The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) can consider a complaint you have about an investment you have or financial advice you have received from a financial firm.
This page outlines the types of complaints AFCA can consider about investments and financial advice, and what to do next if you want to make a complaint to us. Detailed information about the different types of products and issues you can complain about is also available.
There are some things you can’t complain about to us, including if your complaint only concerns the investment performance of a financial investment. There are some exceptions, however, to this – for example, if the complaint concerns non-disclosure or misrepresentation.
Overview
Investments and financial advice matters we consider cover a range of products including:
- derivatives and hedging
- managed investments
- securities
- real property.
Superannuation investments are discussed elsewhere.
Detailed information about these different types of investment and financial advice products is available to help you decide if you want to complain to us.
Other places to get help
Issues and problems you can complain to AFCA about
- Advice you were given about the product where the advice wasn’t in your best interests, or was inappropriate or insufficient.
- Charges or broker commissions that were incorrectly charged, applied or calculated (but not if your only concern is that you believe the charges were too high).
- Information you weren’t given about the product, including fees or costs, or that was misleading or insufficient (including the risk of an investment product).
- Decisions that your financial firm has made, including decisions about the suitability of your investment, an inappropriate margin call notice or investment liquidation.
- If you gave instructions (for example, to buy or sell stock) and they weren’t followed or there was a delay in actioning them.
- Privacy and confidentiality breaches.
- Transactions that were incorrect or unauthorised.
More information about these issues is available to help you decide if you want to complain to us.
What to do next
You can make a complaint to AFCA online, by letter, email or by phoning us.
If you don’t want to complain to us directly, you can go back to your financial firm and ask to make a complaint to their internal dispute resolution team.
Your financial firm should be able to provide you with information about how to make a complaint to them.
We also have some tips available to help you make an internal complaint.
