Who is a Sebi-registered investment advisor and why should retail investors count on them over finfluencers?

livemint.com:

finfluencers on the social media platforms. Some of these influences were banned while a few have faced the regulator’s wrath. This rampant crackdown has consolidated the position of sebi-registered investment advisors.

“Taking influencers’ advice is like taking medication based on the recommendation given on Google. If you are not well, you should go to a doctor and not browse Google and take the medication. Similarly, to generate wealth, one has to understand different products that are suitable and based on the suitability analysis, an advice is given by a registered investment advisor, and the advice is generally very personal — and hence it is known as ‘personal finance’," says Sridharan S., a Sebi-registered investment advisor and Founder of Wealth Ladder Direct.

These are investment advisors who are certified by the capital markets regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to share their advice with investors for a fee with regards to making investments in securities markets. The rules relating to investment advisors are defined in the SEBI Regulations, 2013. The SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013 were notified on January 21, 2013.

The members of the ICSI, ICAI and ICWAI may provide advice to their clients incidental to their professional services, in which case they are exempted from obtaining registration under IA Regulations. For instance, when a CA gives advice to his client about tax planning and in the process, he tells him to invest in ELSS, it will be seen as incidental to his profession as a tax consultant. Any person who is engaged or willing to engage in the business of providing investment advice to clients or other persons or groups of persons is required to make an application