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How do I choose a financial adviser I can trust?

Check the regulator’s register, find out exactly how they are paid, get their duty to you and every cost in writing, and walk away from promised returns, pressure or a request to pay them personally.

Part of this answer depends on your country’s system.

Trust comes from checks you can make, not from how an adviser comes across. Before you agree to anything, confirm four things: that the person and their firm appear on the regulator’s public register for the kind of advice they are giving; exactly how they are paid; whether they must put your interests first, for all of the advice, and in writing; and what everything will cost you each year as an amount, including the products they recommend. An adviser who answers all four plainly and in writing has passed the first test. One who will not has failed it.

The checks, in order

  1. Check the register yourself. Every market covered here has a regulator with a searchable public register (the country section names it). Search for the individual and the firm, check that the permissions cover what they are offering, and use the contact details on the register rather than those they gave you — a cloned firm copies a real firm’s name.
  2. Ask how they are paid. A flat or hourly fee, a percentage of the money they manage, commission on products sold, or a mix. Each has a conflict: commission rewards selling and switching, a percentage of assets rewards keeping your money invested with them, and an hourly fee rewards hours.
  3. Ask what duty they owe you. Whether they must act in your best interest, whether that covers every recommendation or only some, and whether they are restricted to one company’s products. Legal duties differ by country and by licence.
  4. Get every cost as a yearly amount, in writing: their charge, the funds’ or policies’ own charges, platform fees and any exit penalties.
  5. Ask what happens if something goes wrong, and which complaints scheme or ombudsman they belong to.

Why the way they are paid matters

Conflicts of interest have a measurable cost. Reviewing the research in 2015, the US Council of Economic Advisers found that savers receiving conflicted advice earned returns roughly 1 percentage point lower a year. It put the cost to US IRA savers at about $17 billion a year, and estimated that someone given conflicted advice when moving a workplace balance into an IRA would lose around 12% of its value if they drew it down over 30 years. A conflict does not make an adviser dishonest, but it is a reason to ask how each recommendation pays them.

Warning signs

  • Promised or “safe” high returns. Higher returns come with higher risk.
  • Pressure to decide quickly, or an offer that is “only available today”.
  • A firm or person you cannot find on the register, or one whose register entry gives different contact details.
  • A request to transfer money to a personal account, or to anywhere other than a regulated firm or product provider in your own name.
  • Reluctance to put costs, duties or recommendations in writing.
  • Advice to move a pension or long-term savings without a written explanation of what you give up.

Do you need ongoing advice at all?

Not always. Many people who invest for themselves in low-cost funds still benefit from a one-off, fee-only review at a turning point: a lump sum, a move abroad, an inheritance, separation, or the years just before you stop working. Paying once for a plan you then carry out yourself is a different and usually cheaper arrangement from paying a yearly percentage. Ongoing advice earns its cost when your affairs are complicated, or when you would otherwise make expensive mistakes in a falling market.

What would change the answer: how complicated your affairs are, how much you would otherwise pay in mistakes, and what your country’s rules require of the adviser — the part below.

Which regulator to check, the duty an adviser owes you, the rules on commission, and where to complain.

In United States

  • Check them — Investor.gov’s search runs through the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, which shows registration and any disciplinary history, and FINRA’s BrokerCheck covers brokers.
  • Two kinds of professional — an investment adviser must act in your best interest and not put their own interest ahead of yours, and is typically paid a fee based on the assets in your account. A broker must act in your best interest when making a recommendation (Regulation Best Interest) and is typically paid a commission or mark-up on each transaction.
  • Form CRS — every broker-dealer and investment adviser must give you a short relationship summary describing its services, fees and conflicts. Ask what you will pay, in dollars.
  • Complaints — complain to the firm in writing first, then to FINRA or the SEC.

