What we do
Adviser Ratings puts the entire world of financial advisers and online advice tools at your fingertips making it easy to find the right kind of advice to suit you and your circumstances. It is an easy to use and transparent online platform which empowers customers and provides a valuable independent mechanism of consumer feedback for the industry.
Our aim
Despite years of experience in the financial services sector and numerous scandals engulfing the finance industry, we didn’t know where to send our family and friends who were seeking financial advice. Through this clear need to bring a trustworthy and transparent service to help consumers find qualified financial services we created Adviser Ratings. Our aim is to make financial advice more accountable, accessible and affordable for customers by fostering transparency, integrity and trust.
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Find an adviser
Use powerful search and selection criteria to find the right financial adviser for you from all currently registered financial advisers across Australia
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Rate your adviser
Share your personal experience of advice by rating your financial adviser or smart tool
Leave a rating -
Ask an adviser
Ask advice from a financial planner. Get your questions answered by experts for free
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Find smart tools
Access the latest online budgeting, investing and advice tools designed for the DIY consumer
Find a smart tool -
Get the latest
Learn finance and industry insights through our curated articles, videos and adviser Q&A's
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Be in the know
Browse our rich library of articles and videos created by some of the industry's top writers and wealth experts
Browse articles
Our Rating System
Our rating system is divided into two key areas. The first is the 5 star Customer Rating - this is calculated as an average of all customer reviews given to an adviser. The second is the Adviser Ratings Status and is displayed as one of 4 badges. The Adviser Ratings Status is calculated using a combination of factors including information gathered from licensees, ASIC, key industry bodies and the overall customer rating score.
Customer Ratings
Whenever a customer rates their adviser they are given the opportunity to give feedback on both the quality and satisfaction with the advice they receive through a series of specially devised questions. These questions involve 4 key areas including: Communication, Knowledge & Expertise, Customer Care and Recommendation. Each of these areas is then combined to give a total percentage which is then divided by 20 to give a final rating out of 5 stars.
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Communication
This means how often the customer could clearly understand the adviser's advice and their explanation of how it fitted the customers needs
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Knowledge & Expertise
How confident the customer is that their adviser's knowledge and experience was broad enough to allow the adviser to despense the best advise for them
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Customer Care
This means how often the adviser was able to give the customer full care and attention when they’ve needed help or advice
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Recommendation
This means how likely the customer would be to reccomend their adviser to other customers, family and friends
Adviser Ratings Status
The rating system incorporates information on individual planners from Consumers, Industry Bodies, Licensees & ASIC. We apply percentages to each component to come up with an overall adviser rating percentage.
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Consumers
We ask feedback from customers on both the quality and satisfaction with the advice they receive through a series of specially devised questions. These questions involve 4 key areas including:
- Communication
- Knowledge & Expertise
- Customer Care
- Recommendation
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Industry Bodies
Consumers can rely on certain industry or professional bodies that its member advisers have appropriate professional qualifications, development & compliance in place. If your adviser is not a member of an industry body, Adviser Ratings requires them to go through a more thorough questionnaire to come up with their rating. We recommend all advisers be a member of an industry or professional body.
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ASIC & Licensees
Each financial adviser is required to hold an Australian Financial Services License or be an Authorised Representative of one. The regulator, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, has the power to enforce certain undertakings on these licensees as well as the power to ban and disqualify financial planners. We take this into consideration in our rating system.
We then award the advisers the following status:
- Platinum
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85 rating or higher
- Gold
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70 - 84 rating
- Silver
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55 - 69 rating
- Bronze
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54 rating or lower
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Angus Woods
Managing Director
Read moreAngus Woods
Managing Director
Connect on LinkedIn Connect on TwitterMy 20 year working career has been in financial services and consumer businesses. I was previously an executive of Macquarie Bank and CFO of Virgin Money. I’m passionate about helping consumers in spaces they find difficult to navigate. I initially turned my attention to the financial planning industry on the back of the GFC, which brought to light the bad financial advice that had been given in previous years. We hope this long awaited ratings and review service will not only help consumers find a qualified financial planner, but recognise and reward those in the industry that have been unfairly tarnished by a few rogue, poorly qualified planners.
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Katie Dukes
Chief Operating Officer
Read moreKatie Dukes
Chief Operating Officer
Connect on LinkedInJoining Adviser Ratings in 2018, Katie worked with the data, development and product teams as a Business Analyst and has an extensive understanding of the business and our product portfolio. Prior to Adviser Ratings, Katie worked in the information, knowledge, and data management disciplines across an array of industries including health, mining, construction and engineering. Katie worked for several years at Rio Tinto in the project management office helping global project teams streamline the way information, knowledge and data was managed throughout the project lifecycle. Katie holds a Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Leisure Management from Griffith University, Brisbane and manages our Nightingale, Fund Flow Management and CRM support services.
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Nicolas Peña Mc Gough
Head of Data and Analytics
Read moreNicolas Peña Mc Gough
Head of Data and Analytics
Connect on LinkedInNicolas has over 7 years' experience in working for start-ups. Born and raised in Argentina, he has worked in multiple industries before landing in Adviser Ratings in October 2019. Since then he has become an expert in the Australian financial service industry. He produces much of our data and statistical analysis on the industry and contributes regularly to the production of our research papers.
