How to Choose a Licensed Financial Planner in Malaysia

In Malaysia, anyone can print “financial planner” or “financial adviser” on a business card — but a licence can't be printed. People who are genuinely licensed have their names sitting in an official register, where anyone can look them up in three minutes. So the first step in choosing a planner isn't listening to what they say — it's checking who they are.

Step one: three official registers, check the licence first

• Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) list of approved financial advisers— licensed financial advisory firms regulated by the central bank;
• Securities Commission (SC) public register— holders of a Capital Markets Services Licence (which covers financial planning);
• MFPC directory of financial planners— registered planners under the Malaysian Financial Planning Council.

While you're at it, keep two things separate: a licence (the regulatory permission issued by BNM / SC) and a qualification(professional designations like RFP or CFP) are not the same thing — the former governs “whether they can lawfully practise,” the latter speaks to “what training they have.” Check both; once the name, the firm and the licence all line up, carry on.

Then, ask them five questions

• “How do you charge?”— in the market, fees commonly range from a few hundred ringgit an hour for a consultation, to several thousand or even tens of thousands of ringgit for a full planning engagement. The range is wide; that's not the problem. Refusing to answer directly is the problem.
• “If I buy no products at all, how do you make money?” — this question separates those who do planning from those who sell products. Earning a commission isn't a sin, but you should know where their position comes from.
• “Is the plan in writing? Will you review it later?” — a written plan you can hold in your hand and check against next year, and an enthusiastic talk-through, are two different services.
• “Have you served a situation like mine?” — business owners, cross-border families, families preparing to pass on wealth each have their own pitfalls. Have them walk you through one (anonymised) comparable case.
• “Can we communicate in Chinese?”— if the older generation is going to be involved, whether the documents and meetings can be fully in Chinese directly decides whether the plan can actually be carried out.

Three red lines — walk away if you hit one

• “Guaranteed returns,” “capital-protected high yields” — licensed people are not permitted to talk this way; anyone who dares to either has no licence, or no longer wants one;
• Pushing you to “sign today” — real planning is measured in years; one day makes no difference;
• Being evasive about the licence — “registered under a friend's company,” “it's being processed” both amount to none.

Apply this standard to me

I'm JMarc Chong, a BNM-Licensed Chartered Financial Planner (BNM-LCFP), licence number eCMSRL/B9396/2019. You're welcome to check me against the three registers above first; once you've done that and want to talk, the first conversation is free — we define the scope first, then discuss fees, with a transparent process. Friends in Johor and Johor Bahru, start from this page; friends in Kuala Lumpur, see this page.

BNM-Licensed Chartered Financial Planner · JMarc
Sources: the BNM list of approved financial advisers, the SC public register, the MFPC directory; fee ranges are observations of the open market. This article is general in nature and does not constitute an assessment of any individual or institution.