FACT FILE

YOUR RIGHTS AS A CONSUMER

The internationally recognised Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation represents the highest professional designation for financial planners worldwide. There are over 200 000 CFP professionals globally, and about 4770 in South Africa. The Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa (FPI) is the local custodian of the CFP mark. If you’ve decided to work with a financial planner, it’s important to understand your rights in the relationship. On its website, the FPI lists your rights as follows:

1. You have the right to a planner who has integrity.

Trust between you and your financial planner is central to a successful relationship. When you know that your financial planner takes his or her professional obligations seriously, placing principles over personal gain, you can develop the type of partnership that is crucial to the success of any professional relationship.

2. You have the right to objective advice.

Your needs should be at the heart of all recommendations made by your financial planner. Your planner should carefully consider your situation, do thorough research and, based on his or her knowledge and experience, give you advice that best meets your goals.

This objectivity may require your planner to explain that your goals are unrealistic. He or she may then suggest alternative goals or priorities.

3. You have the right to be treated fairly.

Your financial planner should treat you the same way he or she would like to be treated in a professional relationship. This involves clearly stating what services will be provided and at what price. Your planner should also explain the risks associated with his or her financial recommendations and any potential conflicts of interest. For example, does he or she gain financially from your purchase of a particular product?

4. You have the right to a planner who is professional.

Your financial planner should not provide investment advice or stock brokerage or insurance services unless he or she is properly qualified and licensed to do so. If your situation requires expertise that your financial planner does not have, he or she should suggest other professionals who may assist you.

5. You have the right to a planner who is competent.

Your financial planner should have an appropriate level of knowledge to offer financial advice. You can be confident that a planner with the CFP certification has the required knowledge and expertise. Your planner should also complete continuing education courses to remain competent and updated on financial issues.

6. You have the right to privacy.

You need to divulge relevant personal and financial information to your financial planner regularly. Your financial planner should keep this information in confidence, only sharing it with others to conduct business on your behalf, at your consent, or when required to do so by court order.

7. You have the right to a planner who is diligent.

Your financial planner should discuss your goals and objectives with you and explain what you can expect from the relationship before engaging you as a client. Once the planner has determined that he or she can assist you and has gathered sufficient information, the planner should make – and, if required, implement – recommendations that are suitable for you. A diligent financial planner reasonably investigates the products or services he or she recommends.