Checking a Financial Adviser Is Registered

🔎 Making Sure Your Adviser Is Legitimate

Getting financial advice can be genuinely valuable, but only if it comes from someone qualified, legitimate, and acting in your interests. In New Zealand, anyone giving regulated financial advice to retail clients must operate under a licence and meet certain standards. Before you trust someone with decisions about your money, a few simple checks confirm they are who they say they are and are allowed to advise you. This protects you from both incompetence and outright scams.

                Key Point: Financial advisers in New Zealand must be licensed or operate under a licensed Financial Advice Provider, and they must meet conduct and competency standards, including putting your interests first and disclosing key information. You can check that an adviser or firm is registered and licensed using official registers, and a legitimate adviser will readily give you their disclosure information. If someone giving advice cannot be verified, that is a serious warning sign.
            

Why This Matters

Advice affects big decisions: investments, KiwiSaver, insurance, and mortgages.
Licensing means standards, accountability, and a complaints path.
Scammers often pose as advisers, so verifying protects your money.

📝 What the Rules Require

The regime for financial advice is built to protect consumers. Anyone giving regulated financial advice must work within a licensed structure and follow duties designed to keep advice honest and competent.

Requirement	What it means for you
Operate under a licence	The adviser or their firm holds, or works under, a Financial Advice Provider licence
Put your interests first	They must prioritise your interests, not just sell a product
Meet competency standards	They must have the required knowledge and skill
Disclose key information	They must tell you about fees, commissions, conflicts, and how to complain

Disclosure Is Your Friend

A legitimate adviser must give you disclosure information, covering how they are paid, any commissions or conflicts of interest, what they can advise on, and how to complain. This is powerful for you, because it reveals whether their incentives align with your interests. An adviser who is reluctant to disclose how they are paid is a red flag.

                Ask how they are paid: An adviser might be paid by fees from you, by commissions from the products they recommend, or a mix. None is automatically wrong, but commissions can create a conflict, so knowing how someone is paid helps you judge their advice. They must disclose this, so ask.
            

✅ How to Check

Verifying an adviser is quick and worth doing before you act on any advice. A few official checks confirm legitimacy.

Get the adviser and firm full name and details

Check the official register that they are registered

Confirm they operate under a licensed Financial Advice Provider

Read their disclosure information on fees and conflicts

Check the regulator warning list for any concerns

Using the Registers

New Zealand maintains official registers of financial service providers, and the Financial Markets Authority oversees the regime. You can look up whether a person or firm is registered and licensed, and check the regulator warning list for any alerts. If you cannot find an adviser on the relevant register, or the details do not match, treat that as a serious concern. See our guide on spotting investment scams.

                Verify independently: Use official sources to check an adviser, not just the credentials on their own website or business card, which can be faked. Looking them up on the official register and the regulator site, yourself, is the reliable check.
            

💡 Questions to Ask and Warning Signs

Good Questions to Ask an Adviser

Are you licensed, and under which Financial Advice Provider?
How are you paid, and do you receive commissions?
What can you advise on, and what are you not able to advise on?
What are the fees, and what will they total?
How do I make a complaint if I need to?

Warning Signs of Someone Not Legitimate

They cannot be found on the official register, or details do not match.
They are reluctant to provide disclosure or explain how they are paid.
They pressure you to act quickly or to invest in something specific.
They promise high, guaranteed, or risk-free returns.
They contacted you out of the blue with an opportunity.

                Legitimate advice has a complaints path: A licensed adviser must belong to a dispute resolution scheme, so you have a free way to complain if something goes wrong. If someone giving advice has no such path and cannot be verified, they are not operating legitimately, and you should not trust them with your money.
            

Pair this with our guides on investing basics and spotting investment scams. Final word: a legitimate financial adviser is licensed or operates under a licensed provider, must put your interests first, and must disclose how they are paid and how to complain. Check them on the official register, read their disclosure, ask how they are paid, and treat anyone who cannot be verified as a serious warning sign. This is general information, not personalised financial advice.

🎯 Test Your Knowledge

Quiz on Checking a Financial Adviser Is Registered (20 Questions)

1. In New Zealand, someone giving regulated financial advice must:

Be licensed or operate under a licensed Financial Advice Provider

Just have a business card

Be popular online

Be over 65

2. A licensed adviser must:

Put your interests first

Sell the most expensive product

Hide their fees

Avoid disclosure

3. Disclosure information covers:

Fees, commissions, conflicts, and how to complain

Only the weather

Their favourite fund

Nothing useful

4. An adviser reluctant to disclose how they are paid is:

A red flag

Normal

Required to hide it

More trustworthy

5. Advisers may be paid by:

Fees, commissions, or a mix

Only the government

Only you in cash

Never

6. Commissions can:

Create a conflict of interest

Never affect advice

Be illegal always

Guarantee good advice

7. To verify an adviser, you should:

Check the official register that they are registered

Trust their website only

Ask no questions

Assume they are fine

8. The regulator overseeing financial advice is the:

Financial Markets Authority

Local council

Supermarket

A bank

9. If you cannot find an adviser on the relevant register, you should:

Treat it as a serious concern

Invest anyway

Trust them more

Pay quickly

10. You should verify an adviser using:

Official sources, not just their own card or website

Only their business card

Only their website

Social media likes

11. A good question to ask is:

Are you licensed, and under which provider?

What is your star sign?

Do you like my house?

What is the weather?

12. You should also ask:

How are you paid, and do you receive commissions?

Nothing about fees

Only their age

For free money

13. A warning sign of someone not legitimate is:

They promise high, guaranteed, or risk-free returns

They disclose fees

They are on the register

They explain risks

14. Another warning sign is:

They contacted you out of the blue with an opportunity

They answer your questions

They provide disclosure

They are registered

15. A licensed adviser must belong to:

A dispute resolution scheme

No scheme

A social club

A bank

16. If someone giving advice has no complaints path and cannot be verified, they are:

Not operating legitimately

Probably fine

Government approved

Low risk

17. Checking an adviser matters because advice affects:

Big decisions like investments, KiwiSaver, insurance, and mortgages

Only small choices

Nothing important

Only businesses

18. Pressure to act quickly or invest in something specific is:

A warning sign

Good service

Required

A guarantee

19. You should read an adviser disclosure information:

Before acting on their advice

After you invest

Never

Only if asked

20. The best summary of checking an adviser is:

Verify they are licensed, read their disclosure, ask how they are paid, and distrust anyone unverifiable

Trust the business card

Skip checks for friendly advisers

Assume everyone is licensed

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