3. Confirm the entity: match Merit Financial Advisors (CRD #142457, legal name MERIT FINANCIAL GROUP, LLC) so you're reading the right firm.

What Merit Financial Advisors does and who it serves

On its Form ADV, Merit Financial Advisors reports providing financial planning, portfolio management for individuals, small businesses and institutions, pension consulting, selection of other advisers, and educational seminars.

According to Item 5.H of its Form ADV, it provided financial planning to about 1,000 clients in its last fiscal year, a count the form keeps separate from the client totals below.

Its Form ADV (Item 5.D) breaks its clients down by type. The rows below add up to 20,711 clients:

Client type	Clients	Assets managed
Individuals	15,696	$6.66 billion
High-net-worth individuals	4,344	$11.33 billion
Pension and profit-sharing plans	434	$4.41 billion
Charities	52	$201.1 million
Other investment advisers	1	$14,058
Corporations or other businesses	184	$1.28 billion

Read that table by assets, not headcount. High-net-worth individuals make up roughly 21% of Merit's clients but hold about 47% of the assets in the table. Individuals outnumber them more than three to one, yet hold $6.66 billion against $11.33 billion.

It reports 20,710 client accounts (Item 5.F): 20,702 discretionary (the firm can trade without seeking your approval first) and 8 non-discretionary. Item 5.F counts accounts and Item 5.D counts clients, so the two totals measure different things and need not match. Its main office is in Alpharetta, GA.

It reports that it or a related person has custody of certain client assets, which brings extra safeguards such as surprise examinations. The specifics are in its Form ADV.

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The firm checks out in minutes. The real work is seeing everything you hold, together.

Confirming Merit's registration is the quick part. With all but 8 of its 20,710 accounts run on a discretionary basis, the firm places most trades without asking first, so your statements become the main record of what was done. A Merit household may also hold money the firm doesn't manage, or a brokerage account at the same firm that sits under Reg BI rather than the advisory standard. Your advisor sees what it manages by default, not the rest. This is where Truthifi comes in.

How Truthifi can help

Truthifi links your accounts read-only and shows what you own, how it's allocated, how it's performing and where the risk sits, including single-stock exposure, returns next to a benchmark, a fee breakdown of the fees on each account, by type, and your Truthifi Score. You can share the accounts you choose with your advisor at Merit Financial Advisors. Get started with Truthifi

Prefer your own AI? A paid Truthifi plan lets you connect an AI assistant that supports MCP sign-in, such as Claude. Truthifi Connect is the lighter membership for people who only want to use their own assistant. Questions about your fees need Monitoring or Monitoring Plus+. Get started with Truthifi · See how Truthifi keeps your accounts secure

Ask AI about your Merit Financial Advisors accounts

Once your accounts are connected read-only, you can ask in plain English:

• "What do I own across my Merit Financial Advisors accounts and everything else, and how is it allocated?"
• "Which of my Merit accounts are advisory and which are brokerage, and what am I paying in fees on each?"

Try it with Truthifi: start for free at app.truthifi.com and run a Monitoring Checkup (limits apply).

No commissions, no ads, no advice: Truthifi is not an investment adviser and doesn't give investment, tax or legal advice. Its access to your bank and brokerage accounts is read-only. Start free (limits apply). Monitoring Checkup is free. Per Truthifi platform data, you can link up to 10 connections. Plans and limits are on the pricing page → truthifi.com.

For a firm that is both adviser and broker, the most useful line on your statement may be the one naming which hat the firm wore for that account.

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FAQ

Is Merit Financial Advisors a fiduciary? Yes, when acting as your adviser. Its Form ADV reports that it is also a broker-dealer, and brokerage accounts fall under Regulation Best Interest instead. Ask which capacity covers each of your accounts.

Is Merit Financial Advisors fee-only? Not necessarily. Its Form ADV (Item 5.E) reports no commissions for advisory services, but the filing also reports broker-dealer, insurance or other sales activity by the firm or a related company, which can be paid differently. Ask how everyone you deal with is paid. The details are in its Form ADV Part 2A.

Who owns Merit Financial Advisors? Merit Financial Advisors is owned by Merit Intermediate Holdings, LLC, as listed in Schedule A of its Form ADV.

Does Merit Financial Advisors have complaints or disclosures? Its Form ADV answers No to the firm-level disciplinary-history questions. Individual advisers can have their own records on IAPD and BrokerCheck.

Is Merit Financial Advisors legit? Merit Financial Advisors is registered with the SEC (CRD #142457) and its filings are public on the SEC's IAPD site, which confirms it is a registered adviser. Registration doesn't tell you whether it's the right fit or what you'll pay, so read the fee and conflict sections of its Form ADV.

Can AI help me check whether I'm getting good value? Yes. Start free (limits apply): Monitoring Checkup is free and lets you link up to 10 connections. You can also connect an AI assistant you already use (such as Claude). On Monitoring or Monitoring Plus+ you can ask it, in plain English, about the fees on each of your accounts. Truthifi is not an investment adviser and doesn't give investment, tax or legal advice.

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About this profile

Truthifi built this profile from the firm's own SEC filings (Form ADV and, where filed, Form CRS). Every page is reviewed by the Truthifi Team before publishing. The Truthifi advisor fact packs are an ongoing series checking U.S. investment advisers against their public filings, one firm at a time.

Read next from the Truthifi blog

• What is a fiduciary?
• Fee-only financial advisor: costs and how to find one
• Are you paying too much? Why that might be the wrong question
• How to ask AI about your real investment accounts
• Robo-advisor vs. human financial advisor: which is better?
• All advisor fact packs on Truthifi

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A note on sources. The facts on this page come from publicly available documents, Merit Financial Advisors' SEC and FINRA filings, each linked inline so you can verify it yourself (SEC data current as of October 5, 2026). This is general information, not financial or legal advice, and Truthifi is not affiliated with Merit Financial Advisors. Regulatory records change, so always confirm against the official sources linked above. Spot something that should be corrected? Email us at support@truthifi.com.