‘It pays to do your homework’: ASIC urges Australians to seek out licensed advisers

The corporate regulator has urged Australians who are seeking financial advice to only connect with licenced professionals.

Speaking to ABC Melbourne this week, ASIC COO Warren Day said people should check the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) to ensure they are engaging with planners who are legally required to act in their best interests.

“While using a licensed adviser doesn’t guarantee against financial loss, dealing with licensed professionals provides important safeguards if things go wrong,” Mr Day said.

“This may include remediation of investors who have suffered loss or detriment as a result of misconduct or other compliance failure by an advice licensee (or its representatives) in giving personal advice. Importantly, it also includes recourse to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), a free external dispute resolution body.

Mr Day added that while recommendations from friends are common, people should always “independently check” if that person is licensed or authorised to provide advice through a licensee as many scams have operated through social media and referrals.

“It pays to do your homework and check that your adviser is both qualified and licensed, or authorised, to do the job,” he said.

Mr Day’s comments come after ASIC alerted consumers to a rise in investment scams impersonating companies or financial investment firms in March.

The regulator warned that scammers often make contact through Gmail and Outlook email accounts and that their contact details do not match the information published on the legitimate company’s website.

Consumers are also being urged to be careful of receiving calls or messages “out of the blue” and that scammers may request remote access to their computer and/or contact them online advising them about a “great investment opportunity”.

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.