A new website has launched that claims it will help provide more transparency to the financial planning industry.
The free site, www.adviserratings.com.au offers consumers the chance to rate and review satisfaction and the behaviour of their advisers. Planners are also invited to populate their profiles with more information about their qualifications, memberships of industry bodies, compliance and experience.
One of the founders, Christopher Zinn said the intent was to provide a more transparent way to compare planners and drive more confidence in the market.
“Too many consumers are paying the price of not having an expert and trustworthy adviser in making decisions about their savings and investments. We hope to help both consumers and advisers by getting consumers more engaged and asking smarter questions”, he said.
Adviser Ratings’ service has been welcomed by politicians, industry bodies, licensees, consumer groups and banks.
Bernie Ripoll MP, Shadow Minister for Superannuation and Financial Services, said “By using technology and consumer power Adviser Ratings has the potential to be a game changer by providing consumers with visibility across the quality of advice provided.”
But would the broking industry benefit from a similar initiative?
FBAA CEO, Peter White has told
Australian Broker previously that he doesn’t believe any similar moves will necessarily help consumers make more informed decisions about brokers.
“ASIC already holds a register for all licensed brokers – and to be licensed there are certain provisions in place that need to be ticked. That’s already one measure that is in the market place.
“Then you’ve also got associations, like the FBAA website, where the criteria as to how you become a member is available to consumers, and there is public access for consumers to search to see if a broker is a member of the FBAA. I don’t know what the value is for yet another register,” White said.
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