A first meeting with a financial adviser is a two-way interview. Most people treat it as an audition where they are the ones being assessed, and leave having learned very little about the person they are considering handing their financial life to.
The questions below are the ones that actually matter. Some of them are uncomfortable to ask and uncomfortable to answer, which is precisely why they are useful. A good adviser will not mind. Reluctance is itself information. They apply to us as much as to anyone, and our financial advice page sets out how we answer several of them.
Before the meeting: check the public registers
Two minutes of checking beats an hour of conversation.
The Financial Advisers Register, published on ASIC’s Moneysmart website, is free and searchable by name, adviser number, business name or ABN. It shows who authorises the adviser, their current and previous licensees, and their qualifications.
Two limitations are worth knowing. The information is supplied by licensees, and ASIC does not check or review it before it is published, so treat it as a starting point rather than a verification. And advisers who were banned or disqualified before 31 March 2015 and have not returned to the industry do not appear on it at all. They appear on ASIC’s Banned and Disqualified Register, which is a separate search worth doing.
Note also that the education standards tightened from 1 January 2026, and a significant number of advisers were unable to continue providing personal advice after that date. If an adviser’s registration details look unusual or their licensee has changed recently, ask about it.
Licensing and competence
1. Who authorises you, and who owns your licensee?
Every adviser operates under an Australian Financial Services Licence, either their own or someone else’s. The important half of this question is the second one. If the licensee is owned by a bank, an insurer or a fund manager, that ownership shapes what products are available to recommend, whatever the adviser’s personal intentions.
2. What are your qualifications, and how do you keep them current?
Since 2019, advisers have had to meet specific education standards, pass a national exam and complete continuing professional development. Those requirements tightened again from 1 January 2026. Ask what they hold, and ask separately whether they are qualified to provide tax-related advice, because that is a separate authorisation and many are not.
3. Has ASIC or AFCA ever taken action involving you or your firm?
Ask it directly and watch the answer. You can verify some of it yourself on the registers, but the way someone responds to being asked tells you as much as the answer.
Cost
4. What will this cost me in dollars, in year one and every year after?
Not a percentage. Dollars. A fee described as 1% sounds modest and means something very different on $300,000 than on $1.5 million.
Ask for the upfront advice fee and the ongoing fee separately, and ask what happens to the ongoing fee as your balance grows. If the answer is a percentage, ask what additional service you receive when the dollar amount doubles.
If you are trying to work out what a reasonable number looks like before you walk in, our guide to what financial advice costs in Australia sets out the ranges, and there is a separate piece on what retirement advice specifically costs.
5. What am I paying that does not go to you?
This is the question people miss, and it is often where most of the cost sits.
Beyond the adviser fee there is usually a platform or administration fee, the management costs of the underlying investments, and transaction costs. Added together these can exceed the advice fee itself. Ask for the total annual cost of the recommended arrangement, expressed in dollars, including everything.
6. Do you receive commissions on anything you recommend?
Commissions on investment and superannuation products were largely removed years ago. Life insurance commissions were not, and remain a legitimate and common way for insurance advice to be paid for.
There is nothing wrong with that model. What matters is knowing it exists, understanding roughly what it is worth on a policy being recommended, and asking whether a lower-commission or no-commission option was considered.
7. What is the ongoing fee arrangement, and how do I end it?
Ongoing fee arrangements require your consent to continue, and renewal is not automatic. Ask what the cancellation process is, how much notice is required, and what happens to your investments if you leave. An adviser who cannot answer this crisply has not thought about clients leaving, which is itself worth noting.
Conflicts
8. Can you legally describe yourself as independent?
This is the sharpest question on the list.
Under section 923A of the Corporations Act, terms like “independent”, “impartial” and “unbiased” can only be used by advisers who receive no commissions, no volume-based payments and no other conflicted remuneration. Relatively few advisers in Australia meet that test, which is why the words appear far less often in formal documents than in general conversation.
An adviser who is not independent under that definition is not thereby a bad adviser. Plenty of excellent ones are not. But you want to know which you are dealing with, and you want to hear an accurate answer rather than a marketing one.
9. What is on your approved product list, and where do your clients’ funds actually sit?
Ask two things. What products are you permitted to recommend, and what proportion of your clients hold products issued by your licensee or a related company?
The second number is the revealing one. A firm where most client money sits in in-house products may have good reasons for that. It may also mean the recommendation was substantially determined before you walked in.
10. Do you have referral arrangements, and does money change hands?
Advisers commonly work alongside accountants, mortgage brokers and solicitors, which is usually to your benefit. Ask whether payments flow in either direction for referrals, both those you receive and those you are sent for. Referral fees are not disqualifying, but undisclosed ones are a problem.
Service and philosophy
11. Who will I actually deal with, and what happens if you leave?
Many people meet a senior adviser and are then serviced by someone else. That can be perfectly fine, but you should know it before rather than after.
Ask about succession as well. Advisers retire, sell their practices and change firms. If your plan depends on one person’s knowledge of your circumstances, ask what happens when that person is no longer there.
12. What is included in the ongoing service, in writing?
“Ongoing advice” means very different things at different firms. Ask how many meetings per year, what is reviewed at them, what reporting you receive, how quickly your calls and emails are answered, and who answers them.
Then ask for it in writing. This is the most common source of dissatisfaction in advice relationships, and almost all of it stems from expectations that were never documented.
