When you invest your hard-earned money, one question matters above almost everything else: How safe are my investments?
At Vested, we believe trust must be earned through more than promises. It requires regulatory oversight, independent safeguards, strong technology, and clear accountability.
So instead of starting with everything we do to keep your investments safe, let’s start with the question that matters most.
What happens in the worst-case scenario? What if something happens to Vested itself?
Your Investments Are Protected by SIPC – and Vested Is a Direct Member
We have our own US-registered broker-dealer, VF Securities, Inc. (CRD #315194), which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).
This is an important distinction.
All other India-based global investing platforms rely on the underlying US clearing broker (the likes of Drivewealth, Alpaca, Viewtrade, IBKR) to provide SIPC protection.
At Vested, we are ourselves an SIPC member. We don’t rely solely on the membership of our underlying clearing broker.
We pay our own annual SIPC membership assessments, independently of our clearing broker. This means that in the unlikely event of a failure involving Vested, applicable SIPC protections would be assessed in relation to our customers and assets, rather than relying solely on the failure of an underlying clearing broker.
SIPC is a US-based investor protection organization that helps protect eligible customers when a member brokerage firm fails and customer securities or cash are missing. Over the years SIPC has overseen ~330 customer protection proceedings and helped return $140B+ to investors.
On the back of Vested’s direct SIPC membership, each account receives insurance protection (without relying on any other entity) of up to:
- $500,000 in securities and cash, including
- Up to $250,000 for cash claims
Our underlying US clearing broker, DriveWealth, is also a FINRA and SIPC member and has secured additional insurance coverage beyond standard SIPC protection. Its published excess-SIPC policy provides up to $50 million of total coverage per eligible account, subject to policy conditions and an aggregate limit across accounts.
We are also evaluating additional protection arrangements directly at Vested as we continue to grow.
You can independently verify our memberships:
- Vested / VF Securities – FINRA BrokerCheck
- SIPC Official Member Directory – search for VF Securities
- DriveWealth’s Enhanced SIPC Coverage
Please note that SIPC protection is not insurance against market losses or investment performance. It is specifically designed to help restore eligible missing customer securities and cash in case of brokerage failures.
Vested Is Regulated in Both the US and in India
The next important question is: Who is overseeing the platform through which you invest?
There is a difference between investing through a platform that simply connects you to a regulated broker and investing through a platform that is itself subject to financial regulatory oversight.
- In the United States, our broker-dealer, VF Securities., is registered with the SEC and is a FINRA member and Vested Finance Inc. is registered with the SEC as an RIA
- In India, our GIFT City entity, Vested Global IFSC, is registered with the IFSCA as a Global Access Provider (IFSCA/GAP/BD/2026-27/009)
- Further, Vested Payments IFSC is registered as a Payments Service Provider (IFSC/PSP/2026-27/009)
We recently received our GIFT City licenses and are in the process of starting operations under them.
Operating in regulated environments requires us to maintain controls across multiple aspects of our business, including:
- Customer onboarding and verification: Identity verification, KYC requirements, and customer due diligence.
- Transaction and trade monitoring: Systems and processes to identify unusual or potentially suspicious activity.
- Customer asset protection: Controls, records, and reconciliation processes designed to safeguard customer investments.
- Regulatory reporting: Required disclosures, recordkeeping, and reporting to applicable authorities.
- Technology and operational controls: Processes for managing operational risks, technology infrastructure, and business continuity.
Importantly, these are not merely internal commitments. Regulated entities are subject to regulatory oversight, compliance reviews, examinations, and applicable independent audits that assess whether their systems and processes meet required standards.
This creates an additional level of accountability.
One thing we have repeatedly mentioned – when investing globally it is not enough for the underlying clearing broker to be regulated, the platform through which you invest needs to be regulated and accountable as well.
At Vested, we take that responsibility directly. We had previously written in detail about our investment stack in this blog article.
Multiple Layers of Protection at the Customer Account Level
While regulation and investor protection arrangements provide important safeguards, preventing unauthorized access and transactions is equally critical.
That’s why we have built multiple security measures into the Vested experience.
Two-factor authentication
Vested accounts use additional authentication mechanisms, including PIN and time-based authenticator verification, to help protect access to customer accounts.
Additional authentication before trading
We also have an additional OTP verification for the first trade of a trading session or if certain aspects related to your login session change. This adds another authentication step before trading activity can begin, helping reduce the risk of unauthorized transactions.
Device and IP-based monitoring
Our systems monitor device and network-related information, including IP addresses, to help identify and act on access patterns that may be unusual or inconsistent with expected activity.
Automated checks and alerts
We use automated checks to identify potentially unusual account behavior. Depending on the nature of the activity, our systems can generate alerts, request additional verification, or trigger appropriate protective action.
No single authentication method is sufficient on its own. Our objective is to combine multiple safeguards so that account security does not depend on just one password, device, or verification step.
Continuous Monitoring of Transactions and Technology Infrastructure
Some of the most important security measures are those that customers may never directly see.
Beyond account-level protection, Vested maintains monitoring and control mechanisms across trading activity and our technology infrastructure.
Suspicious transaction monitoring
Our systems monitor trading activity to help identify potentially unusual transactions or patterns that warrant further review.
This enables our teams to investigate suspicious activity in real-time and take appropriate action when necessary.
Technology infrastructure monitoring
We monitor our technology infrastructure for unexpected changes and potentially suspicious activity.
Changes that fall outside expected patterns can trigger investigation and escalation, enabling our teams to respond to potential security or operational risks.
Additionally we regularly undertake third-party infosec audits from CERT-In empanelled vendors to plug any system vulnerabilities.
Incident detection and response
When unusual activity is identified, our security and operations teams follow established processes to investigate, contain, and address potential threats.
We continuously review and work towards strengthening these measures as technology evolves and new risks emerge.
Our approach is built around a simple principle: security should not depend only on stopping someone from getting in. It must also involve identifying unusual activity, responding quickly, and limiting potential impact.
Our Commitment to Keeping Your Investments Safe
We recognize that investing involves trust. And when you’re investing internationally, often across jurisdictions and through multiple financial institutions, understanding how your money is protected becomes even more important.
At Vested, we approach this responsibility through four complementary layers:
- Investor protection: Direct SIPC membership through our US broker-dealer, alongside applicable protections provided by our clearing broker.
- Regulatory accountability: Oversight through regulated entities in the United States and India’s GIFT City.
- Account-level security: Additional authentication, device monitoring, and automated protection mechanisms.
- Continuous monitoring: Oversight of suspicious transactions, technology infrastructure, and potential security threats along with regular third-party system audits by CERT-IN empanelled vendors
No financial institution can eliminate every risk. But we believe the right approach is to build multiple layers of protection, subject ourselves to independent oversight, and continuously invest in stronger controls.
Because the responsibility of protecting your investments is one we take as seriously as helping you grow them.