No commissions, no ads, no advice. This Private Advisor Group profile draws only on public records, each linked so you can confirm it yourself.

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The short answer: is Private Advisor Group a fiduciary?

Yes. Private Advisor Group is a fiduciary when it acts as your investment adviser, and it reports $57.7 billion in client assets on its latest Form ADV (2026). Publicly, it files with the SEC as Private Advisor Group (CRD #155216). As of its latest Form ADV (filed September 30, 2026), the firm reported $57.7 billion in regulatory assets under management (a firm-reported figure). According to its Form ADV (Item 5.E), it is paid through a percentage of assets under management, hourly charges, fixed fees, and other arrangements.

Its Form ADV also reports that a related person is a broker-dealer (Item 7.A), and brokerage accounts fall under Regulation Best Interest instead. Ask which capacity covers each of your accounts. The firm's Form CRS, where filed, is the short disclosure meant to explain that relationship, so ask for it by name. 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)

Private Advisor Group at a glance

✅ Verified from public filings, last checked October 5, 2026. Private Advisor Group (SEC CRD #155216) is a fiduciary when acting as your adviser, on an advisory-fee basis, with $57.7 billion in regulatory assets under management. Every figure below links to its primary source.

What	Private Advisor Group	Source
SEC CRD	#155216	IAPD
Registration	Investment adviser, with a related person that is a broker-dealer (Form ADV Item 7.A)	IAPD
Registered since	January 3, 2011 (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	$57.7 billion (Form ADV filed September 30, 2026)	IAPD
Client accounts	170,206 (170,197 discretionary)	IAPD
Employees	930 (885 in advisory roles)	IAPD
Ownership	Parent-owned	Form ADV Schedule A
Disclosures	Form ADV answers Yes to one or more disciplinary questions. Read them on IAPD	IAPD
HQ	Morristown, NJ	IAPD

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Private Advisor Group fees: what you'll pay

Private Advisor Group charges advisory fees: its Form ADV (Item 5.E) reports no commissions for its advisory services. Its filing also reports broker-dealer, insurance or other sales activity by the firm or a related company, business that can be paid by commissions. If an annuity or brokerage product comes up, ask whether the related broker-dealer or insurance side earns anything on it. The fee schedule itself is in its Form ADV Part 2A.

Advisory fees are what clients pay the adviser directly. At Private Advisor Group, commissions earned through the related broker-dealer or insurance business would be a separate source of pay from that advisory fee. For how advisory-only firms compare, see Fee-only financial advisor: costs and how to find one.

Our recommendation: treat the discretion clause as the main thing you sign here. Only 9 of 170,206 accounts on the filing are non-discretionary, so if you want to approve trades yourself, ask in writing whether that option is open to you and what it costs. Then get the Part 2A fee schedule for your account size, and read why the fee rate alone can be the wrong question.

Who owns Private Advisor Group, and what conflicts does it disclose?

Ownership sits one level up. Private Advisor Group is owned by Pag Holdings, LLC, as listed in Schedule A of its Form ADV. (Form ADV Schedule A)

Its Form ADV Part 2A describes the firm's conflicts of interest, including how it and its advisers are paid. With a related broker-dealer in the picture, that section is where any pay tied to product sales would be explained. Get started with Truthifi

Private Advisor Group SEC record: disclosures

To check Private Advisor Group's regulatory record, start with the firm's own filings. Private Advisor Group's Form ADV answers Yes to one or more disciplinary-history questions. A disclosure can be a regulatory, civil or criminal matter involving the firm or a related person. Read each item in context on IAPD before drawing conclusions, and note whether it involves the adviser or the related broker-dealer, whose record also appears on FINRA BrokerCheck.

On the record, the firm has been registered with the SEC since January 3, 2011, makes notice filings in 53 jurisdictions, and reports 930 employees, 885 of them in investment advisory roles. Its registration, CRD and filings are public and verifiable. Registration means the firm answers to SEC oversight; it doesn't tell you whether Private Advisor Group fits your situation. The part worth your time is what you're paying and what the firm earns on your accounts.

Reading Private Advisor Group reviews against the public record

A review tells you how one client's experience went; the filing tells you how the whole book is built. At Private Advisor Group, 170,197 of 170,206 accounts are discretionary, so most reviewers are describing an arrangement where the firm places trades without asking first. Before you weigh Private Advisor Group reviews, check three things this profile takes from the public record. First, how the firm is paid: it reports advisory fees and no commissions, but it has a broker-dealer or insurance connection. Second, who owns it and what conflicts it discloses. Third, whether its Form ADV reports any disciplinary history. Reviews describe service; the filing describes structure.

