FAQs

Consumer FAQs

How can a financial adviser help me?

Financial advisers can create an overall financial plan, called a statement of advice that helps you reach your goals (be that an early retirement, saving for your kid’s education or reaching that magical financial milestone). Alternatively, they can offer one off advice in areas such as share and property investments, annuities, aged care options, Centrelink benefits and insurance (to name a few).

For more information, search for a topic on our home page or refer to one of the tabs on the left hand side of this page for specific topics - we'll continue to add to this over time.

How is the Adviser Status (Silver, Gold, etc.) calculated?

We created the Adviser Status (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum) to help consumers navigate the minefield of advisers and variability around the quality of advice dispensed. This should be considered in conjunction with customer reviews. We import data from the ASIC Financial Advisers Register (FAR) regarding adviser's memberships to various industry and professional associations, qualifications they hold, experience in the industry and compliance checks in place. We then apply a weighting to each of these segments to come up with the status level for the adviser.

How is the 5 star rating calculated?

The star rating of the adviser (0 to 5 stars) is based on their client reviews. Customers answer particular questions on their own advisers or advisers from whom they have sought advice. The answers to these questions are weighted to give an overall customer rating out of 5. The overall star rating is the average rating of all client reviews combined. Advisers yet to be reviewed by their current or former clients will have a zero star rating.

Where can I rate an adviser?

To rate your adviser, enter the name here. Simply enter the relevant name in the search box and select the name from the drop-down menu that appears, click “Next Step” and answer the subsequent 2-minute questionnaire.

My rating has not been included on the website - why not?

This could be for several reasons - 

1) You have NOT correctly submitted your rating. Please ensure once you have submitted your rating that you receive a confirmation screen. You will also be sent a confirmation email to the email address used to submit the rating. Genuine email addresses are required if we need to contact the reviewer to confirm the review, for example in the event of a disputed review. We do not use consumer emails entered for reviews for any other purpose other than to validate reviews.

2) You submitted a review less than 3 stars. Any reviews less than 3 stars are quarantined for a 72 hours to determine their validity. If there is a dispute from the adviser regarding the review, confirmation of the review with the reviewer is required prior to publishing the review.

3) We have other checks in place that help us moderate reviews. We may have deemed your comment or rating to be either a false review or deliberately misleading. We also remove reviews that are considered inappropriate or unnecessarily disparaging. Should you wish to dispute the removal or non-posting of a review, you can contact us at reviews@adviserratings.com.au.

We also apply technology and manual oversight to manage online reviews and the ratings platform in line with guidance from ACCC.

How do I search for an adviser?

You can search for an adviser directly by name or by location.

Click on the “Find advisers” tab on our home page.

Search by location:

The default search is by location – simply enter the name of the town/suburb or the postcode where you would like to find an adviser. A dropdown menu will appear where you can select the relevant area to search. Selecting from this dropdown will automatically initiate the search.

Search by adviser name:

On the “Find advisers” page, select ‘Adviser’, then enter the first and last name of the adviser you are looking for. Selecting from this dropdown will automatically initiate the search.

Who owns Adviser Ratings?

Adviser Ratings is owned by independent shareholders and investors, including its co-founders, Angus Woods and Christopher Zinn. Institutions such as banks, insurance and superannuation companies have zero ownership in Adviser Ratings, and this policy is upheld to avoid the perception of any conflict of interest, real or imagined.

Can I contact an adviser on the site?

When you search for and select an adviser to view, you will navigate to their individual profile page.

This page shows various details about the adviser including their qualifications, address and client reviews. In the top right corner, click on the button labelled “Get in touch”.

Clicking on the button will let you send an email to the advisers requesting that they contact you via your preferred method (phone or email). There are sections you can fill out to let the adviser know a little about your personal situation – such as what areas of advice you are looking for (building super, insurance, etc.) if you choose to do so.

Who writes the articles on Adviser Ratings?

The general and specialist information provided on the site have been provided by a wide variety of financial advisers and specialists in their field. We also have editorial articles written by Adviser Ratings staff about finance industry issues. Adviser Ratings does not offer financial advice and where advice or opinions are sourced from third parties, Adviser Ratings does not warrant the appropriateness of this content.