Certification Application - Financial adviser

The Responsible Investment Association Australasia's (RIAA's) Responsible Investment Certification Program is the leading initiative for distinguishing quality responsible, ethical and impact investment products and services in Australia and New Zealand. It is the longest running responsible investment program in the world.

The RIAA Certification Symbol acts as a navigational tool to help investors find certified products and advisers. It allows people to identify investment options that suit their values. They can then find out more detailed information about the option or investment product's approach to responsible investment.

Financial Advisers bearing the RIAA Certification Symbol have committed to offering responsible and ethical advice to all their clients, are experienced in offering specialist advice on their approved product list, can apply to be certified and to license the Certification Symbol.

Financial adviser certification requirements

A Financial Adviser who has committed to offering responsible and ethical advice to all their clients, is experienced in offering specialist advice, and has responsible investment products on their approved product list, can apply to be certified and to license the Certification Symbol.

Certified Financial Advisers must:

Be Licensed – Maintain authority to provide financial advice in their jurisdiction.
Have Professional Membership – Maintain a current membership with a professional body.
Be Experienced – Have completed RIAA's Sustainable Investment Advice Course and have experience in providing responsible investment advice.
Be Educated – Meet the minimum ongoing education requirements by demonstrating how they stay up to date with developments in responsible investment through continuing education.
Promote Responsible Investment services – Undertake to enquire about the environmental, social, governance and sustainability preferences of ALL of their clients, as a minimum including appropriate questioning, and be able to perform an adequate client interview process.
Provide Responsible Investment products – Can demonstrate that they can research and offer responsible investment products, having Responsible Investment products, including RIAA-certified products, on their approved products list (or equivalent).

For the full detail of the Responsible Investment Standard across all categories please click here.

1. Full Name*

2. Position*

3. Email*

4. Date (enter date with format: dd/mm/yyyy)*

5. Financial Advisory Group name*

6. AFSL or FSP License Number*

7. Licensee Name*

8. Year you began professional advice*

9. To what percentage of your client base (approximately) do you currently provide responsible investment advice? *

10. Financial services you offer with an RI solution/option *

11. Please list your financial qualifications in full (e.g. Certified Financial Planner not CFP)*

12. Please list any professional bodies which your organisation is a member (e.g. RIAA, FPA, FANZ, AFA etc.)*

13. Have you successfully completed the approved training course as outlined in the Financial Adviser Certification Guide? *https://www.responsibleinvestment.org/learn/sustainable-investment-advice-course

14. What date did you complete the course (enter date with format: dd/mm/yyyy)

15. Please upload the training completion certificate

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16. Have you provided responsible investment advice to clients?
‍
Please note: For re-certification (every 2 years), ongoing education must be demonstrated. Current requirements for re-certifying adviser are:

Financial Advisers must demonstrate that they have undertaken at least 50 continuing education credit
points within the last two years. These points are calculated using the following weighting system:
‍
2 Points
• Reading any published literature that primarily focuses on an ESG/RI topic including but not limited to
published research, journal articles, texts, reports, studies or relevant works.
• Presenting or speaking at any event where the primary focus is on an ESG/RI topic, including but not
limited to podcasts, webinars, seminars, and conferences.
‍
5 points
• Authoring any content that primarily focuses on an ESG/RI topic including but not limited to published
research, journal articles, texts, reports, studies or relevant works.
• Attending or participating in any organised event that is between 1 - 2 hours in length that primarily
focuses on an ESG/RI topic including but not limited to conferences, seminars, lectures, briefings,
webinars, working groups, round-tables and fund manager briefings.
‍
10 Points
• Attending or participating in any organised event that is between 2 – 5 hours in length that primarily
focuses on an ESG/RI topic including but not limited to conferences, seminars, lectures, briefings,
webinars, working groups, round-tables and fund manager briefings.
‍
15 Points
• Attending or participating in any organised event that is between 5+ hours in length that primarily
focuses on an ESG/RI topic including but not limited to conferences, seminars and field trips, eg. RIAA Conference Financial Adviser program.

