What we do
Adviser Ratings puts the entire world of financial advisers and online advice tools at your fingertips making it easy to find the right kind of advice to suit you and your circumstances. It is an easy to use and transparent online platform which empowers customers and provides a valuable independent mechanism of consumer feedback for the industry.
Our aim
Despite years of experience in the financial services sector and numerous scandals engulfing the finance industry, we didn’t know where to send our family and friends who were seeking financial advice. Through this clear need to bring a trustworthy and transparent service to help consumers find qualified financial services we created Adviser Ratings. Our aim is to make financial advice more accountable, accessible and affordable for customers by fostering transparency, integrity and trust.
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Find an adviser
Use powerful search and selection criteria to find the right financial adviser for you from all currently registered financial advisers across Australia
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Rate your adviser
Share your personal experience of advice by rating your financial adviser or smart tool
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Ask an adviser
Ask advice from a financial planner. Get your questions answered by experts for free
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Find smart tools
Access the latest online budgeting, investing and advice tools designed for the DIY consumer
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Get the latest
Learn finance and industry insights through our curated articles, videos and adviser Q&A's
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Be in the know
Browse our rich library of articles and videos created by some of the industry's top writers and wealth experts
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Our Rating System
Our rating system is divided into two key areas. The first is the 5 star Customer Rating - this is calculated as an average of all customer reviews given to an adviser. The second is the Adviser Ratings Status and is displayed as one of 4 badges. The Adviser Ratings Status is calculated using a combination of factors including information gathered from licensees, ASIC, key industry bodies and the overall customer rating score.
Customer Ratings
Whenever a customer rates their adviser they are given the opportunity to give feedback on both the quality and satisfaction with the advice they receive through a series of specially devised questions. These questions involve 4 key areas including: Communication, Knowledge & Expertise, Customer Care and Recommendation. Each of these areas is then combined to give a total percentage which is then divided by 20 to give a final rating out of 5 stars.
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Communication
This means how often the customer could clearly understand the adviser's advice and their explanation of how it fitted the customers needs
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Knowledge & Expertise
How confident the customer is that their adviser's knowledge and experience was broad enough to allow the adviser to despense the best advise for them
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Customer Care
This means how often the adviser was able to give the customer full care and attention when they’ve needed help or advice
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Recommendation
This means how likely the customer would be to reccomend their adviser to other customers, family and friends
Adviser Ratings Status
The rating system incorporates information on individual planners from Consumers, Industry Bodies, Licensees & ASIC. We apply percentages to each component to come up with an overall adviser rating percentage.
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Consumers
We ask feedback from customers on both the quality and satisfaction with the advice they receive through a series of specially devised questions. These questions involve 4 key areas including:
- Communication
- Knowledge & Expertise
- Customer Care
- Recommendation
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Industry Bodies
Consumers can rely on certain industry or professional bodies that its member advisers have appropriate professional qualifications, development & compliance in place. If your adviser is not a member of an industry body, Adviser Ratings requires them to go through a more thorough questionnaire to come up with their rating. We recommend all advisers be a member of an industry or professional body.
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ASIC & Licensees
Each financial adviser is required to hold an Australian Financial Services License or be an Authorised Representative of one. The regulator, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, has the power to enforce certain undertakings on these licensees as well as the power to ban and disqualify financial planners. We take this into consideration in our rating system.
We then award the advisers the following status:
- Platinum
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85 rating or higher
- Gold
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70 - 84 rating
- Silver
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55 - 69 rating
- Bronze
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54 rating or lower
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Angus Woods
Founder & Managing Director
Read moreAngus Woods
Founder & Managing Director
Connect on LinkedIn Connect on TwitterMy 20 year working career has been in financial services and consumer businesses. I was previously an executive of Macquarie Bank and CFO of Virgin Money. I’m passionate about helping consumers in spaces they find difficult to navigate. I initially turned my attention to the financial planning industry on the back of the GFC, which brought to light the bad financial advice that had been given in previous years. We hope this long awaited ratings and review service will not only help consumers find a qualified financial planner, but recognise and reward those in the industry that have been unfairly tarnished by a few rogue, poorly qualified planners.
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Chris Williams
Chief Data Officer
Read moreChris Williams
Chief Data Officer
Connect on LinkedInChris joins Adviser Ratings with over 20 years' experience in the financial services industry. Over the last 10 years he has led teams at several ASX listed companies across operations, risk, FP&A and technology. More recently Chris was responsible for the strategic transformation of data & analytics at the ASX listed Eclipx group. This transformation involved the consolidation of multiple disparate data warehouses and reporting tools into a single cloud based platform as well as building a data science practice.
