A business that provides investing advice or counsel to an investor in exchange for a fee. Investment advisory services may interact directly with a client (e.g. by managing assets), or may provide passive, general advice on which securities or industries are bullish or bearish. Investment advisory services managing a certain amount of money must register with the SEC; the actions of all investment advisory services are governed by the Investment Advisors Act of 1940. Importantly, it is a criminal offense for investment advisory services to provide false or misleading information, and to sell or buy their own securities to or from a client