Selling Investment Advice

[smerryma]

Hi. I live in Oregon, and as a hobby I do research/analysis on stocks for friends and family. I'm currently not paid for this, but I am contemplating selling these analyses via a website. I am not a registered investment advisor, nor do I work for any financial company, nor do I have a series 7, 63 or any other license. Going through the process of registering with the state of Oregon looks prohibitively difficult and costly. Is there a way I can legally sell these analyses without being a registered investement advisor? Related, are there disclaimers that I can include in my analyses that will exempt my work from the registered investment advisor laws and/or protect me from legal ramifications of bad advice?

 

[ALawyer]

If you want to sell investment advice on the web BOTH the Federal Investment Advisers Act of 1940 administered by the SEC and the Oregon Investment Advisors Law would apply, and you'd have to register under both. Period. I don't think providing investment advice for free would exempt you fully either.