Sources for United States

  1. Working with an investment professional — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Investor.gov)
  2. Investment advisers — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Investor.gov)
  3. Brokers — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Investor.gov)
  4. Investment Adviser Public Disclosure — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
  5. BrokerCheck — FINRA
  6. File a complaint — FINRA

In Canada

  • Check registration with the Canadian Securities Administrators’ National Registration Search, which lists every registered firm and individual. Investment and mutual fund dealers are also overseen by CIRO.
  • Client Focused Reforms — since the end of 2021, registered firms must resolve material conflicts of interest in your best interest, and put your interest first when recommending an investment.
  • “Financial planner” — in Ontario, anyone using the title “financial planner” or “financial advisor” must hold a credential from an approved body. In most other provinces and territories, financial planning is not regulated.
  • Costs — deferred sales charges are banned, as are trailing commissions paid to discount brokers that do not assess suitability. From the 2026 statement year, annual cost reports must also show fund expenses and trailing commissions, so the first full reports arrive in early 2027.
  • Complaints go to the firm first, then to OBSI, the free and independent ombudsman.

Sources for Canada

  1. How registration protects investors — Ontario Securities Commission (GetSmarterAboutMoney)
  2. Putting your interests first — Ontario Securities Commission (GetSmarterAboutMoney)
  3. Work with a financial planner — Ontario Securities Commission (GetSmarterAboutMoney)
  4. Deferred sales charges and order-execution-only trailer bans explained — Ontario Securities Commission (GetSmarterAboutMoney)
  5. What is total cost reporting and how it will work — Ontario Securities Commission (GetSmarterAboutMoney) (figures as of 2026)
  6. OBSI: Canada’s banking and investment ombudsman — Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments

In United Kingdom

  • Check the FCA’s Financial Services Register for the firm and the adviser, and its Warning List for unauthorised firms. With a firm that is registered but not authorised, you are unlikely to be covered by the Financial Ombudsman or the compensation scheme.
  • No commission on investment advice — since the end of 2012, a firm giving a personal recommendation on retail investments may be paid only by an adviser charge agreed with you, not by commission from product providers.
  • Consumer Duty — firms must meet the FCA’s Consumer Duty, which sets high standards of consumer protection and requires them to put customers’ needs first.
  • New: targeted support — under FCA rules expected to take effect from 6 April 2026, firms with permission can offer suggestions to groups of customers with common characteristics. It is help designed for people in your situation, not advice on your individual circumstances.
  • Complaints — give the firm eight weeks, then take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service within six months of the final response. It is free.

Sources for United Kingdom

  1. Financial Services Register — Financial Conduct Authority
  2. How to check a firm or individual is authorised — Financial Conduct Authority
  3. COBS 6.1A Adviser charging and remuneration — FCA Handbook
  4. Consumer Duty — Financial Conduct Authority
  5. Advice Guidance Boundary Review — Financial Conduct Authority (figures as of 2026-04-06)
  6. How to complain — Financial Ombudsman Service

In Europe

Who may give advice, what titles mean and how complaints are handled are national, so check your own country’s regulator — ESMA links to every national register. What MiFID II gives every client of an investment firm in the EU:

  • The firm must act honestly, fairly and professionally in your best interests, and tell you before advising whether its advice is independent and how wide a range of products it covers.
  • A firm that calls its advice independent may not keep fees or commissions from third parties, beyond minor disclosed non-monetary benefits.
  • You must be told all costs and charges, including the cost of the advice and any payments from third parties, added together, and again at least once a year.
  • When you are given advice, you receive a written suitability statement explaining how it meets your preferences, objectives and other characteristics.

Sources for Europe

  1. Directive 2014/65/EU (MiFID II), Articles 24 and 25 — EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the European Union)
  2. Is the firm regulated? — European Securities and Markets Authority
  3. Make a complaint — European Securities and Markets Authority
  4. Procedure file 2023/0167(COD): retail investment package — European Parliament Legislative Observatory (figures as of 2026-10-01)

In Australia

  • Check the Financial Advisers Register, published by ASIC on Moneysmart. It shows where an adviser has worked, their qualifications and training, and the products they may advise on.
  • Best interests duty — an adviser must act in your best interests and give advice that meets your objectives, financial situation and needs.
  • Conflicted remuneration is banned — advisers may not be paid benefits, such as commissions from product issuers, that could reasonably be expected to influence their advice or the products they recommend. There are exceptions, notably for life risk insurance commissions.
  • Ongoing fees need your consent — since 10 January 2025, an ongoing fee arrangement needs your signed, dated written consent to start and to renew each year. Without it the arrangement ends and the fees must stop.
  • Complaints go to the firm first, then to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

