South Carolina 57 Disclosures per Firm: Top US States for Advisor Regulatory Density

Findings

South Carolina tops the list at 57.4 disclosures per firm

The firms table in PlainAdvisorCheck logs South Carolina with 57.4 disclosures per firm across 5 firms and 287 total disclosures. SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD), FINRA BrokerCheck — Broker-Dealer Registration and Disclosure LPL Financial at Fort Mill drives this state average through 284 disclosures in the firm-level records, representing the bulk of South Carolina's 287 total disclosures. LPL Financial profile captures these entries via the states table join on state_fips column. Missouri follows in the firms table rankings at 31.55 disclosures per firm for its 11 firms and 347 total disclosures.

South Carolina's firms table entry stands out because one firm accounts for nearly all activity in the state's 287 total disclosures column. The states table aggregates these into per-firm metrics, enabling queries from South Carolina's 57.4 average down to LPL Financial's 284 disclosures. Arkansas registers 53.0 disclosures per firm in a single firm record with 53 total disclosures, while Montana logs 16.0 per firm across 3 firms and 48 total disclosures. SEC Form ADV — Part 1A State Registration Information

PlainAdvisorCheck structures the firms table to link headquarters state via state_fips to the states table, isolating South Carolina's 5 firms from the 46 states total. This setup exposes how 284 disclosures in LPL Financial skew the 57.4 state average. New Jersey's firms table shows 1231 total disclosures, but South Carolina's concentration exceeds it on a per-firm basis.

New Jersey concentrates at 30.77 per firm with 40 headquartered firms

New Jersey records 30.77 disclosures per firm across 40 headquartered firms and 1231 total disclosures in the firms table. FINRA BrokerCheck — Broker-Dealer Registration and Disclosure, SEC IAPD UBS Weehawken headquarters drives much of this volume, as captured in the firm-level disclosure counts joined to the states table. UBS Financial Services profile details these entries, with state_fips linking back to New Jersey's aggregate. South Carolina's 287 total disclosures pales against New Jersey's 1231, yet per-firm rates differ sharply.

The firms table tallies 40 firms under New Jersey, yielding the 30.77 average from 1231 disclosures. States table queries reveal Missouri's 347 total disclosures across 11 firms for comparison, while Arkansas holds 53 total disclosures in one firm. PlainAdvisorCheck normalizes these via headquarters location, excluding branch offices from state counts. SEC Form ADV — Part 1A State Registration Information

New Jersey's 40 firms contribute to the 14727 total disclosures across 46 states in the aggregated dataset. The firms table's disclosure_per_firm column flags this 30.77 rate, driven by concentrations like UBS. Illinois logs 397 total disclosures over 75 firms, contrasting New Jersey's denser pattern.

New York Texas and Illinois anchor the high-volume middle tier

New York ranks with 8.7 disclosures per firm across 340 firms and 2959 total disclosures in the firms table — the largest state-level firm count. SEC IAPD, FINRA BrokerCheck — Broker-Dealer Registration and Disclosure Texas follows at 8.13 per firm for 56 firms and 455 total disclosures, while Illinois measures 5.29 per firm across 75 firms and 397 total disclosures. States table joins via state_fips enable these rankings from the 46 states dataset. All 27152 firm profiles provide context beyond state aggregates.

The firms table concentrates 147 F-grade firms in New York, 39 in Illinois, and 25 in Texas out of 1904 total F-grade firms across 46 states. New York's 2959 total disclosures lead this tier, with Texas at 455 and Illinois at 397. South Carolina's 287 disclosures occur over fewer firms, altering per-firm math. SEC Form ADV — Part 1A State Registration Information

Illinois's 75 firms yield 397 total disclosures in the states table view, anchoring the middle alongside Texas's 56 firms and 455 disclosures. New York's 340 firms dominate volume at 2959 disclosures. PlainAdvisorCheck's firms table supports per-state filtering, revealing F-grade distributions like New York's 147 firms.

Texas entries in the firms table show 8.13 disclosures per firm from 455 total, linking to states table for cross-state views against New York's 8.7 rate over 2959 disclosures. Illinois's pattern with 39 F-grade firms fits this tier's profile.

