What does a financial adviser do?
A regulated financial adviser can assess your circumstances and provide personalised recommendations. Here are the areas the advice process can involve.
Start with the type of help you need.
Financial advice should be personal to your circumstances. These are common areas to think about before choosing who to speak with.
Understand your circumstances
The adviser will gather information about your finances, goals, family circumstances and priorities before making recommendations.
Assess goals and risk
For investment-related advice, the process can include your objectives, time horizon, capacity for loss and attitude to investment risk.
Recommend a course of action
Regulated advice involves personalised recommendations that should be explained along with relevant risks, costs and considerations.
Review over time
Some clients use advice for a one-off need, while others choose an ongoing service with regular reviews and updates.
What should you consider before proceeding?
Regulation, relevant experience, clear charges and a service that fits your needs all matter.
Initial conversation
You explain what you want help with and the adviser outlines their service, scope and likely charges.
Fact-find
The adviser gathers the information needed to understand your circumstances and objectives.
Recommendations
If you proceed, the adviser develops and explains personalised recommendations based on the agreed scope.
Implementation and review
Depending on the service, the adviser may help implement recommendations and provide ongoing reviews.
Useful next steps.
Explore related Adviser Finder resources or tell us what you need when you are ready to look for professional advice.
Learn before you decide.
Use Adviser Finder's educational guides and tools to understand the questions worth asking next.
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