Where to Look Up a Fund Manager If Not in the USA

Last reviewed: 7 September 2026. Register links checked live on that date; regulators periodically restructure their own search tools, so if a link below has moved, search the regulator's own site for its current entity or licensee search.

If you run a family office and try to look up a fund manager who isn't based in the United States, you will quickly notice that nearly every diligence checklist available points you to the same three places — the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure system, FINRA BrokerCheck, and EDGAR — and none of them will show you anything, because a manager based in London, Frankfurt, Singapore, or São Paulo generally has no reason to be registered with any of them. That absence tells you nothing on its own. What it does mean is that you need a different register — the one in the manager's own home jurisdiction — and almost nothing published tells a family office where that is.

This article is educational orientation for family offices and other institutional investors, not investment, legal, or tax advice; the full note is at the end.

Why the US registries don't help here

SEC IAPD, FINRA BrokerCheck, and EDGAR cover firms and individuals registered or reporting in the United States. A non-US manager marketing into the United States under an exemption, or not marketing to US investors at all, will typically appear in none of them — and a checklist that stops at "search these three databases and report what you find" will report nothing, leaving you with the false impression that a normal, properly licensed manager is somehow invisible to regulators. The fix is not a better US search. It is checking the register the manager is actually subject to: the licensing or registration authority in its own home jurisdiction.

This matters more than it might seem, because a manager's absence from a US database is easy to misread as a red flag by anyone applying a US-centric checklist without adjusting it for a non-US manager. Most non-US managers a family office encounters are entirely properly licensed — just somewhere other than where the checklist was written to look.

Public registers by jurisdiction

Nearly every major financial jurisdiction maintains its own public, searchable register of licensed or registered firms. None of these require an account or a fee to search by name.

United Kingdom — Financial Conduct Authority, Financial Services Register (register.fca.org.uk). Search by firm name to confirm FCA authorization, the specific permissions held, and any historical name changes. It will not tell you whether the firm is a good investment — only that it is, or isn't, currently authorized for the activities it claims.

Germany — BaFin, institution and company database (portal.mvp.bafin.de). Confirms whether a firm is supervised by BaFin and under what category of license. As with every register on this list, a filing confirms supervisory status, not investment quality.

France — Autorité des marchés financiers, GECO register (geco.amf-france.org). Covers French asset management companies and financial investment advisers authorized by the AMF, searchable by firm name.

Luxembourg — CSSF, entity search (edesk.apps.cssf.lu). Luxembourg is the domicile of choice for a large share of European fund structures even when the manager itself sits elsewhere, so this register is worth checking for the fund vehicle even when the manager's own license sits in a different jurisdiction.

Singapore — Monetary Authority of Singapore, Financial Institutions Directory (eservices.mas.gov.sg/fid). Searchable by institution name across banking, capital markets, and financial advisory categories; confirms MAS licensing status for firms operating in or from Singapore.

Hong Kong — Securities and Futures Commission, Public Register of Licensed Persons and Registered Institutions (apps.sfc.hk). Confirms whether a person or institution is currently or was previously licensed for a regulated activity, and shows the licence particulars; it does not include a full record of former executive officers, and the SFC notes the register may lag same-day status changes.

Japan — Financial Services Agency, list of licensed and registered financial institutions (fsa.go.jp). Japan's registration for investment management and financial instruments businesses is handled by the FSA and, for some categories, the regional Local Finance Bureaus (including Kanto, which covers the Tokyo area); the FSA's own English-language list is the right starting point.

Australia — ASIC, Professional Registers Search (asic.gov.au). Searches across ASIC's professional registers by name, ACN, or ABN to confirm an Australian Financial Services Licence or other registration.

Brazil — Comissão de Valores Mobiliários, registered portfolio managers (gov.br/cvm). Lists currently and previously registered portfolio administrators (administradores de carteira) under CVM's securities-market rules.

The AIFMD and national private-placement wrinkle

A European manager marketing into your jurisdiction has two broad routes available: a full AIFMD marketing passport, or, in jurisdictions that allow it, a national private-placement regime that permits marketing under a narrower, country-specific registration rather than the full EU passport. A manager using the narrower route has not necessarily done anything wrong — the two routes exist for different sizes and stages of manager, and which one applies depends on the manager's home state, your jurisdiction's own rules, and the fund's structure. What matters for your purposes is simply knowing which route the manager is using, and checking the manager's authorization in its home-jurisdiction register accordingly, rather than expecting an AIFMD passport where a national private-placement notification is the applicable route.