Coverage and limitations

PlainAdvisorCheck draws from SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) and FINRA BrokerCheck databases, ingesting firm-level records through automated extraction pipelines. The firms table populates via snapshots of IAPD's registration data and BrokerCheck's disclosure reports, covering 46 state registration jurisdictions with 14727 total disclosures. States table derives aggregates from these, using state_fips for headquarters linkage. Data methodology details the ingestion process, including normalization of disclosure counts from SEC Form ADV Part 1A filings.

Upstream agencies maintain daily release cadences: SEC IAPD updates via continuous Form ADV submissions, while FINRA BrokerCheck refreshes disclosure events in near-real-time. PlainAdvisorCheck captures periodic vintages rather than live feeds, flagging revisions through timestamp columns in the firms table. A disclosure logged in New York's 2959 total may revise in later BrokerCheck extracts, prompting re-ingestion. Coverage excludes dual-registered entities not headquartered in the 46 states, focusing on state-level patterns like South Carolina's 5 firms.

Data vintage reflects the latest stable snapshot before pipeline freeze, differing from current API endpoints at SEC or FINRA that stream live amendments. Revisions appear in subsequent vintages via delta updates: added disclosures increment totals like New Jersey's 1231, while corrections adjust per-firm rates such as Texas's 8.13. Methodology page outlines revision handling, ensuring firms table integrity across 27152 profiles. SEC IAPD, FINRA BrokerCheck — Broker-Dealer Registration and Disclosure

Entity exclusion criteria omit exempt reporting advisers and certain foreign broker-dealers absent from Form ADV state sections, limiting scope to registered investment advisers and broker-dealers with U.S. headquarters. This gaps coverage for branch-heavy firms, concentrating metrics on entities like LPL Financial's 284 disclosures. Cross-references to Enforcement action directory link disclosure events to regulatory outcomes, while states table exposes long-tail distributions in the 14727 total disclosures across 46 jurisdictions.

Pipeline normalization standardizes disclosure categories from raw BrokerCheck XML and IAPD JSON feeds, mapping to columns like total_disclosures in firms table. Vintage documentation tracks extraction dates, enabling audits against upstream revisions — for instance, if Missouri's 347 total disclosures updates post-snapshot. Coverage edges include non-public filings and pending registrations, omitted per statutory disclosure rules. States table aggregates sidestep these by headquarters proxy, as in Illinois's 397 disclosures over 75 firms.

Interlinking with enforcement directories via firm identifiers bridges disclosure counts to action details, supporting queries from South Carolina's 57.4 average into specific events. Methodology emphasizes verbatim retention of upstream fields, avoiding imputation for gaps like unregistered offices. This setup sustains accuracy for middle-tier states such as New York with 340 firms.

Public-records terminology governs: "disclosure" denotes formal regulatory notations per BrokerCheck protocol, distinct from internal compliance logs. Form ADV Part 1A feeds state registration info, populating state_fips without inferring branch impacts. Pipeline logs revision histories, queryable via firms table metadata.

Snapshot constraints mean live events post-extraction — say, new disclosures for UBS — await next vintage. Coverage spans 1904 F-grade firms but excludes de-registered entities purged from IAPD. States table footnotes these limitations, guiding analysis of per-firm rates like Montana's 16.0 across 3 firms.

Delta ingestion processes compare vintages, appending changes to totals like the 14727 dataset aggregate. Exclusion of venture capital advisers under SEC exemptions narrows focus to standard registrations. Cross-portal links to enforcement pages enrich firm profiles, as in 27152 firm profiles.

Regulatory density patterns emerge without cross-jurisdiction blending; firms table silos by headquarters state. Vintage stability prioritizes auditability over recency for aggregates like Arkansas's 53 disclosures.

The firms table and states table in PlainAdvisorCheck reveal South Carolina leading at 57.4 disclosures per firm across its 5 firms, propelled by LPL Financial's 284 entries amid 287 state total. New Jersey follows at 30.77 per firm with 40 firms and 1231 disclosures, anchored by UBS headquarters concentration. New York, Texas, and Illinois form the volume-heavy middle at 8.7, 8.13, and 5.29 per firm respectively, with New York's 340 firms logging 2959 disclosures and concentrating 147 F-grade entities. Coverage across 46 states totals 14727 disclosures in stable vintages from SEC IAPD and FINRA BrokerCheck, enabling precise state-level regulatory density views through table joins without live-stream volatility.