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.
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.
✅ How to Check
Verifying an adviser is quick and worth doing before you act on any advice. A few official checks confirm legitimacy.
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.
💡 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.
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)
Related guides
- Check Your Credit Report for Free, a related guide in the same area.
- Financial Abuse: Recognising Economic Harm, a related guide in the same area.
- Financial Buffers, a related guide in the same area.
Related tools and guides
- Adviser fee impact calculator: the lifetime cost of the fee you are quoted.
- Fixed vs percentage fee calculator: which fee structure suits your balance.