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Financial adviser review sites invite customer feedback and ratings

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28 October, 2014 by Andy Kollmorgen, Choice

Article link: http://www.choice.com.au/media-and-news/consumer-news/news/financial-adviser-review-sites-invite-customer-feedback-and-star-ratings-281014.aspx

Dissatisfied customers already outing financial advisers on review sites

financial adviser shaking hands with client

 

Now that the government has succeeded in reshaping the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms to ease the burden on the advice industry, the announcement of three new financial adviser review websites this month is timely.

Among other things, the changes to FoFA watered down the obligation for an adviser to act in the client's best interest and added extra exemptions on conflicted remuneration. These sites should help address at least the first issue.

ASIC recently announced it would launch its adviser review site in March 2015, a resource that will help consumers to "verify the credentials of financial advisers and be confident that they are appropriately qualified and experienced", according to the office of Minister for Finance Senator Mathias Cormann.

But – as with a number of sites already up and running – it probably won't do enough to help consumers determine whether an adviser has a financial incentive to recommend one product over another.

And the element of trust doesn't stop there. A government spokesperson told us it will be up to the financial services licence holders and the advisers who work for them to make sure the information on the ASIC site is accurate and up to date (although it should be said that providing false information to a government agency is illegal).

Keeping advisers honest

BT Financial launched its own financial adviser review service, Adviser View, earlier this month and claims that adviser credentials will be independently verified. It's a crucial step, since adviser qualifications can be spotty to non-existent.

It was only after media coverage of the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) financial planner scandal reached a high point earlier this year that the CBA got around to setting educational standards, and then only for advisers who joined the business after 18 July 2014. New CBA advisers have to hold a degree in finance, business, commerce or a related field.

Planners who already worked at CBA while the financial planner rort was in full swing won't have to meet the same standards until 30 June 2017.

The BT Financial site will cover 1100 advisers in the Westpac network, which include BT Financial, Westpac, St George Bank, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA. It will allow users to apply star ratings to advisers based on their experience.

Adviser Ratings reveals disgruntled clients

Another new entry to the adviser review field, Adviser Ratings, also invites consumers to rate and leave comments about advisers. The site is built on a register of about 18,000 financial advisers and – in a nod to detecting conflicts of interest – includes details about who owns their practices. Advisers are invited to add information about their qualifications, memberships of industry bodies, compliance policies and experience.

Shadow Minister for Superannuation and Financial Services Bernie Ripoll said the new site "has the potential to be a game changer by providing consumers with visibility across the quality of advice provided".

Adviser Ratings already seems to have outed advisers who've left a trail of disgruntled customers. One adviser based in the suburb of Brookvale on Sydney's northern beaches received low marks across the board – 15% overall customer rating, 19% for quality of advice, and 8% for customer satisfaction.

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