Yesterday, the ‘Adviser Ratings’ website went live – an initiative launched by a company of the same name which is a corporate authorised representative of AFSL holder iPraxis – with 16,000 financial advisers already listed on the website and awaiting consumer ratings and feedback.
The launch follows a similar initiative within the Westpac/BT Group on Monday with the release of the ‘Adviser View’ portal, which allows consumers to publicly rate their experience with the bank’s financial advisers.
Addressing media delegates to the AFA conference in Cairns yesterday, Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen listed the advent of consumer ratings websites in the financial advice industry as an example of technological change that the industry should embrace.
“Anything that promotes transparency and allows good financial planners to provides the ability for consumers to say what a good planner they are is good for the sector,” Mr Bowen said.
At the same time, however, Mr Bowen said a consumer ratings function may not be an appropriate add-on to the government’s own proposed adviser register, saying these websites should be led by the “private sector”.
Meanwhile, the team behind the new Adviser Ratings website has made clear its intention is to help raise public confidence in the financial advice industry, not diminish it further.
“At the moment, as the FSC says, the industry is cactus. There is no confidence. There are a whole lot of people who refuse to engage, who need a planner but are not using one,” Adviser Ratings spokesperson Christopher Zinn told ifa.
“So it is in the interests of the good and better planners to differentiate themselves in the market in a way which consumers can understand.”
Mr Zinn clarified that the advisers listed on its website will have the ability to opt out, but encouraged the industry to examine the potential benefits of participation.
“We want this to be like TripAdvisor, where advisers ask their clients to put in comments about them because they see the benefit,” he said.
“To be absent from the service might cause clients to ask, ‘why is that the case?’
“The industry is not in a good place at the moment; it needs to make some changes, it needs to realise that this kind of rating and review service is coming. It’s not just us, there will be others.”
The problem that you would face is that I guard the privacy of my clients quite jealously, as do they. So why would I jeapordise the trust built up over many years for them to divulge their details on a public website. Unless there is full disclosure of the person making the comment, then the excercise is futile. The old “Mrs A from Orange NSW states Andrew is a wonderful human being” will not hold any water. We only have to read through the trolls on this website to see what damage the bored and the uninitiated can do.
I recently stayed at a hotel based on the comments on Trip Advisor. Needless to say it was a disaster which did not reflect the ratings it was given. The fault lies with me as I based my decision on the experiences of others rather than formulate my own opinion. Had I gone to the hotel without the preconceived ideas, who knows, my experience may have been very different. Having said all of this, I cant help but feel a little sad in the direction we have taken as a profession. To rate an adviser the same way you would a hotel room is degrading to say the least. Lets pray for an upbeat market because we will be at peril of consumer sentiment when the markets tumble regardless of the excellence of the strategic advice.
Christopher Zinn,Chris Bowen, Bill Shorten, David Whiteley,Sam Dastyari,…are they all having lunch together today?
Rating advisers aka trip adviser , is the most ludricous idea ever proposed in the industry. I think I will join any or all of these websites and get all my facebook friends to post glowing references just for the heck of it .There is a common thread here -non advisers denigrating the profession . Our clients wouldnt even bother (posting) trolling any of these sites . They are far too busy . There are some very stupid people out there how latch on to this industry for their own self gratification
Seriously – this is getting ridiculous. Such a process would simply belittle the profession.
And Labor supports it – well what a surprise.
Christopher Zinn is already biased against Financial Planners as shown from his previous stints at Choice Magazine. This rating site is juts another attempt to castigate advisers. Good advisers don’t need to to submit to this as their clients already know what they are doing for them. How is this supposed to achieve an objective assessment. Just another lefty Labor proposal.
Better still Mr Bowen, why not have a website so the public can rate politicians as well?
Idiotic concept, what other profession does this or would even vaguely consider it? Especially as clients generally will ‘feel’ things as opposed to having the technical knowledge to know if we’ve done a good job, or even the compliance that we have to go through.
I have no problem with our own levels of professionalism & perception, esp. being an IFA, but this will just give the ISA further fuel if there are ‘bad’ reviews (even false ones) listed on the website. Insanity and a retrogressive step.
[quote name=”Herbert H Heebert”]A good idea, but why stop at advisers, I think rating system for the legal profession, accountants mortgage brokers etc … should be considered[/quote]
Agreed and include POLITICIANS
“cactus, no confidence….” well that really helps a lot. You think some comments on a trip adviser website will fix everything? So now we’re going to get swamped with multiple adviser rating websites as well as flawed regulations.
There needs to be meaningful structural change from the top down. Far too many participants feeding off what should be a very simple, transparent process.
A good idea, but why stop at advisers, I think rating system for the legal profession, accountants mortgage brokers etc … should be considered