New service allows investors to rate and review advisors
As anyone with university-aged kids can tell you, Rate My Professor and Rate Your Prof are popular online services that allows students to anonymously rate and comment on the professors teaching at their schools.
Just by browsing the rankings, you can find out everything you ever wanted to know – and maybe some things you didn’t – about current or future profs.
Now there’s a new Canadian research tool, called Know Your Financial Advisor, that’s built on a similar principle.
Although still in its infancy, a number of hungry advisors have signed up with the service in recent weeks, hoping to be discovered by potential clients.
In turn, using a national advisor database of some 80,000 names, the site aims to provide investors with advisor ratings and reviews. And, if two or more advisors are of interest to you, you can see how they stack up against each other by using the Audition tool.
Ultimately, advisors will earn a KYFA "rating" based on client feedback – a measure that didn’t particularly thrill a couple of experienced advisors I spoke with.
Not surprisingly, their concerns centre on the possibility of a disgruntled client posting an unfair, even malicious, review and the fact that unscrupulous competitors might cook the books by posting specious reviews about them.
KYFA claims to have several checks and balances in place, however, so we’ll have to see.
The prof-rating sites have long been criticized for being statistically inaccurate, focusing on the wrong criteria, and too one-sided.
It is, after all, just someone’s opinion though, which is why some of the professor-ranking sites are now allowing academics to chime in with rebuttals if they feel hard done by.
Do you have strong feelings about the advisors you've dealt with? Will you share the word now that you have the chance? Would such a rating guide influence your decisions?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: David Ramsay | Oct 6, 2021 7:07:06 PM
Who needs an advisor? Manage your own money! If you have spare money give it to the charity!!
Posted by: Jodi | Oct 7, 2021 7:06:37 AM
Who needs an advisor????? That's just crazy!! Everyone should have an advisor just like everyone should have a doctor!! It would be nice to know which ones are worth your time and which ones aren't!!
Posted by: jim stefanishion | Oct 13, 2021 3:57:42 PM
i have just signed up with a personal advisor...td waterhouse...i certainly would like imput on him
i will see if he is listed.
Posted by: Kris | Jul 22, 2021 1:49:24 AM
If you haven't heard from your advisor in 4-6 months, time to start looking for a new one !!