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Katie Dukes
Chief Operating Officer
Read moreKatie Dukes
Chief Operating Officer
Connect on LinkedInJoining Adviser Ratings in 2018, Katie worked with the data, development and product teams as a Business Analyst and has an extensive understanding of the business and our product portfolio. Prior to Adviser Ratings, Katie worked in the information, knowledge, and data management disciplines across an array of industries including health, mining, construction and engineering. Katie worked for several years at Rio Tinto in the project management office helping global project teams streamline the way information, knowledge and data was managed throughout the project lifecycle. Katie holds a Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Leisure Management from Griffith University, Brisbane and manages our Nightingale, Fund Flow Management and CRM support services.
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Nicolas Pena McGough
Econometrician
Read moreNicolas Pena McGough
Econometrician
Connect on LinkedInNicolas has over 7 years' experience in working for start-ups. Born and raised in Argentina, he has worked in multiple industries before landing in Adviser Ratings in October 2019. Since then he has become an expert in the Australian financial service industry. He produces much of our data and statistical analysis on the industry and contributes regularly to the production of our research papers.
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Michelle Freund
Data Integrity Lead
Read moreMichelle Freund
Data Integrity Lead
Connect on LinkedInMichelle joined the team at Adviser Ratings in 2018 as a Data Integrity team member. Since then, she has worked across multiple areas of the business including client services, remediation, and development testing. Michelle is responsible for evaluating segments of the data that require quality assurance, coordinating the team workload and delivering the highest quality data back to the Adviser Ratings database. Prior to Adviser Ratings, Michelle worked in executive roles within the Hotel industry.
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Luke Withers
Client Relations Manager
Read moreLuke Withers
Client Relations Manager
Connect on LinkedInLuke joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2021. Starting out in our Data integrity team, Luke gained an extensive knowledge of our dataset and progressed within the business to other support roles before joining the client services team as our Client Relations Manager. He brings over 10 years experience in account management and is passionate about providing a high level of service across all our 'Find an Adviser' websites and White Label services. Luke is currently studying a Bachelor of Business Finance at Charles Sturt University.
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Stacey Golley
Adviser Support Lead & Marketing Operations Coordinator
Read moreStacey Golley
Adviser Support Lead & Marketing Operations Coordinator
Connect on LinkedInStacey joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2018. Providing technical and service support, Stacey is the first point of contact for our adviser and consumer community. Stacey also communicates Adviser Ratings research and data publications to wealth management audiences and facilitates sponsored Vendor campaigns. Stacey brings to the team varied experience across Information Services, Local Government and Sustainability. Stacey is a passionate advocate of making financial advice more accessible for consumers by building integrity and trust through our transparent and independent online platform while helping advisers boost their online presence and reputation.
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Seb Stone
Data Scientist
Read moreSeb Stone
Data Scientist
Connect on LinkedInSeb joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2023. Seb works as a Data Scientist uncovering insights and developing reports for stakeholders. Seb is completing a Bachelor of Computer Science majoring in Artificial intelligence at Swinburne University.
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Elle Parker
Data Analyst
Read moreElle Parker
Data Analyst
Connect on LinkedInElle joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2022. Elle works closely with the Data Integrity team, regularly analysing data points and constructing audits requested by management. Elle is in her final year of a Bachelor in Business majoring in Finance. Prior to Adviser Ratings, Elle worked in accounts for a craft brewery and sales for a travel company.
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Madison Scott
Adviser Support & Marketing Administration
Read moreMadison Scott
Adviser Support & Marketing Administration
Connect on LinkedInMadison joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2021. Providing adviser support, marketing administration, data integrity and general business support, she brings over 8 years of business administration experience, with a background in general finance. Madison is currently studying Environmental Science at the University of Southern Queensland.
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Emily Pearce
Data Integrity
Read moreEmily Pearce
Data Integrity
Emily joined the Adviser Ratings team in 2020. Emily is a part of the Data Integrity team continually ensuring the high quality of Adviser Ratings data.
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Robyn Phillips
Data Integrity
Read moreRobyn Phillips
Data Integrity
Robyn joined the Adviser Ratings team in Nov 2020. Robyn is a part of the Data Integrity team continually ensuring the high quality of Adviser Ratings data. Robyn is a qualified Early Childhood Teacher and also holds a Diploma of Business Management. She has worked in various positions prior to Adviser Ratings including business administration, early childhood education, payroll management and accreditation. She also loves spending time with her family and animals.