Investment Adviser Representatives are always individuals.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. They may be corporations
• D. They must be registered as broker-dealers

Answer: (A)

Investment Adviser Representatives are defined by the person who actually provides or supervises the advisory services for an investment adviser. The regulatory view is that IARs are natural persons—partners, officers, or employees—who act on behalf of the adviser. The investment adviser itself can be a corporation, partnership, or other entity, but the representative performing the duties must be an individual. That’s why this statement is correct: IARs are always individuals.

Why the other options don’t fit: a corporate entity cannot be the IAR, since the role is filled by a person, not a nonhuman entity; and IARs register with the appropriate regulator as investment adviser representatives, not as broker-dealers.