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Colin Ellerton
Senior Developer
Read moreColin Ellerton
Senior Developer
Connect on LinkedInColin joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2019. Colin provides applications development and technical support to Adviser Ratings internal and external websites and systems including the Nightingale API and White label sites.
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Sharon Fong
Quality Assurance Analyst
Read moreSharon Fong
Quality Assurance Analyst
Connect on LinkedInSharon joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2022 and manages the testing and quality assurance across the Adviser Ratings applications and websites. She brings over 10 years experience working in the IT industry across telecommunications, utility billing and digital media systems.
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Michelle Griffiths
Data Integrity Lead
Read moreMichelle Griffiths
Data Integrity Lead
Connect on LinkedInMichelle joined the team at Adviser Ratings in 2018 as a Data Integrity team member. Since then, she has worked across multiple areas of the business including client services, remediation, and development testing. Michelle is responsible for evaluating segments of the data that require quality assurance, coordinating the team workload and delivering the highest quality data back to the Adviser Ratings database. Prior to Adviser Ratings, Michelle worked in executive roles within the Hotel industry.
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Luke Withers
Service Delivery Manager
Read moreLuke Withers
Service Delivery Manager
Connect on LinkedInLuke joined the Adviser Ratings' Data Integrity team in 2021, gaining an extensive knowledge of our dataset and progressed within the business to our client services team as Client Relations Manager and now serving as Service Delivery Manager. He brings over 10 years experience in account management and is passionate about providing a high level of service across all our 'Find an Adviser' websites and White Label services. Luke is currently studying a Bachelor of Business Finance at Charles Sturt University.
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Stacey Golley
Adviser Support Lead & Marketing Operations Coordinator
Read moreStacey Golley
Adviser Support Lead & Marketing Operations Coordinator
Connect on LinkedInStacey joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2018. Providing technical and service support, Stacey is the first point of contact for our adviser and consumer community. Stacey also communicates Adviser Ratings research and data publications to wealth management audiences and facilitates sponsored Vendor campaigns. Stacey brings to the team varied experience across Information Services, Local Government and Sustainability. Stacey is a passionate advocate of making financial advice more accessible for consumers by building integrity and trust through our transparent and independent online platform while helping advisers boost their online presence and reputation.
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Zoe Zuo
Salesforce Functional Consultant
Read moreZoe Zuo
Salesforce Functional Consultant
Connect on LinkedInZoe joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2022. Zoe works as Salesforce & Data Specialist providing configuration and support to clients' Salesforce orgs and Adviser Ratings internal Salesforce and Dynamics CRM. She brings over 10 years of experience in the IT industry.
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Autumn Huang
Data Analyst
Read moreAutumn Huang
Data Analyst
Connect on LinkedInAutumn joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2022 as a Data Analyst. Working as part of the client services team, Autumn specializes in data cleaning, ingestion, and visualization delivery services for clients. Updated Adviser Ratings data on the CRM platforms. She holds two master's degrees, one in Project Management from the University of Sydney and another in Applied Information Technology from Victoria University. She enjoys exploring new concepts and technologies and applying them to the work.
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Noor Kamil
Data Analyst
Read moreNoor Kamil
Data Analyst
With a strong background in data analysis and workforce planning, Noor is dedicated to enhancing the financial advice industry through advanced, data-driven strategies. His expertise ensures that Adviser Ratings delivers transparent and reliable financial adviser reports and insights, supporting the company's mission to foster trust and accessibility in advice. Noor's commitment to innovation and precision is instrumental in the ongoing success and growth of Adviser Ratings.
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Seb Stone
Data Scientist
Read moreSeb Stone
Data Scientist
Connect on LinkedInSeb joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2023. Seb works as a Data Scientist uncovering insights and developing reports for stakeholders. Seb is completing a Bachelor of Computer Science majoring in Artificial intelligence at Swinburne University.
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Emily Pearce
Data Integrity
Read moreEmily Pearce
Data Integrity
Emily joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2020. Emily is a part of the Data Integrity team continually ensuring the high quality of Adviser Ratings data.
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Robyn Phillips
Data Integrity
Read moreRobyn Phillips
Data Integrity
Robyn joined the Adviser Ratings team in Nov 2020. Robyn is a part of the Data Integrity team continually ensuring the high quality of Adviser Ratings data. Robyn is a qualified Early Childhood Teacher and also holds a Diploma of Business Management. She has worked in various positions prior to Adviser Ratings including business administration, early childhood education, payroll management and accreditation. She also loves spending time with her family and animals.
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Lauren Carney
Data Integrity
Read moreLauren Carney
Data Integrity
Lauren joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2022. Lauren is a part of the Data Integrity team continually ensuring the high quality of Adviser Ratings data. She has worked in various positions prior to Adviser Ratings and holds a Diploma in Social Science. Lauren loves to spend her weekends with family and friends exploring the great outdoors.
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Edward Feeley
Data Integrity
Read moreEdward Feeley
Data Integrity
Edward joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2022. Edward is a part of the Data Integrity team continually ensuring the high quality of Adviser Ratings data. Edward has had multiple roles before Adviser ratings, most extensively working as a personal trainer. Starting out at sixteen years old, his experience includes training professional athletes like international cricket teams, body building competitors and a judo competitor who went to the RIO Olympics. Edward brings to his new role his love for detail and new found passion for the financial markets.