Caruso lets you record financial advisers and the organisations they operate under, so advisers can be identified, verified, and linked to investing entities. This article explains the adviser model and how to manage each part of it in the Manager Console.
Important: Adviser management is available to all clients. Registration details, including the localised licence labels (for example, AFSL Number and ABN) and the registration check described below, are currently tailored for Australian clients only.
How the adviser model works
The adviser model has three levels:
Licensee: The licensed entity at the top of the hierarchy, such as an AFSL holder in Australia. Every adviser firm must belong to a licensee. The licensee holds the bank account that adviser fees are paid to.
Adviser Firm: The advisory practice or firm. Each firm is linked to one licensee and groups the individual advisers who work there.
Adviser Profile: An adviser profile added to an existing account. The presence of an adviser profile is what marks an account as an adviser. An account can be both an investor and an adviser at the same time.
Licensees and Adviser Firms are managed from the CRM section of the navigation pane. Individual advisers are managed through Contacts, using the Adviser Profile tab.
Managing Licensees
A licensee is the licensed entity that advisers operate under.
Create a licensee
In the navigation pane, open CRM and select Licensees
Click Create at the top right of the list view
Complete the Details section, including Name and Country (both required), License Number, Business Number,Code, Contact Name and Phone Number
Complete the Address section with a single registered address
Click Save
On save, the licensee is created with an Active status.
Note: Country drives the field labels shown on the detail page. For Australia, License Number displays as AFSL Number and Business Number displays as ABN.
View and manage a licensee
Open a licensee to see a summary header and the following tabs:
Adviser Firms: The adviser firms linked to this licensee, with click-through to each firm.
Documents: Documents held against the licensee, including the Recipient Created Tax Invoices (RCTIs) generated when adviser payment batches are confirmed.
Notes: Internal notes about the licensee.
Details: Editable details and the registered address. Field labels are localised based on the licensee's country.
Managing Adviser Firms
An adviser firm is the advisory practice that sits between a licensee and the individual advisers.
Create an adviser firm
In the navigation pane, open CRM and select Adviser Firms
Click Create at the top right of the list view
Complete the Details section:
Name
Entity Type – Corporation, Partnership, Sole Trader, or Other
Licensee
Country
Company Code
Business Number
Contact Details
Click Save
Important: Every adviser firm must be linked to a licensee. You cannot create an adviser firm without selecting one.
To link the firm, use the Licensee search dropdown and select from the existing licensees.
View and manage an adviser firm
Open an adviser firm to see a summary header and the following tabs:
Advisers: The advisers linked to this firm, with their relationship type and effective date, and click-through to each contact. You can edit or remove a link from here.
Documents: Documents held against the firm.
Details: Editable details and the registered address. Field labels are localised based on the firm's country.
You can change the firm's linked licensee from the Details tab. Because adviser fees are paid to the licensee of the adviser’s firm, changing the licensee changes where that firm’s advisers’ future fee payments go.
Managing Adviser Profiles on accounts
An adviser profile is added to an existing account to mark that account as an adviser.
Enable an adviser profile
Note: A prospect must be converted to an active contact before an adviser profile can be created. For an adviser prospect, use Convert to adviser to do both in one step.
In the navigation pane, open CRM and select Contacts
Select the contact you want to make an adviser
Click the three-dot menu (⋯), then select Assign as Adviser.
Complete the adviser details, including Country (required), AFS Representative Number, and Adviser Code
Save the profile
This contact will now have an Adviser Profile tab
You can also create a contact as an adviser in one step from the Contacts list, by selecting the adviser type when adding the contact.
Link an adviser to a firm
On the contact, open the Adviser Profile tab
In the firm links section, click Add adviser firm
Search for and select the Adviser Firm
Select one or more Relationship types: Adviser, Paraplanner, Analyst, Practice Manager, Administrator, Principal or Director, Accountant, or Business Contact
Set the Effective date. This can be today or earlier, but not a future date
Save the link
The tab shows the adviser’s full link history, with each firm, relationship type and effective date. The link with the most recent effective date is the adviser’s current firm, and it determines the licensee their fees are paid to. When an adviser moves practice, add a new link rather than editing the old one, so the history is preserved.
Use Edit on a link to change its relationship types or effective date, or Remove to unlink the adviser from the firm. Removing a link leaves the adviser profile in place. All changes are recorded in the audit log.
The Verify Adviser Registration task
When an adviser signs up through the Investor Portal, Caruso creates a Verify Adviser Registration task on the services team queue so the adviser’s registration can be checked before they are linked to a firm.
Completing the task
Open the task to see the adviser's name, email, AFS Representative Number, sign-up time, and a link to the account
Look up the AFS Representative Number on the ASIC Financial Advisers Register, confirm the representative is current, and note the licensee and adviser firm shown there
Reconcile the ASIC record against the sign-up details
Link the correct adviser firm to the adviser profile using the steps above. Create the licensee or firm first if they do not exist in Caruso yet
The task completes automatically the first time an adviser firm is linked to the profile. An audit log entry is added on the account naming the firm attached. You do not need to mark the task done separately.
Note: If the adviser cannot be verified, disable the adviser profile and close the task manually with a note.
Search and indicators
Global search returns licensees and adviser firms using their generic field names, such as License Number, Business Number, and Code.
The Contacts list shows a Type of Adviser for contacts with an adviser profile. You can filter the list by type.
Licensees and adviser firms can be tagged and filtered by tag, in the same way as investing entities.
Things to keep in mind
A licensee with linked adviser firms cannot be deleted. Reassign the firms first.
An adviser firm with linked advisers cannot be deleted. Unlink the adviser accounts first.
All create, update, status change, and relationship change actions are recorded in the audit log, with before and after values.
List views and global search always use generic field names. Localised labels appear on detail pages only, based on the entity's country.
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If you have any questions or need help at any stage, please contact our Caruso Support team either by email or live chat.