Sources for Australia

  1. Search ASIC registers — Australian Securities and Investments Commission
  2. Acting in the client’s best interests — Australian Securities and Investments Commission
  3. RG 246 Conflicted and other banned remuneration — Australian Securities and Investments Commission
  4. FAQs: ongoing fee arrangements and consents — Australian Securities and Investments Commission (figures as of 2025-01-10)
  5. Reporting misconduct to ASIC — Australian Securities and Investments Commission

In New Zealand

  • Check the Financial Service Providers Register. Every financial adviser must be engaged by a licensed Financial Advice Provider and linked to it on the register.
  • Code of Professional Conduct — anyone giving regulated advice to retail clients must meet its standards of competence, conduct and client care, which have applied in full since March 2023.
  • Disputes — every provider serving retail clients must belong to an approved dispute resolution scheme, and complaining to one is free. Complain to the provider first; the register shows which scheme it belongs to.

Sources for New Zealand

  1. Financial Service Providers Register — New Zealand Companies Office
  2. Requirements for FAPs and financial advisers — New Zealand Companies Office
  3. Code of conduct for financial service providers — New Zealand Companies Office
  4. Choosing a dispute resolution scheme — New Zealand Companies Office

In Singapore

  • Check two registers — MAS’s Financial Institutions Directory for the firm, and its Financial Institution Representatives Register for the person advising you.
  • The advisory process — a representative must first understand your needs, then have a clear and reasonable basis for any recommendation and explain why it suits you, with its risks, fees and charges.
  • Pay — how representatives and their supervisors are paid is governed by MAS rules, the Balanced Scorecard framework in Notice FAA-N20 (last amended from 29 December 2025). Ask how your representative is paid on what they recommend.
  • Scams — MAS’s Investor Alert List names people who may be wrongly thought to be regulated. It no longer lists impersonators of regulated firms, so check the Directory itself rather than relying on the list.
  • Complaints — FIDReC resolves disputes with financial institutions independently.

Sources for Singapore

  1. Financial Institutions Directory — Monetary Authority of Singapore
  2. Financial Institution Representatives Register — Monetary Authority of Singapore
  3. Financial advisory process — MoneySense (MAS-led national financial education programme)
  4. Notice FAA-N20 — Monetary Authority of Singapore (figures as of 2025-12-29)
  5. Investor Alert List — Monetary Authority of Singapore
  6. FIDReC — Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre

In Hong Kong

  • Check the SFC’s public register of licensed persons and registered institutions. Advising on securities is Type 4 regulated activity. Anyone selling MPF schemes must also be registered with the MPFA as an MPF intermediary.
  • Commission must be disclosed — since June 2011, intermediaries selling investment products must tell you about the monetary and non-monetary benefits they receive from product issuers.
  • Disputes — the Financial Dispute Resolution Centre offers mediation first and arbitration next, and every HKMA-authorised and SFC-licensed institution is a member.

Sources for Hong Kong

  1. Public register of licensed persons and registered institutions — Securities and Futures Commission
  2. Do you need a licence or registration? — Securities and Futures Commission
  3. Regulation of MPF intermediaries — Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority
  4. Sales process — Investor and Financial Education Council
  5. Financial Dispute Resolution Centre — Investor and Financial Education Council

In Japan

  • Check the FSA’s lists of registered Financial Instruments Business Operators and Financial Service Intermediary Business Operators before dealing with anyone.
  • Best-interest duty — since November 2024, the law requires financial businesses to act in good faith and fairly, taking account of their customers’ best interests (顧客の最善の利益). From December 2025 they must also tell customers about possible conflicts of interest.
  • Independent advisers — J-FLEC (the Japan Financial Literacy and Education Corporation) certifies advisers who belong to no financial institution and sell no financial products, and publishes a search tool to find them.
  • Disputes about securities firms go to FINMAC, the Financial Instruments Mediation Assistance Center.

