Methodology — Advisor Standard

What Advisor Standard is — and is not

Advisor Standard is an independent directory and research publication for North American business brokers and M&A advisors focused on sub-$50M transactions. We build profiles from public data, verify credentials against primary sources, and publish a quarterly editorial ranking called the MidMarket Index.

We are not a business broker. We are not a real estate broker. We are not a FINRA-registered intermediary, an investment bank, an attorney, or a financial advisor. We do not facilitate, broker, advise on, or participate in any transaction. Nothing on this site is legal, tax, financial, or investment advice.

Advisor Standard is currently operated by a single founder. Every commitment on this page is one that can be kept at our current scale. Where we describe future capabilities, we say so explicitly. We will not claim processes we do not yet run.

How Verified status is determined

A broker may receive Verified status when we have confirmed, to a reasonable standard, the broker's identity and operating legitimacy using a combination of publicly available primary sources. Depending on jurisdiction and business model, this may include one or more of the following:

Active legal entity

Confirmed via Secretary of State (US) or provincial registry (Canada).

Professional designation

A recognized designation — CBI, BCB, CM&AP, CM&AA, M&AMI, MCBI, CEPA, CBA, CVA, CFA, or CPA-ABV — confirmed as current against the issuing body's published public roster.

Industry association membership

Active membership in IBBA, M&A Source, AM&AA, or a recognized regional affiliate, confirmed against the body's public member directory.

Publicly available licensing

Where state or provincial real estate commission records are publicly searchable, we cross-reference that the broker's license is active and not subject to a current public disciplinary action.

FINRA BrokerCheck

Where applicable, we confirm no active public disclosure events on BrokerCheck at time of verification.

Last verified date

Every Verified profile displays the date on which verification was last confirmed. Users should treat this date as the limit of our knowledge.

We aim to re-verify all Verified profiles at least annually where feasible.

Additional verification tiers may be introduced in the future. Criteria will be published before any new tier launches. No additional tier exists today.

The Public Signal Rank

The Public Signal Rank is the profile-level signal framework used to order brokers within the directory. The MidMarket Index is a separate editorial quarterly publication that draws on the same underlying signal framework, together with cohort-specific eligibility rules and editorial review.

In Version 1.0, Public Signal Rank is informed by six primary categories of observable public signals:

Designation & licensure depth

Recognized designations held and their relative seniority. Clean licensing record across all jurisdictions of public record.

Specialization evidence

Concentration of public deal history, case studies, vertical-specific content, and active listings in a single industry vertical and deal-size band.

Association membership depth

Continuity of membership and observable engagement — board or committee participation, published contributions, conference presence.

Active listings alignment

Active listings on public platforms (BizBuySell, BizQuest, DealStream) assessed for alignment with the broker's stated deal-size band and specialization.

Public deal evidence

Publicly referenced closed transactions — deal announcements, press releases, firm website transaction histories. More recent evidence is weighted more heavily.

Profile completeness

Completeness of publicly available information: firm website, contact accessibility, LinkedIn presence, geographic scope.

We publish the categories we assess, but not exact scoring logic or weights, in order to reduce gaming and preserve integrity.

We deliberately prioritize signals that cannot be purchased: closed-deal records, regulator data, designation rosters.

What data we use — and where it comes from

Every piece of data on a broker profile falls into one of two categories. We are explicit about which is which on every profile.

Auto-extracted from public sources

Corporate registration and good-standing status
Real estate license status (state / provincial databases)
FINRA BrokerCheck public disclosures
Designation and membership roster status
Public deal announcements and transaction press releases
Active listing counts on public brokerage marketplaces
Firm website content, stated verticals, geographic scope
LinkedIn public profile data

Broker-submitted — not used in rank

Profile descriptive text and biography
Transaction history not corroborated by a public source
Awards or recognitions not independently verifiable
Client references
Profile photos and firm imagery

Broker-submitted data is displayed on profiles but clearly labeled as self-reported. It is not used in computing the Public Signal Rank. If a self-reported claim contradicts a public record, the public record governs.

