From Richard Chen:
Far too often, I’ve encountered situations where advisors and other business owners do not fully understand their use of a DBA or “doing business as” trade name, and this can potentially lead to very serious legal risks.
Many advisers utilize a DBA to facilitate their branding, whether they own their own firm or work as an investment adviser representative for another firm. Yet, many advisers fail to understand that a DBA is not a formal legal entity, such as a limited liability company, and the holder of a DBA does not enjoy the same rights as the owner of a formal legal entity (such as limited liability protection) if it is not used properly.