13. What is your investment philosophy, and what will you do when markets fall?
You are looking for a coherent answer rather than a particular one. Whether they favour active or passive management matters less than whether they can explain why, how they set asset allocation, and what their process is in a downturn.
Be wary of anyone who claims to move clients out before falls and back in before recoveries. Ask what they told clients to do during the last significant market drop, and what those clients did.
Protection and fit
14. Are you a member of AFCA, and do you hold professional indemnity insurance?
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority handles complaints against financial firms, and membership is required. Ask about their internal complaints process too, and how many complaints they have had.
It is also worth understanding that the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort exists to pay some unpaid AFCA determinations where a firm has collapsed, but it is capped and it does not cover everything. It is a backstop, not a guarantee, which is a reason to care about who you engage in the first place rather than to relax about it.
15. What would you not help me with?
The best question on the list, and the most revealing.
An adviser who claims to be the right answer to every question you have is either inexperienced or not being straight with you. A good one will tell you where their expertise runs out, who they would refer you to, and what parts of your situation need an accountant or a solicitor instead.
Willingness to say “that is not us” is one of the most reliable signals of a firm worth engaging.
Red flags
Some answers should end the conversation rather than continue it.
Reluctance to state fees in dollars. Pressure to decide quickly, or an offer that expires. Any suggestion of guaranteed or unusually high returns, particularly on something described as low risk. Contact that began with a cold call, an online quiz or a lead generator, especially where the conversation moves quickly toward switching your superannuation. A recommendation to move your entire balance into a single product you have never heard of.
That last cluster deserves emphasis. Recent collapses in Australia have followed a recognisable pattern of cold contact, high-return promises and superannuation switching into unlisted products, and thousands of people lost substantial sums. Our article on what investors should understand about private credit covers some of the same ground from the product side.
What good answers look like
Clear numbers in dollars. Comfort with the awkward questions, including the ones about conflicts. Willingness to put service commitments in writing. An investment approach they can explain without jargon. And honesty about limits.
You are not looking for perfection, and you should be sceptical of anyone who presents as having none of the ordinary constraints every firm has. You are looking for someone who tells you what those constraints are without being cornered into it.
That is the standard we hold ourselves to, and you can see how our financial advice service is structured before you ask us anything.
One more thing worth knowing
You do not have to sign up for ongoing advice to get help. Many firms will provide scoped or one-off advice on a specific question, such as a contribution strategy, a retirement projection or an insurance review, for a fixed fee. If you have one problem rather than an ongoing need, ask what that would cost.
The trigger matters too. Our guide on when to see a financial adviser covers the life events where advice earns its cost most reliably, and if you are already working with someone, signs your advice has gone stale is the companion question.
If you are choosing locally, our article on what to look for when choosing a financial planner in Adelaide covers the practical side of that decision. If you are choosing locally, our article on what to look for when choosing a financial planner in Adelaide covers the practical side of that decision. And if you want to put these questions to us, get in touch. We are happy to answer all fifteen.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if a financial adviser is licensed in Australia?
Search the Financial Advisers Register on ASIC’s Moneysmart website, free, by name, adviser number, business name or ABN. It shows who authorises them, their current and previous licensees and their qualifications. Note that licensees supply the information and ASIC does not verify it before publication, and that advisers banned before 31 March 2015 who have not returned to the industry appear on the separate Banned and Disqualified Register instead.
What should a financial adviser’s fees look like?
Ask for the total annual cost in dollars rather than percentages, covering the upfront advice fee, the ongoing fee, the platform or administration fee, the management costs of the underlying investments and transaction costs. The costs beyond the adviser’s own fee frequently exceed it, and they are the ones most often left out of the conversation.
Can financial advisers still receive commissions?
Commissions on investment and superannuation products were largely removed years ago, but life insurance commissions remain permitted and are a common way for insurance advice to be paid for. Ask directly whether commissions apply to anything being recommended, what they are worth, and whether lower-commission alternatives were considered.
What does it mean if an adviser says they are independent?
Under section 923A of the Corporations Act, terms such as independent, impartial and unbiased can only be used by advisers who receive no commissions, no volume-based payments and no other conflicted remuneration. Relatively few Australian advisers meet that test. An adviser who is not independent in that legal sense is not necessarily a worse adviser, but you should get an accurate answer rather than a marketing one.
What are the warning signs of a bad financial adviser?
Reluctance to give fees in dollars, pressure to decide quickly, promises of guaranteed or unusually high returns on something described as low risk, and contact that began with a cold call or online lead generator and moved quickly toward switching your superannuation. A recommendation to move an entire balance into a single unfamiliar product is a particularly serious signal.
Do I have to commit to ongoing advice?
No. Many firms provide scoped or one-off advice on a specific question, such as a contribution strategy, a retirement projection or an insurance review, for a fixed fee. If you have a single problem rather than an ongoing need, ask what that would cost before assuming an ongoing arrangement is the only option.
What happens if my adviser’s firm collapses?
Complaints go to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, and where a firm cannot pay an AFCA determination the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort may cover some of it. The scheme is capped and does not cover every loss or every product, so it is a backstop rather than a guarantee, which is a reason to check carefully before engaging rather than to rely on it afterwards.
General advice warning. This article contains general information only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It describes regulatory concepts in general terms and is not legal advice. Regulatory requirements and disclosure documents change, so please confirm current requirements with ASIC’s Moneysmart website. Money Path is itself a financial advice business, and we encourage you to ask us these questions as readily as you would ask anyone else.
