Licensee Complaints
If you believe that your financial adviser has given you advice that was inappropriate.
Or
If financial advice was provided to you without proper diligence being performed regarding your personal circumstances.
You are able to file a complaint directly with your Australian Financial Services (AFS) Licensee. All AFS Licensees are required to join the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). In the event a complaint needs to be escalated past the AFS Licensee it is then submitted to AFCA.
On this page we have highlighted some of the reasons and occasions when it is appropriate to submit a complaint against your adviser.
Investment and financial advice complaints
If your investments were chosen without regard for your financial situation, without appropriate explanation to you, or against your risk profile you are able to complain to your licensee. This includes information you weren’t given, including fees or costs, or if the information you were given was misleading or insufficient.
This also applies if you gave instruction to invest or pull out of investments that was not adhered to or was only adhered to after a delay.
You can also complain about charges and commissions that were incorrectly charged, applied or calculated.
Superannuation, including Self Managed Super Fund Complaints
Complaints about superannuation can relate to a number of different actions.
Information you weren’t given, or Information that was misleading or insufficient. This is including fees or costs, and fees or costs that were incorrectly charged or calculated.
We receive a lot of complaints about advisers in relation to recommendations to establish Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF), borrow money, and to buy property off the plan. For many people this strategy can result in large losses.
If you gave instructions (for example, to switch your investment option or to change your insurance cover) and they weren’t followed. Transactions that were incorrect or unauthorised.
Insurance Complaints
Insurance Complaints relate to a number of different facets of insurance policies.
Failure to recommend appropriate insurance to clients.
Unnecessary replacement of existing insurance policies.
Information that wasn’t disclosed about a product or was misleading or incorrect.
Decisions your financial firm made, such as denial of an insurance claim, the value of an assessed loss, or delays in making a decision.