What to Know Before You Hire an Expat Financial Adviser
Most expats choose a financial adviser based on a referral, a cold email, or a LinkedIn connection. The regulatory check happens later, if at all. This guide covers what to look at before the first meeting, and what to listen for during it.
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The 10 questions to ask any financial adviser, plus regulatory register links for Labuan FSA, MAS, FCA, DFSA, and SCA. Delivered immediately.
The regulatory check: verify before you meet
The single most important thing you can do before engaging any financial adviser is confirm that they hold a current licence with a recognised regulator in the jurisdiction where they are providing advice. This is not bureaucratic formality. Regulatory status determines whether you have any legal recourse if something goes wrong, whether the adviser has professional indemnity insurance, and whether they are subject to conduct rules that protect you.
Every major financial regulator maintains a public register of licenced advisers and firms. These registers are free to search, take two minutes to use, and provide the single most reliable signal of whether an adviser is operating legitimately.
The question is not just whether the adviser is regulated somewhere, but whether they are regulated in the jurisdiction where you live and where the advice is being delivered. An adviser licenced by the FCA in the UK who is providing advice to a Malaysia-based client without a local licence from the Securities Commission Malaysia or Bank Negara Malaysia may be operating outside their permitted scope. The jurisdiction of the client matters.
The relevant regulators for European expats in Southeast Asia and the Gulf are listed below with direct links to their public registers. Use them. The search takes less time than reading this paragraph.
Labuan FSA
Regulates financial services in Labuan, Malaysia's international business and financial centre. Covers licensed fund managers, investment advisers, insurance companies, and leasing entities operating under the Labuan financial services framework.
Search Labuan FSA RegisterMAS
Monetary Authority of Singapore. All financial advisers and fund managers operating in Singapore must hold a licence issued by MAS. The Financial Institutions Directory lists licenced firms. The Representative Notification Framework covers individual representatives.
Search MAS RegisterFCA
Financial Conduct Authority. The definitive register for UK-authorised financial advisers and firms. Also relevant for British expats who retain a UK address or whose adviser is based in the UK. Use the Financial Services Register to check any firm or individual by name or reference number.
Search FCA RegisterDFSA
Dubai Financial Services Authority. Regulates financial services conducted in or from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The Public Register lists authorised firms and individuals operating within the DIFC framework. Note that firms operating outside the DIFC in the UAE mainland are regulated by the SCA instead.
Search DFSA RegisterSCA
Securities and Commodities Authority. Regulates investment advisers, brokers, and asset managers operating outside the DIFC in the UAE. Many UAE-based financial advisers serving expats in Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates are licenced through the SCA rather than the DFSA. Check both if you are unsure which applies to your adviser.
Search SCA RegisterFSCA
Financial Sector Conduct Authority. Relevant for South African expats whose adviser is based in South Africa or who hold South African financial products. The FSCA register lists Financial Services Providers authorised to give financial advice in South Africa.
Search FSCA RegisterFee structures explained: commission, fee-based, and fee-only
The most important question to ask a financial adviser before engaging them is not about their investment philosophy or track record. It is how they get paid. The answer tells you where their incentives sit, and whose interests they are structurally positioned to serve.
There are three broad models. Each is legitimate in different contexts, and each carries different implications for the advice you will receive.
| Model | How it works | Incentive structure |
|---|---|---|
| Commission | Adviser earns a percentage of the product sold. Typically embedded in the product cost as an upfront commission and an ongoing trail. | Adviser benefits from placing you in a product, regardless of whether that product is the best option for you. Offshore bonds are a common vehicle because they generate high commissions. |
| Fee-based | Adviser charges a fee (flat or percentage of AUM) but may also earn commissions from products placed alongside the fee arrangement. | Dual compensation creates potential conflicts. The adviser may be fee-transparent on the surface but still earn product-linked commissions in addition. Ask specifically what commissions, if any, are paid by third parties. |
| Fee-only | Adviser charges a stated fee (hourly, flat, or AUM percentage). No product commissions. No referral payments. Revenue comes entirely from the client. | Adviser's interests are most clearly aligned with the client's. No structural incentive to recommend any product over another. Fee-only is not universal and is more common in the UK and US than in Southeast Asia. |
The question to ask in any first meeting: "How do you get paid on this recommendation, and what do you receive if I follow it?" A transparent adviser will answer this directly. A commission-driven adviser may deflect to the quality of the product rather than the structure of their compensation.
Ask specifically about trail commissions. A 1% annual trail on a portfolio that has been running for ten years is a significant ongoing payment from your portfolio to the adviser. If the adviser continues to earn a trail on assets they placed years ago without providing ongoing service, you are funding a relationship that no longer exists in practice.
Red flags and green flags in the adviser selection process
These are not opinions. They are patterns drawn from the structural realities of how advice is delivered in cross-border contexts. No single flag is definitive, but multiple red flags in the same engagement should prompt serious scrutiny before you proceed.
- Offshore bonds presented as the default recommendation for any new client, regardless of situation. Offshore bonds carry high charges, long lock-in periods, and generate significant commissions for the adviser.
- Pressure to transfer defined benefit pension schemes without a comprehensive written analysis of the CETV, other income sources, health status, and jurisdiction of planned retirement.
- No written fee disclosure before engagement. Any adviser who will not put their compensation structure in writing is not operating transparently.
- Adviser is not licenced in your country of residence. They may be regulated somewhere, but if they are not permitted to advise in your jurisdiction, you have reduced legal protection.
- Promises of guaranteed returns or risk-free investment strategies. In regulated markets, these claims are either false or rely on structures that carry significant undisclosed risk.
- Advice to move assets offshore quickly, before year-end, or to take advantage of a closing window. Urgency is a sales tactic, not a planning principle.
- Commission disclosure only when asked, not volunteered. A transparent adviser discloses compensation as a matter of course.
- Named adviser with verifiable credentials. Able to point to their entry on a public regulatory register within the first meeting.
- Written fee schedule provided at the outset, covering both upfront and ongoing charges, with no ambiguity about what triggers each payment.
- Explains the structure before the product. Talks about legal wrappers, domicile, tax treatment, and jurisdictional fit before any fund or product is named.
- Regulated in the same jurisdiction where you live and where the advice is being provided. Not just regulated somewhere.
- Acknowledges what they do not cover. Cross-border tax advice, local legal structures, and pension-specific technical questions sit at the edges of most advisers' expertise. A credible adviser refers out when appropriate.
- No pressure on timing. The right structure today will still be the right structure in four weeks. If the adviser is pushing a deadline, ask why.
- Able to explain how they are paid on every recommendation, not just the headline fee.
The right questions to ask, and what to listen for
These questions work in any first meeting with a financial adviser, regardless of country or adviser type. The answers tell you more about who you are dealing with than any brochure or testimonial.
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