• Other activities or education schemes operated by the dealer group aimed at maintaining ESG specific
education will also be taken into consideration. Please provide further information about this in the space
provided below. Activities that developed and enhanced your knowledge of current ESG, responsible
investment or sustainability issues.

No more than 50% of your CECs can be allocated to one type of activity.

17. Do you have a policy statement from your AFSL or FSP which outlines the processes by which clients are provided responsible investment advice which takes into account environmental, social or governance factors? *

18. Provide a detailed explanation of the interview process, step by step, that you employ to determine a client's responsible investment preferences. If this forms part of a Fact Find, client survey or equivalent please attach a copy with your application. *

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19. Please attach a copy of your Fact Find, client survey or equivalent. This should include questions related to responsible investment *

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20. How often are your clients' preferences updated? *

21. Please outline the research process that is undertaken to analyse a fund or investment for its responsible investment credentials *

22. Advice examples.

Provide two anonymised examples of responsible investment advice you have provided to clients in the last year. The examples must include:

• Responsible investment profile. An anonymised summary of the client's financial goals and their specific sustainability preferences. For example, if a client has expressed that they want to "do better" with their money, what does this mean for them? Are they wanting to exclude certain investments such as tobacco or gambling, or are they wanting to direct their investments towards certain sustainability themes like renewable energy? (200 – 400 words)

• Advice solutions offered. Based upon each client's responsible investment profile and financial goals, please provide a detailed explanation of the responsible investment solutions you advised. Detail the specific investments used, including why you used those investments and how they address specific concerns or needs that you have identified through the client interview process. For example, if a client has a preference to hold some of their investments in an Impact Fund explain why this specific Impact Fund was selected? (200 – 400 words)

Client Example One: Responsible investment profile *

Client Example One: Advice solutions offered *

Client Example Two: Responsible investment profile *

Client Example Two: Advice solutions offered *

23. Does your approved product list include RIAA-Certified products? *

24. Please list the responsible investment products on your approved list or upload the list below

25. How do you obtain information about responsible investment products in the market?

26. Do you use purchased or in-house research?

27. Do you promote responsible investment publicly to your clients and potential clients ?*

Declarations

In the last 10 years have you been:

28. Refused an ASIC Dealers License, Australian Financial Services License, FSP license or had one varied, suspended or revoked? *

29. The subject of any hearing or investigation conducted by a regulatory body in relation to your activities? *

30. Convicted of an offence in relation to dishonesty, misappropriation or fraud? *

31. An undischarged bankrupt or ever been declared bankrupt? *

32. The subject of a claim in relation to professional indemnity insurance or any complaint made to an external complaints resolution scheme? *

33. Refused professional indemnity insurance cover? *

34. The subject of disciplinary proceedings or investigations by any professional body or association? *

35. Engaged in unethical conduct prejudicial to the interests of RIAA? *

36. Dismissed or had a proper authority, authorized representative, representative status or life insurance agency withdrawn on ethical or legal backgrounds? *

37. The subject of a formal complaint lodged against you in the course of your practice as a Financial Adviser? *

38. The director of a company which has gone into voluntary liquidation, or to which a Receiver, a Provisional Liquidator, a Liquidator, a Scheme Manager or an Official Manger has been appointed while you were a Director, or within six months after you ceased to be a Director? *

Ongoing Compliance Declarations

By submitting this application, you agree to the compliance declarations outlined below:
To promote responsible investment to all of clients
To continue to pursue professional development in the field of responsible investment
To use the Certification Symbol in accordance with the Licensee Marketing Kit and Style Guide
That the answers provided in this application are truthful, accurate, reliable and complete at the time of submission
That you have read, understood and agree to the Program Code of Conduct outlined in the Certification Application guide.

Thank you! Your Application has been received!

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