Do you call yourself an "adviser" or an "advisor"? Chances are,if you're a Registered Investment Adviser, you callyourself an "adviser." On the other hand, if you're a broker, you probably refer to yourself as an"advisor."

At least that appears to be the standard. Surprisingly, though,many practitioners use both termsinterchangeably.

According to Grammarist.com, "adviser and advisor are bothaccepted spellings of the noun meaning one who advises or counsels.There is no difference between them.

But adviser, the older version, is listed as the primaryspelling in most dictionaries, and it is about five times as commonas advisor in current news publications from throughout theEnglish-speaking world."

For those more old school, the Oxford Dictionary says: "Thespellings adviser and advisor are both correct. Adviser is morecommon, but advisor is also widely used, especially in NorthAmerica. Adviser may be seen as less formal, while advisor oftensuggests an official position."

When it comes to legal definitions, however, a vowel can mean alot.

The official U.S. Government document that defines and regulatesthe provision of investment advice is titled the "InvestmentAdvisers Act of 1940."

Notice the spelling of the term.

Not all aspects of financial planning and financial advice require providing investmentadvice. For instance, such staid examples as budgeting, debtmanagement and insurance coverage generally fall outside the realmof investments.

Certainly these professionals are not providing investmentadvice. Why invite potential compliance headaches by calling thesepeople "advisers?"

Enter the word "advisor." Not that using the word "advisor"makes anything less confusing to the public. It only alleviates thecompliance concern.

The SEC doesn't care if you call yourself "adviser," "advisor"or "consultant." If you provide investment advice you will beregulated like an "Investment Adviser."

In other words, in terms of compliance regimen, theSEC will classify you as an"adviser."

Is it possible to solve this confusion? Probably not by forcingthe correct use of the term "adviser." That train has long left thestation.

Fortunately, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 may provide thedefinitive answer.

"It shall be unlawful for any person registered under section203 of this title to represent that he is an investment counselorto use the name ''investment counsel'' as descriptive of hisbusiness unless (1) his or its principal business consists ofacting as investment adviser, and (2) a substantial part of his orits business consists of rendering investment supervisoryservices."

From now on, maybe we should require everyone offeringinvestment advice to call themselves "investment counsel."

For more articles of interest to retirement advisors, aswell as plan sponsors, and benefits brokers, see the BenefitsPRO homepage.

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