I spent my career explaining how funds are built and sold. This is where that experience gets written plainly — for anyone who wants to understand the machinery behind their own account.
I'm Connor. I spent fifteen years in mutual fund and ETF distribution — Fidelity, DWS, Foreside, Alto — from Chicago to Connecticut. The job was explaining funds to the advisers who chose them, which meant learning to say complicated things plainly.
Now I write about it. No pitch, no product, no sales funnel underneath. Just the machinery of the industry, explained by someone who worked in it, with a record you can verify.
The parts of the fund industry that come up again and again — written for the intelligent non-specialist.
The mechanics most investors never see — how a fund gets from an asset manager into your account.
The securities exam path, in order, from someone who took all of them.
How to actually check anyone in the industry before you trust them with money.
Five firms across fifteen years — Fidelity, DWS, Sentinus-Halo, Foreside, Alto. Mutual fund and ETF distribution, from Chicago to Connecticut. Series 7, 63 and 65, plus the SIE.
A clean U4 the whole way through — no customer complaints, no regulatory actions, no terminations, no disclosures of any kind. All of it public and verifiable on FINRA BrokerCheck, CRD #5881228.
"Most people never learn how their own money actually moves. It's not complicated — it's just never explained."— Connor Houlihan
There's nothing to buy here. It's a body of writing, organized so you can find what you need.
Funds, licensing, or due diligence — start where your question is.
Plain English, no jargon left unexplained, no assumed background.
Each essay links to the next logical one if you want more.
Everything ties back to public records you can verify yourself.
Three ways in, depending on why you're here. (Placeholder framing — these are reading tracks, not products.)
You just want to understand what a fund actually is and how it reaches you.
You're thinking about the industry as a career and want the licensing map.
You want to check someone — an adviser, a firm, a fund — before trusting them.
No. This is educational writing about how the fund industry works. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell anything, and I'm not currently registered to give advice.
Intelligent people who don't work in finance but want to understand the machinery — how funds are built, sold, and chosen, and how to check the people involved.
Fifteen years registered in securities distribution, four exams passed, and a clean regulatory record — all public and verifiable on FINRA BrokerCheck under CRD #5881228.
Yes. If it's a good one, it might become the next essay. There's a contact form below.
The essays cover the common ones. If yours isn't there, send it over — I read everything.