This Canadian Startup Lets You Check the Credentials of Your Financial Advisor

Vancouver startup KYFA has launched an industry-first product. Know Your Financial Advisor, a Canadian database of financial advisors, now offers KYFA Trusted, a method of verifying the credentials of industry professionals.

"KYFA Trusted sets the gold standard for advisor due diligence with a fully transparent and robust system to help investors better evaluate financial advisors," said Christian Gradley, CEO of Know Your Financial Advisor. "Our verification process represents an important third party confirmation of an advisor's credentials and training to give investors greater peace of mind as they search for their right financial advisor."

Advisors must earn Trusted status by meeting strict crieria that is re-evaluated regularly so consumers know the information is accurate, reliable, and up to date.

"Trustworthiness and transparency continue to be a huge driver as people look for strategic advisors to help manage their finances and investments," said Mr. Gradley. "Having access to a credible resource like KYFA Trusted™ that will help guide and educate them through the process of finding that advisor is invaluable and, we believe, overdue."

KYFA also recently enhanced its website "to further empower investors to make an educated decision when choosing a financial advisor." The new design enables investors to search for advisors by specialty and location. KYFA left beta this year after being founded in 2009 and was recently hiring.