The same logic extends beyond Europe. Nearly every jurisdiction on the list above draws its own line between a full domestic license and a narrower cross-border or exempt marketing route, and the specific rule varies by country, by investor type, and often by fund structure. The practical takeaway is the same regardless of jurisdiction: ask which route applies before concluding anything from what a register search does or doesn't show.

Read the filing, not the manager's description of it

Every register above tells you something different, and none of them tells you everything. Some confirm a specific license category; some confirm registration for a specific activity; none of them confirms investment merit, and an absence from a register you happen to check can simply mean the manager operates in a market with a different threshold, or a fund structure that doesn't require registration in your jurisdiction at all — not that anything is wrong. The discipline that actually matters is reading what the specific filing says, in its own terms, rather than accepting the manager's own characterization of its regulatory status. A manager describing itself as "regulated" is not the same claim as a specific license category confirmed in a specific register, and the difference is worth the two minutes it takes to check.

What a register check doesn't replace

A register check is the first, cheapest step available before a first meeting — not a substitute for the operational due diligence, reference checks, and track-record verification a real commitment actually requires. It tells you whether a manager is licensed or registered where it claims to be; it does not tell you whether the manager runs a sound operation, has an accurate track record, or fits your mandate. Treat it as the first filter, not the last one.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I look up a fund manager who isn't registered in the United States?

In the manager's own home-jurisdiction register: the UK's Financial Services Register, Germany's BaFin database, France's AMF GECO register, Luxembourg's CSSF entity search, Singapore's MAS Financial Institutions Directory, Hong Kong's SFC Public Register, Japan's FSA list of licensed institutions, Australia's ASIC Professional Registers Search, and Brazil's CVM register of portfolio administrators are among the most commonly relevant. All are free to search by firm name.

Why doesn't a non-US fund manager show up in SEC or FINRA databases?

Because SEC IAPD, FINRA BrokerCheck, and EDGAR only cover firms and individuals registered or reporting in the United States. A manager based outside the US, marketing under an exemption or not marketing to US investors at all, typically has no reason to appear in any of them — the absence is expected, not a warning sign on its own.

Does a European fund manager need an AIFMD passport to market to my family office?

Not necessarily. Depending on the manager's home state, your jurisdiction's rules, and the fund's structure, a manager may market under a full AIFMD passport or, where available, a narrower national private-placement regime. Both are legitimate routes; check which one applies and verify the manager's authorization in its home-jurisdiction register accordingly.

What does it mean if a fund manager doesn't appear in any public register I check?

It can mean several things that have nothing to do with legitimacy: the manager may operate in a jurisdiction with a different registration threshold, run a fund structure that doesn't require registration where you looked, or be registered under a related entity name. Absence from one register is a prompt to ask which register actually applies, not a conclusion on its own.

Is checking a public register a substitute for operational due diligence?

No. A register check confirms whether a manager is licensed or registered where it claims to be — it says nothing about the manager's operations, track record, or fit with your mandate. It is the first, lowest-cost filter available before a first meeting, not a replacement for the reference checks and operational review a real commitment requires.

Educational content only. This article is written for family offices and other institutional investors and explains publicly available information for general orientation, current as of the "Last reviewed" date shown above. It is not investment, legal, tax, or compliance advice, and nothing here recommends any allocation, market, manager, fund, structure, or timing — those decisions belong with you and your own advisers. Private Capital Development LLC introduces fund managers to institutional investors globally on a flat-fee retainer paid by the manager; investors pay nothing, and there is no success fee or percentage of any commitment. It is not an investment adviser, placement agent, or broker-dealer, and it does not distribute funds or conduct due diligence on managers — an introduction is a filter for relevance and readiness, never a substitute for your own diligence. This article was drafted with AI assistance and reviewed before publication.

Private Capital Development, a Benefit LLC, is a Maryland-based firm founded in 2018 that connects private capital fund managers with institutional allocators through personal, one-to-one introductions. Capital Mobilization is the name of its capital-introduction practice.

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