Not pay-to-play — our editorial independence commitments

The most common failure mode in professional directories is allowing commercial relationships to contaminate rankings. We have structured Advisor Standard specifically to prevent this.

✓Brokers cannot pay to receive Verified status.

✓Brokers cannot pay to enter the MidMarket Index.

✓Brokers cannot pay to improve their Public Signal Rank.

✓Brokers cannot pay to remove a public regulatory record or disciplinary finding.

✓Brokers cannot pay to suppress a competitor's profile or ranking.

✓Sponsored placements are visually distinct, clearly labeled "Sponsored," and excluded from the Public Signal Rank and MidMarket Index.

Payment to Advisor Standard for sponsored placement, featured profile upgrades, or any other commercial product does not affect whether a broker is Verified, nor whether or where they appear in the Public Signal Rank or the MidMarket Index.

What may affect ranking eligibility

Advisor Standard may remove or suspend a profile from ranking eligibility where credible public information materially undermines the reliability, legitimacy, or trustworthiness of the profile. This is an editorial judgment, not an automated trigger. Examples of factors that may affect eligibility include:

An active disciplinary action published by a state or provincial real estate commission, FINRA, or a provincial securities regulator.

A public civil judgment for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, or material misrepresentation in a brokerage transaction.

Operating without a license required by the broker's home jurisdiction where that requirement is clearly established and publicly documented.

Material misrepresentation in any data submitted to Advisor Standard.

Failure to maintain active good standing with the relevant corporate registry.

Data refresh — typical review cadence

We aim to keep profiles current, but we cannot guarantee real-time accuracy. The last verified date on each profile is the most reliable indicator of data freshness.

Data signalTypical review cadence

Corporate registration status

Reviewed at verification and periodically thereafter, typically annually

License and designation status

Reviewed at verification; updated on detected expiry or broker notification

FINRA BrokerCheck

Reviewed at verification and on annual re-verification cycle where feasible

Association membership

Periodically cross-referenced where public directories are reliably updated

Active listings count

Reviewed periodically via available public marketplace data

Public deal evidence

Reviewed periodically; updated as new public evidence is identified

Public Signal Rank

MidMarket Index targets quarterly publication, subject to data quality

Methodology document

Reviewed quarterly; material changes versioned and logged

Disputes and corrections

Any broker who believes their profile contains an inaccuracy may submit a correction request. We will review the submission against our primary sources and respond as promptly as practicable.

Advisor Standard will not remove accurate information from a profile on request. Disciplinary actions, license lapses, and public records that appear in primary sources will remain on the profile so long as they remain in those sources.

To submit a correction: disputes@advisorstandard.com

Disclaimer

Advisor Standard is an independent directory and research publication. We are not a business broker, real estate broker, investment bank, FINRA-registered broker-dealer, attorney, or financial advisor. Nothing on this site constitutes legal, tax, financial, investment, or transactional advice.

The Verified badge, the Public Signal Rank, and the MidMarket Index are editorial assessments based on the methodology published on this page. They are not recommendations, endorsements, referrals, or guarantees of performance, fitness, or suitability for any particular transaction or seller.

Each broker is responsible for compliance with the licensing, registration, and disclosure requirements of the jurisdictions in which they operate. Inclusion in this directory does not represent that Advisor Standard has confirmed compliance with every applicable rule in every jurisdiction.

Users must independently verify each broker's licensing, designation status, disciplinary history, and references before engaging them. Useful resources: FINRA BrokerCheck (brokercheck.finra.org), state and provincial real estate commission databases, IBBA member directory (ibba.org), M&A Source member directory (masource.org).

Change log

Apr 28, 2026

Version 1.1 — Tightening pass

Softened Verified criteria from rigid checklist to reasonable-standard review. Separated Public Signal Rank from MidMarket Index. Renamed disqualification section to “What may affect ranking eligibility.” Changed refresh cadence to target/typical language. Removed Premier Verified detail. Added principle line to hero.