The Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) database contains registration documents filed by investment adviser firms that register electronically using the Investment Adviser Registration Depository (IARD). IAPD also contains registration information filed with the states by individuals acting as investment adviser representatives, if they are required to register.

The federal securities laws require publicly reporting companies to disclose information on an ongoing basis. For example, domestic companies must submit annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K for a number of specified events and must comply with a variety of other disclosure requirements.

In addition to filing annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, publicly reporting companies must report certain material corporate events on a more current basis. Form 8-K is known as a “current report” and it is the report that companies must file with the SEC to announce major events that shareholders should know about.

Once-a-year meetings where the chief executive officer reports on the year's results to shareholders. At this meeting, shareholders vote to elect the board of directors and on other corporate business.

A beneficial owner holds stocks indirectly, for example, through a bank or broker-dealer. Beneficial owners are sometimes said to be holding shares in "street name."