DIRECT ANSWER
Definition
A CRD number identifies a securities-registration record for a firm or individual; a CIK identifies an SEC EDGAR filer account. An investment adviser can have both, but the relationship is not guaranteed to be one-to-one because legal entities, affiliates, and filing managers may differ.
01
CRD and CIK compared
| Attribute | CRD number | CIK |
|---|---|---|
| System family | CRD / IARD / IAPD | SEC EDGAR |
| Identifies | Firm or individual registration record | EDGAR filer account |
| Common use | Adviser/broker registration lookup | Filing history lookup |
| Related records | Form ADV, IAPD, BrokerCheck | Form 13F and other EDGAR filings |
| Submission identifier | Not applicable | Accession number identifies each submission |
02
Why mapping is difficult
The same brand can include multiple legal entities. An adviser may file Form ADV under one entity while an affiliate or filing manager submits Form 13F. Names, addresses, websites, and ownership relationships help, but none should be used as a universal name-only join.
03
A defensible crosswalk
- Preserve CRD and CIK as source-native identifiers.
- Use explicit source-reported relationships first.
- Support one-to-many and many-to-one relationships.
- Record evidence and confidence for inferred matches.
- Retain prior names and corporate changes.
- Publish unresolved relationships as unresolved.
SRC
Primary sources
Definitions and regulatory claims on this page are grounded in the following official public resources.