BT floats planner rating system
Financial planners' performance should be given a rating by customers and scores made readily available on a central register, BT Financial Group believes.
The large wealth management firm called for a reboot of the current financial planning database in the interest of consumer choice.
It said while the efforts to boost the education of financial planners were laudable, consumers needed access to a more diverse range of information to properly assess planners, and placed the customer ratings system at the centre of its proposal.
"Education is critical but assessed in isolation does not provide a full picture of the quality and suitability of an adviser," BT Financial Group Chief Executive Brad Cooper said.
"Most importantly we would like to see a customer rating for all advisers that would be widely accessible by all Australians.
"A common industry standard covering advice audits is also required to support the register."
Cooper said he was pleased to see the Government's efforts to establish a working group to look at the viability of a register and encouraged the industry to support the move.
"To be effective, our aim is to have a collective effort from across the industry for this initiative," he said.
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