How the directory works

The directory represents what evidence supports, preserves uncertainty, and separates records that are not ordinary retail matches.

Evidence hierarchy

1. Official regulatory sources
2. Firm-published sources
3. Direct firm confirmation
4. Third-party sources
5. Not verified

Unknown is not no

A missing fee, service, or minimum remains not verified. It is not converted to zero, free, unavailable, or no.

Minimums stay separate

Account minimums, planning minimums, annual minimum fees, and total minimum commitments describe different obligations. A no-account-minimum statement does not prove that no minimum cost exists.

Reference and pending records

Inactive, exempt-reporting, institutional-only, broker-only, insurance-only, and pending records do not enter ordinary retail search results, counts, or comparisons.

Ordering

Normal results use consumer eligibility, engagement verification, fee evidence completeness, freshness, local-presence confidence, and alphabetical order. This is information-completeness ordering, not a best-adviser ranking.

Commercial independence

Qualifying firms are included without charge. Payment does not affect eligibility, evidence status, or normal ordering.

Freshness

Regulatory status targets monthly review, client acceptance targets three months, fees and minimums target six months, and full profiles target annual review. Public pages show actual review dates.