Advisor Selection

Commission Disclosure: What Your Advisor Must Tell You

By the Attend Wealth team · Updated August 2026 · 6 min read

Disclosure requirements are real but narrower than most people assume. The gap between what must be disclosed and what you would want to know is worth understanding.

Quick answer

Registered investment advisers must disclose material conflicts of interest, including commission compensation, in Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS. Broker-dealers disclose through Form CRS and transaction documents. Neither regime generally requires volunteering a specific dollar commission on a specific policy before you buy. You can simply ask, and a straight answer should follow.

What is required

Registered investment advisers have an affirmative obligation under the Advisers Act to disclose all material conflicts of interest, fully and fairly, so a client can give informed consent. In practice that lives in Form ADV Part 2A, particularly Items 5, 10, and 14, and in the two-page Form CRS.

Insurance producers are separately regulated by state law. Most states require replacement disclosure forms when an existing policy is being replaced, and many require some form of producer compensation disclosure on request.

What is not required

Generally, no rule compels an advisor to hand you an unprompted figure saying 'I will earn eleven thousand dollars if you buy this policy.' Disclosure obligations are typically satisfied by describing the nature and existence of the conflict rather than quantifying each instance.

That is the gap. It is legal, it is standard practice across the industry, and it is why the burden of asking falls on you.

How to ask so you get an answer

Be specific and ask in writing. 'What is your total compensation, in dollars, if I purchase this policy as illustrated, including first-year and renewal commissions?' is difficult to deflect. Add: 'And what would it be for the alternative you considered?'

Any firm can answer this. Whether they will, promptly and without discomfort, is the actual test.

  • Ask in writing, in dollars, for the specific policy as illustrated
  • Ask for first-year and renewal commission separately
  • Ask for the same figures on the alternative product considered
  • Ask what the firm earns if you purchase nothing

Reading between the lines of a Form ADV

Language like 'certain of our supervised persons are licensed insurance agents and may receive commissions' is standard and tells you the arrangement exists without sizing it. That is compliant and uninformative in equal measure.

What is worth noticing is whether the document also describes how the firm addresses the conflict. Specific mitigations, such as documented rationale requirements or supervisory review of insurance recommendations, indicate a firm that has thought about it. Silence on mitigation is its own signal.

Our position

Attend Wealth is fee-based and earns commissions on insurance placed through our carriers. We disclose it on every article in this cluster, in our Form ADV Part 2A, and in Form CRS.

If you ask us what we earn on a specific recommendation, we will tell you the number. We think a firm unwilling to do that should not be hired, and that standard applies to us.

Related physician planning questions

Do financial advisors have to disclose commissions?

Registered investment advisers must disclose material conflicts of interest including commission arrangements in Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS. However, disclosure is generally satisfied by describing the conflict rather than quantifying a specific dollar amount on a specific transaction, so asking directly is usually necessary.

How do I find out what my advisor earns on an insurance policy?

Ask in writing for total compensation in dollars on the specific policy as illustrated, separating first-year from renewal commission, and request the same figures for the alternative product considered. Any firm can produce this; whether they do so readily is informative.

Where are commissions disclosed in Form ADV?

Item 5 covers fees and compensation, Item 10 covers other financial industry affiliations including insurance agencies, and Item 14 covers compensation received from parties other than the client.

What does a good conflict disclosure look like?

Beyond stating the conflict exists, a strong disclosure describes how the firm addresses it, such as documented rationale requirements or supervisory review of insurance recommendations. Disclosure without any description of mitigation is minimal compliance.

Related insights

See how this fits into a physician-focused plan.

Attend Wealth helps physicians connect planning, taxes, investing, insurance, and retirement decisions into one strategy. If you want help applying this topic to your own loans, taxes, investments, or retirement plan, schedule a complimentary conversation.

This article is for educational purposes only and is not personalized financial, tax, or legal advice. Attend Wealth is a registered investment adviser and acts as a fiduciary to its advisory clients. Attend Wealth is fee-based: in addition to advisory fees, our advisors are licensed insurance professionals and may receive commissions on insurance policies placed through carriers including Guardian, MassMutual, Ameritas, Principal, The Standard, and Lloyd's. That compensation creates a conflict of interest. We describe it, and how we address it, in our Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS, available at adviserinfo.sec.gov or on request. Please consult a qualified professional about your specific situation.