Sources for Japan

  1. List of licensed (registered) financial institutions — Financial Services Agency, Japan (figures as of 2026-08-31)
  2. 顧客本位の業務運営について — Financial Services Agency, Japan
  3. J-FLEC 認定アドバイザー — Japan Financial Literacy and Education Corporation (J-FLEC)
  4. FINMAC — Financial Instruments Mediation Assistance Center

In India

  • Check SEBI’s list of registered Investment Advisers before paying anyone for investment advice.
  • Fee limits — since January 2025, an adviser may charge an individual or HUF client up to ₹1,51,000 a year per family as a fixed fee, or up to 2.5% a year of the assets advised on. You can switch between the two, but the total cannot exceed the higher limit. The fixed limit is revised every three years.
  • Advice is kept apart from selling — SEBI requires advisory and distribution activities to be separated at the family and group level, so the person advising you for a fee is not also earning commission from selling you products.
  • Complaints — use SEBI’s SCORES portal, and the SMART ODR platform for online dispute resolution.

Sources for India

  1. Recognised intermediaries: Investment Advisers — Securities and Exchange Board of India
  2. Guidelines for Investment Advisers (circular, 8 January 2025) — Securities and Exchange Board of India (figures as of 2025-01-08)
  3. SCORES — Securities and Exchange Board of India
  4. SMART ODR — Securities market online dispute resolution portal

In Malaysia

  • Check the Securities Commission’s public register of licence holders and registered persons, and its Investor Alert List of unauthorised and cloned firms. Money placed through an unauthorised firm is not protected by Malaysian securities law.
  • Complaints, changed in 2025 — the Financial Markets Ombudsman Service (FMOS) began on 1 January 2025, bringing together the Ombudsman for Financial Services and SIDREC. It is free for consumers and investors. Complain to the firm first, then to FMOS within six months of its final decision.
  • Ask the adviser which licence they hold, from the Securities Commission or from Bank Negara Malaysia, and confirm it on the regulator’s own site.

Sources for Malaysia

  1. Licensed and registered persons — Securities Commission Malaysia
  2. Investor Alert List — Securities Commission Malaysia
  3. Who we are — Financial Markets Ombudsman Service (figures as of 2025-01-01)
  4. How to file a dispute — Financial Markets Ombudsman Service
  5. Approved financial advisers — Bank Negara Malaysia

Nivritee and an adviser

Nivritee projects your plan; it does not give advice or recommend products (what that means). If you work with a professional, you can invite them from Family & sharing: under Who are they?, the group Someone who advises you offers Lawyer, Chartered Accountant and Trusted friend. Someone you invite this way can look at what you allow and never change a figure. What a viewer can see has the detail.

Family & sharing

PeopleWho is on your plan, and who can see it.
+ Add a person
PersonAgeAccess
Your partnerWife36JoinedPlanning together, with their own sign-in
Your motherParent64AcceptedSees: The family plan: every section and results
Your CAChartered Accountant51Pending approvalWaiting for your partner to approve · then it is emailed
A close friendTrusted friend40SentSent on 26 Sep 2026 · link valid until 10 Oct 2026
Your brotherBrother or sister33Not invitedOn your plan · invite them to see it whenever you are ready
The app’s own People table and its own words. Roles stand where names would be: nobody here is a real person. Anyone invited can only look — never change a figure, never read a conversation with Niv.

Family & sharing for the illustrative household: the People table, with the app’s own status words. Roles stand where names would be. Anyone invited can only look.

  • + Add a person — invite a family member or someone who advises you.
  • Your CA, a Chartered Accountant — “Pending approval”, waiting for your partner to approve.
  • Your mother — “Accepted”: she sees the family plan, every section and results.

Illustrative figures — not anybody’s real plan.

Sources

  1. The Effects of Conflicted Investment Advice on Retirement Savings (Council of Economic Advisers, 23 February 2015) — The White House (archived) (figures as of 2015-02-23)
  2. Working with an investment professional — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Investor.gov)
  3. Get ready to invest — European Securities and Markets Authority
  4. 8 questions to ask an advisor — Ontario Securities Commission (GetSmarterAboutMoney)

Last reviewed 1 October 2026.

This is general information, not advice for your circumstances. Rules and limits change; check the official source for your country, and consult a licensed professional before making financial decisions.