The problems are many and varied. Most a perception-based... the industry has a long way to go before it can be considered independent and professional.

By far the biggest gripe that I have is their remuneration structure, which bears little relationship to their performance or the amount of work that they do. Most is based on commissions, and whislt these must be declared to the client, they are based on a percentage of fees under advice, as if more money invested means more work. In contrast the fees should be very similar for someone who has an investment portfolio of $5000 and someone who has $500,000 (unless they have a large direct diversification of course). This also gives the incentive (whether real or perceived) to advise clients to invest in products that give the highest return to the adviser, not necessarily the best investment for the client.

The industry needs to start charging as other professionals do, on a time and expertise basis, if it is to be taken seriously and not constantly under suspicion of lining their pockets at the expense of their clients.

Time charging and charging based on 'expertise' are just as subject as client suspicion. Expertise can be exaggerated, and time charging just leads to the suspicion that more time is being charged than actually done. Ask any lawyer.

The root of the problem with professionals, and even non-professionals in specialised fields is their client's don't know or understand what they do. They therefore have virtually now way of knowing whether they are getting good value for money or are being cheated.

At the end of the day, there is no way to get around the fact that clients have no option but to trust those that give them advice, whether it be financial, medical, legal, IT or (my favourite) motor mechanical. The only real precautions clients can take are to choose their advisers based on reliable referrals, or in the absence of that, choose professionals who are certified by credible industry associations. It can also help if they try to educate themselves a little about some of the things they want advice on so they can hope to understand the merits and limitations of the advice they receive.

Sadly none of these are very reliable. Sometimes you just have to suck it and see.