Research Analyst vs Investment Adviser: Which Do You Need?
A research analyst produces research and recommendations. The same call goes to everyone who subscribes. The analyst does not know your salary, your loans or your risk appetite, and is not supposed to.
The short version
An investment adviser advises you personally. They are required to understand your finances, run a risk profile, and give advice suited to your situation.
Neither of them touches your money.
The registration number tells you which is which
This is the fastest check there is.
| Research Analyst | Investment Adviser | |
|---|---|---|
| Registration starts with | INH | INA |
| Regulation | SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014 | SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013 |
| Model | One to many | One to one |
| Knows your finances | No | Yes — required to |
| Risk profiling | Not required | Mandatory |
| Output | Buy / sell / hold calls, research reports | Advice built around your goals |
If a firm quotes a registration number, look at the first three letters. Scoutstack’s is INH000006086 — a research analyst.
What a research analyst can and cannot do
Can:
- publish research reports and buy, sell or hold recommendations
- run a subscription service where all subscribers get the same calls
- charge a fee, within the ₹1,51,000 per family annual cap
Cannot:
- give you advice tailored to your personal finances
- promise or project returns
- manage your portfolio or hold your money
- make misleading claims or over-optimistic targets
A research analyst must also disclose conflicts of interest — their own holdings in a stock they are writing about — and must respond to a grievance within 21 days.
What an investment adviser does differently
An investment adviser starts from you, not from the market. Before advising, they are required to understand your income, obligations, goals and risk tolerance, and to record that risk profile.
They also work fee-only: an investment adviser cannot earn commission on the products they recommend. That rule exists so the advice is not shaped by who pays the biggest kickback.
The trade-off is scope and cost. An adviser handling your whole financial picture is a different, usually more expensive, relationship than a research subscription.
The red flag worth knowing
Personalised advice from an INH number.
If someone holding a research analyst registration is telling you how much of your money to put into a trade, building your portfolio, or asking about your income so they can “customise” a plan — they are working outside what their registration permits.
The same applies in reverse for a firm that only ever sends bulk calls while claiming to be your adviser.
This matters because it tells you something about the firm beyond this one issue. A firm that ignores the boundary of its own registration is unlikely to be careful about the rest.
Which one do you need?
You probably want a research analyst if:
- you trade or invest yourself and want researched ideas
- you make your own position-sizing and risk decisions
- you want a defined subscription cost, not a relationship
You probably want an investment adviser if:
- you want someone to look at your whole financial situation
- you need goal planning across asset classes, not stock calls
- you want advice that accounts for your loans, insurance and taxes
Plenty of people use a research analyst for ideas and handle the rest themselves. That is a legitimate choice — as long as you know that the person sending calls does not know anything about your finances, and is not meant to.
Neither of them handles your money
This is worth stating plainly because it is where most frauds start.
A SEBI-registered research analyst and a SEBI-registered investment adviser are both prohibited from taking custody of client funds. If anyone in either category asks you to transfer money into a trading account they control, or offers to “trade on your behalf”, that is not a service either registration allows.
Managing money for a fee is a third, separate registration — a portfolio manager.
Where Scoutstack sits
Scoutstack Technical Research is a SEBI-registered Research Analyst (INH000006086). We publish research and trading calls. We do not provide personalised investment advice, we do not run financial planning, and we never handle client funds.
See the research segments we cover →
If what you need is a financial plan rather than research, an investment adviser is the right category, and we will say so.
Frequently asked questions
Related reading
Sources
See the full compliance & disclosures, learn how to verify a SEBI Research Analyst, or view the research plans.
Compliance & Disclosures →