Looking for a financial adviser you can trust, relate to and who gets results?
Here are 3 tips for getting your best financial planner. Ask questions, Build a Relationship and Check Out Their Credentials.

Day5 exposed just how many articles, rating, comparison, and “find a” sites there are analysing the performance of financial advisers (see the BiG Directory). We’ll dive deeper into some of them tomorrow.

But even with so many sites and government regulation, why are:

… some of the biggest crooks in financial services are the most highly qualified

(CEO ASFA. June 2015 Money Magazine Susan Hely

.. financial advisers giving financial advice where

33% is poor, 58% is adequate and only 3% is good

ASIC study

3 tips for getting your perfect financial adviser

1. Ask lots of questions

Like lots of people, do you mistrust and lack faith in financial advisers? Building trust is now integral to a planner’s survival.
Competition for your business is now fierce. So don’t be afraid to ask and expect clear, written answers to vital background information and experience.

In its Questions to ask a potential financial adviser MoneySmart (ASIC) suggests you get answers on the points below:
Download this Checklist of MoneySmartFinancialPlannerQuestions, so you can add to them, print them out and, better still, send them to any adviser you’re considering.

• Financial qualifications and experience
• Client’s needs
• Financial advice fees and charges
• Independence| Financial products and sales incentives
• What to look for in financial advice

2. Build a Relationship

Build a long term relationship of trust with a financial adviser, like you would with your doctor suggests Mark Bouris 

find your ‘financial doctor’

Mark Bouris

How much responsibility will you accept? Do you want:

• Control? If you want to add to, or alter their decisions. You’ll have to put in more time and research.
• Your adviser to make all, or most, of the decisions?

Good advisers are good ‘people people”, suggests Bouris.
Flexible enough to adjust and meet your needs.
Ask them if, and how they can adapt.
So if your circumstances change and you want to change or exit your strategy, can they?

Do you and the planner’s personalities ‘fit’?

“If you don’t ‘click’ [with them] think twice.

 

Your relationship should never be focused on a one-off transaction but an ongoing series of engagements over many years. This allows them to develop a great understanding of you also. This makes a big difference to the quality of the advice they deliver. Remember advice is more than just data and facts.

Teaming up with a planner is just as much about gut feel and comfort – just like any other relationship
… good planners will also be quietly assessing you to as a fit for their business.”

Mark Bouris

3. Check out their credentials and experience

For many this just means asking a friend or relative. If you want to just rely on friends, family or acquaintances – up to you.
But reviews and rating sites give you tips and help you find out more about specific financial planners. See Days 10 and 11 “Investing Information Tsunami!”