2014-12-01

SapientNitro Australia has launched BT Financial Group's adviser ratings site, Adviser View: a new online public adviser register, with client satisfaction ratings and visibility of advisers' qualifications.

This site helps BT lead the way in a new era of financial advice by providing consumers new ways of accessing information about financial advisers.

Says Marcos Kurowski, managing director, SapientNitro Australia: "The
Australian financial services industry is in a state of flux and
consumers are looking for more reasons to trust advice and to seek out a
financial adviser. Despite a high level of professionalism in the
industry, high levels of regulatory change and consumer scrutiny have
turned the spotlight on the ability of the industry to be relevant to
more Australians.

"But the truth is, consumers need financial
advice more now than ever. With dramatic demographic change taking place
in the next decade, more Australians have to consider the issue of
longevity and facing the possibility of outliving their finances."

BTFG's
focus on the professionalism of its planners put it in a good position
to be a leader in making financial advice more transparent to consumers.
They enlisted SapientNitro to help them create a breakthrough solution
to reveal more about their organization, their commitment to customers,
and the listed advisers in a bid to be even more transparent and
accountable. Using a mobile first methodology the agency developed a
responsive crowd sourced ratings site on financial advisors. Customers
accessed the site on mobile, tablets and the web to provide their
feedback and verbatims on their adviser experience.

Says Mark
Murray, chief marketing officer, BT Financial Group: "Customers are
looking for help when it comes to finding a financial adviser and this
is what Adviser View does. It is a tool our customers can use to help
them find a qualified, experienced financial planner. Customers can
search by location or by a planner's name and they will find a planner
that meets the high ethical and professional standards of the BT
Financial Group Advice network. It is simple, but this really means
something to our customers and it means a lot to us.  It is the game
changer in our industry that puts customer needs first and empowers them
to take control of the financial advice experience. To help customers
find a financial planner they can trust and who will help them manage
their finances both now and into the future, means our customers will
have a brighter future and we can move closer to delivering our goal of
more advice to more Australians."

Says Kurowski: "With the
Advisor View site we created for BT Financial Group, they're now first
to market with a crowd sourced ratings solution - think TripAdvisor but
for financial advice. The site aims to set a new benchmark for the
financial advice industry by making financial advice client-driven. It
gives all Australians the power to search, share and compare financial
advisers in a major initiative by BT that focuses on improving the
client experience, adviser professionalism and creates unprecedented
transparency when choosing a financial advisor."

The site is
especially suited to anyone searching for a financial advisor, who may
be sceptical about the quality of advice they have previously received.

The
online advice register's success will be measured by the number of
ratings given by users, the unique visitors to, and leads generated from
the site. SapientNitro has been working with BTFG for two years and
began their relationship by redesigning the BT.com.au site.

Adviser View includes:

Advisers'
education, qualifications, specialities and current license. All
qualifications are verified by independent verification agency, First
Advantage

The ability for clients to rate their advice
experience based on four questions. Responses will be shown on the
register as a one-to-five star rating against each question for each
adviser

Functionality to search for advisers by name, postcode and speciality

Free-text section for clients to provide qualitative feedback about their adviser.

Adviser View will link to the ASIC register once it is operational.

Mirroring these initiatives with BT's aligned advisers
Aligned
advisers in the Securitor, BT Select and BT Licensee dealer groups (who
are not directly employed by the Westpac Group) will also reflect BT's
new 'Advice Commitment' (which details the service and standards clients
should expect from their advisers) in time:

Aligned advisers will be on Adviser View within weeks

Aligned
advisers will require the proposed minimum qualification (Advanced
Diploma of Financial Planning, or the equivalent) by the end of 2016

Aligned
advisers will be required to hold either a Certified Financial Planner
(CFP), Fellow Charted Financial Practitioner (FChFP) or Masters of
Financial Planning (MoFP) by 2019.

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