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Updated September 28, 2026. Quick answer: It depends which hat ESI Financial Advisors is wearing. As your investment adviser, ESI Financial Advisors owes you a fiduciary duty under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. As your broker-dealer, ESI Financial Advisors owes you Regulation Best Interest, a real and enforceable standard, but not a fiduciary duty. ESI Financial Advisors’ own Form CRS states: “When we provide you with a recommendation as your broker-dealer or act as your investment adviser, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours.”
How it’s registered
From Form CRS, Customer Relationship Summary, ESI Financial Advisors (July 1, 2026): “Equity Services, Inc. (“ESI”) is a broker-dealer and an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.”
The standard of conduct, in its own words
“When we provide you with a recommendation as your broker-dealer or act as your investment adviser, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours.”
On commissions: “Our financial professionals are compensated with cash compensation. For brokerage services, “commissions” are charged on each investment. Commissions are paid to the Firm, which retains a portion and then pays the remainder to your Representative.”
Fiduciary status by capacity
| Capacity | Registration | Standard you’re owed | Can earn commissions | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| As your broker-dealer | SEC-registered broker-dealer | Regulation Best Interest (not a fiduciary duty) | Yes | Form CRS, Customer Relationship Summary, ESI Financial Advisors, July 1, 2026 |
| As your investment adviser | SEC-registered investment adviser | Fiduciary duty (Investment Advisers Act of 1940) | No (asset-based advisory fee: up to $10,000 a year, 2.00% on a $500,000 account, the published maximum, which the firm says is negotiable) | Form CRS, Customer Relationship Summary, ESI Financial Advisors, July 1, 2026 |
What this means for what you pay
Fiduciary status is one input, not the whole picture. ESI Financial Advisors discloses a published fee that runs up to $10,000 a year on a $500,000 account (the published maximum, which the firm says is negotiable), per its own current Form ADV Part 2A, Appendix 1 (July 1, 2026), cited in Sources below. A dedicated fee page for ESI Financial Advisors has not been published on this site yet.
If the answer above changes your mind about staying, read the general mechanics of switching financial advisors, or use a dated termination letter once you decide. A dedicated how-to-leave page for ESI Financial Advisors has not been published on this site yet.
Other fiduciary-status pages
Read this one, this one too, and one more.
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Source: WiserAdvisor’s service descriptionSources
- Form CRS, Customer Relationship Summary, ESI Financial Advisors (July 1, 2026): https://reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov/crs/crs_265.pdf
- Form ADV Part 2A, Appendix 1 (July 1, 2026), the primary source for the fee figure above: https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1050359
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, ESI Financial Advisors (CRD #265): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/265
- ESI Financial Advisors, SEC Form ADV filing: https://reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov/reports/ADV/265/PDF/265.pdf
Methodology. This page was built September 28, 2026, quoting directly from ESI Financial Advisors’ own current Form CRS, with the source linked above; any distinction we could not independently confirm this session is named as an honest gap rather than presented as verified. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the firm’s own Form CRS. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.