How to verify Private Advisor Group 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/155216.
2. Read the filings (Form ADV / Form CRS): linked from the IAPD page.
3. Confirm the entity: match Private Advisor Group (CRD #155216, legal name PRIVATE ADVISOR GROUP, LLC) so you're reading the right firm.

To compare it with other firms checked the same way, browse the Truthifi /advisors hub.

What Private Advisor Group does and who it serves

On its Form ADV, Private Advisor Group reports providing financial planning, portfolio management for individuals, small businesses and institutions, pension consulting, selection of other advisers, newsletters, and educational seminars.

It reports providing financial planning to about 3,000 clients in its last fiscal year (Form ADV Item 5.H), a count the form keeps separate from the client totals below.

Its Form ADV (Item 5.D) breaks its clients down by type, about 170,206 in all:

Client type	Clients	Assets managed
Individuals	138,881	$25.42 billion
High-net-worth individuals	27,742	$29.60 billion
Pension and profit-sharing plans	2,155	$829.3 million
Charities	643	$439.9 million
State or municipal government entities	69	$433.3 million
Insurance companies	8	$7.8 million
Corporations or other businesses	708	$972.1 million

The table hides a split worth noticing. Item 5.D (2026) puts high-net-worth individuals at about 16% of clients but about 51% of the assets. Other individuals are about 82% of clients and hold about 44%. That works out to roughly $1.07 million per high-net-worth client versus roughly $183,000 per individual client. Under a percentage-of-assets fee, the larger accounts likely carry much of the firm's advisory revenue, so a smaller account holder can reasonably ask how often they'll hear from their adviser.

It reports 170,206 client accounts, 170,197 discretionary (the firm can trade without seeking your approval first) and 9 non-discretionary (Item 5.F). That is more than 99.9% discretionary. Spread across 885 advisory-role employees, that is roughly 192 accounts each. Treat it as a crude average: not every advisory-role employee necessarily manages client accounts, and individual books can differ widely, so ask your own adviser how many households they personally serve. Its main office is in Morristown, NJ.

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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You've vetted the firm. Now make sure the advice runs on the full picture.

Confirming Private Advisor Group is registered takes a few minutes. Any advisor can only act on what they can see, and what they see is partial: scattered accounts, an old rollover, costs that never surface on a statement. This is where Truthifi comes in.

How Truthifi can help

With 170,197 discretionary accounts on file, most Private Advisor Group clients learn about trades after they happen. 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 Private Advisor Group, so the person placing trades sees the same picture you do. 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. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets an assistant read data you authorize after you sign in; here's how it works. 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 Private Advisor Group accounts

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

• "What do I own across my Private Advisor Group accounts and everything else, and how is it allocated?"
• "What am I paying in fees across all of these accounts?"

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. Connection limits, plans and prices are on the pricing page → truthifi.com.

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FAQ

Is Private Advisor Group a fiduciary? Yes, when acting as your adviser. Its Form ADV reports a related person that is a broker-dealer, and brokerage accounts fall under Regulation Best Interest instead. Ask which capacity covers each of your accounts.

Is Private Advisor Group 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 Private Advisor Group? Private Advisor Group is owned by Pag Holdings, LLC, as listed in Schedule A of its Form ADV.

Does Private Advisor Group have complaints or disclosures? Yes. Its Form ADV answers Yes to one or more disciplinary-history questions. Read each item on IAPD, in context. A disclosure is not by itself proof of current wrongdoing.

Is Private Advisor Group legit? Private Advisor Group is registered with the SEC (CRD #155216) and its filings are public on the SEC's IAPD site, so it operates under SEC oversight. Registration alone 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 connection limits are listed on the pricing page. 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, Private Advisor Group's SEC 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 Private Advisor Group. Regulatory records change, so always confirm against the official sources linked above. Spot something that should be corrected? Email us at support@truthifi.com.

What to watch next. When Private Advisor Group files its next annual Form ADV amendment, compare its high-net-worth share of assets (about 51% now) and its accounts-per-adviser ratio (about 192) with this snapshot. A rising share would mean the book is tilting further toward large accounts, while a falling ratio would mean more advisory staff per account. Both inputs sit in Item 5 of the filing, so the comparison takes a few minutes on IAPD.