Acceptance of Terms and Binding Agreement
By accessing or using the AdvisorForInvestors platform located at advisorforinvestors.com, including all associated subdomains, application programming interfaces, data feeds, and ancillary digital services operated by AdvisorForInvestors LLC (hereinafter "the Company," "we," "us," or "our"), you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and irrevocably agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions of Use (hereinafter "Agreement"), together with the Privacy Policy and Disclosure Policy incorporated herein by reference. This Agreement constitutes a legally binding contract between you, individually or as an authorized representative of a legal entity (hereinafter "User" or "you"), and the Company. If you do not unconditionally agree to all terms and conditions set forth herein, you are expressly prohibited from accessing or using the Platform and must immediately discontinue all use thereof.
Nature of Services and Absence of Investment Advisory Relationship
AdvisorForInvestors LLC is not registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, nor under any applicable state securities statute. The Company is not a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is not affiliated with any such registrant. The Company does not provide personalized investment advice, portfolio management services, securities recommendations, financial planning guidance, tax advisory services, or any other service constituting "investment advice" as defined under applicable federal or state law. The AFI Score, rating tiers, firm profiles, and all other informational content published on the Platform constitute independent informational assessments derived from publicly available regulatory filings and are provided solely for general informational and educational purposes. No content on the Platform, regardless of its format, presentation, or context, shall be construed as a solicitation, offer, or recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security or financial product, or to pursue any investment strategy or engage the services of any particular registered investment adviser. Users bear sole and exclusive responsibility for evaluating the suitability of any registered investment adviser for their particular financial circumstances, investment objectives, and risk tolerance, and are strongly encouraged to conduct independent due diligence and consult qualified financial, legal, and tax professionals prior to making any financial decision.
AFI Score Methodology, Limitations, and No Warranty of Accuracy
The AFI Score is a proprietary composite index developed and maintained exclusively by AdvisorForInvestors LLC, calculated through the application of a standardized quantitative methodology to publicly available regulatory data obtained from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Form ADV database, the FINRA BrokerCheck system, and other publicly accessible regulatory repositories. The Company makes no representation, warranty, covenant, or guarantee of any kind, whether express or implied, statutory, or otherwise, regarding the completeness, accuracy, currency, or reliability of the underlying publicly available data upon which AFI Scores are calculated; the suitability of any rated firm for any particular investor's financial circumstances or investment objectives; the future regulatory status, disciplinary history, or financial condition of any rated firm; the investment performance, return characteristics, fee adequacy, or service quality of any rated firm; or the commercial viability, operational continuity, or legal compliance of any rated firm. Users expressly acknowledge and agree that AFI Scores are updated on a monthly recalculation cycle and may therefore fail to reflect material regulatory actions, disciplinary proceedings, ownership changes, fee restructurings, or other significant developments occurring between update cycles. A Highly Recommended designation shall not be construed as an endorsement, guarantee, or warranty of any kind. A Not Recommended designation shall not be construed as an allegation of fraud, misconduct, or violation of any applicable law or regulation.
License Grant, Permissible Use, and Prohibited Conduct
The Company grants the User a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to access and use the Platform solely for personal, non-commercial informational purposes, subject to full and continuous compliance with this Agreement. All content published on the Platform, including the AFI Score methodology, rating tiers, firm profiles, written content, graphics, trade dress, user interface elements, source code, proprietary algorithms, and associated intellectual property, is and shall remain the exclusive property of AdvisorForInvestors LLC and its licensors, and is protected by applicable copyright, trademark, trade secret, and other intellectual property laws. Users are expressly prohibited from reproducing, distributing, transmitting, publicly displaying, or creating derivative works based on any Platform content without prior written authorization from the Company; using automated scraping tools, web crawlers, data harvesting bots, or substantially similar technologies to extract Company data in bulk; reverse engineering, decompiling, or disassembling any software component of the Platform; circumventing, disabling, or otherwise interfering with security features, access controls, or authentication mechanisms; impersonating any person or entity or misrepresenting User identity or organizational affiliation; uploading or transmitting malicious code, viruses, or any content that could compromise Platform integrity or availability; or using the Platform for any commercial purpose without the Company's express prior written consent. Any violation of the foregoing prohibitions constitutes a material breach of this Agreement and may subject the User to immediate termination of Platform access, civil liability under applicable law, and referral to appropriate law enforcement authorities.
Disclaimers of Warranty
The Platform and all content, ratings, scores, data, and services provided thereon are made available on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without any representation, warranty, or condition of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. The Company does not warrant that the Platform will operate uninterrupted, error-free, or free from security vulnerabilities; that any defects or errors will be corrected within any particular timeframe; that the Platform or its servers are free from viruses, malicious code, or other harmful components; or that the results obtained from use of the Platform will be accurate, complete, reliable, or suited to any particular User's requirements or expectations.
Limitation of Liability and Indemnification
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall AdvisorForInvestors LLC, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, or service providers be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages of any nature whatsoever, including but not limited to loss of revenue, profits, savings, data, business opportunities, or goodwill, arising out of or in connection with User access to or inability to use the Platform, whether grounded in contract, tort, strict liability, statute, or any other legal or equitable theory, even where the Company has been advised of the possibility of such damages. The Company's aggregate liability to any User for all claims arising out of or relating to this Agreement shall not exceed one hundred United States dollars. The User agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Company and its affiliates and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, contractors, and service providers from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses, and attorneys' fees arising out of or relating to the User's access to or use of the Platform in violation of this Agreement, violation of any applicable law or regulation, or reliance on any Platform content in making any investment or financial decision.
Dispute Resolution and Governing Law
Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to this Agreement, the Platform, or any service provided by the Company, whether grounded in contract, tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation, or any other legal theory, shall be resolved exclusively through binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its then-current Consumer Arbitration Rules, except that either party may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation, or violation of intellectual property rights. The parties expressly waive all rights to participate in class actions, class arbitrations, collective actions, private attorney general actions, and any other representative proceeding. If the class action waiver is found unenforceable by a court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction, the entire arbitration provision shall be deemed void and the parties shall resolve disputes exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Maricopa County, Arizona. This Agreement is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Arizona and applicable federal law, without regard to conflict of law principles. This Agreement, together with the Privacy Policy and Disclosure Policy incorporated by reference, constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to its subject matter and supersedes all prior negotiations, representations, and understandings. Questions should be directed to legal@advisorforinvestors.com.