Global Financial Adviser Benchmark · 2026
When life gets complicated, judgment matters.
A client’s life rarely fits neatly into a financial plan. GFAB explores how you make decisions when priorities compete, emotions run high and the way forward is uncertain.
Discover what your choices reveal about your professional judgment, with a private report on your strengths and a focus area for reflection.
Founding edition registration is open until 16 November 2026. Free to take part.
Strength
Professional Judgment
You tend to hold the line for the client when pressure builds.
Strength
Communication & Trust
You tend to bring clients into difficult decisions rather than hand them down.
Your focus
Trade-off Recognition
You tend to focus more on what a choice gains than on what it gives up.
Confidence alignment
Reported separately from your judgment profile.
81 questions
Real decisions. Personal insight.
8 dimensions
A fuller view of your judgment
Your private report
Two strengths. One focus area.
Once a year
Space for meaningful reflection
The experience
Bring your judgment. Leave the textbook.
You work through situations drawn from the complexity of advising people: competing commitments, uncertainty and difficult conversations. GFAB is about the decisions you make, not the definitions you can remember.
72 situations
Decisions that feel real
72 judgment situations put you in the adviser’s seat. You choose how you would respond or put actions in order, with the client’s circumstances in view.
9 questions
A view of your confidence
9 confidence questions ask for your view and how certain you are. Your report considers confidence separately from your judgment profile.
No feedback until the end
Room for honest reflection
Complete the assessment without lessons or right-or-wrong feedback along the way. Your private report brings your responses together afterwards.
Eight dimensions of professional judgment
01
Priority & Sequencing
Making decisions when several needs compete.
02
Risk Recognition
Recognising the risks that matter to a client’s life.
03
Client Reality
Understanding the person behind the financial plan.
04
Behavioral Judgment
Working with the emotions that shape decisions.
05
Trade-off Recognition
Weighing choices when there is no perfect outcome.
06
Scenario Planning
Thinking about how a client’s circumstances could change.
07
Communication & Trust
Navigating the conversations that matter most.
08
Professional Judgment
Exercising responsibility when the decision is difficult.
Your report
See your decisions in a new light.
Your report brings your choices into focus: where your judgment shows strength, where to reflect, and how confidently you make decisions. It gives you a considered view of your responses in one annual edition.
Insight you can make time for.
- Two strengths reflected in your decisions
- One focus area for reflection
- A profile across all eight judgment dimensions
- A separate view of how confidence matches accuracy
The sample uses fictional responses to show you what to expect. It includes the limits of what a single assessment can tell you.
How it works
Three steps, once a year.
No preparation and nothing to study. Set aside about two hours when you can think clearly.
Step 1
Register
Create your account with a single-use email code. Taking part is free.
Step 2
Answer 81 questions
Allow about two hours. Once you start, you have 48 hours to finish, and your answers are saved as you go.
Step 3
Read your private report
It is prepared automatically after you submit. Share a completion attestation only if you choose to.
For institutions
Understand the judgment across your team.
Look beyond qualifications and individual performance measures. GFAB’s institutional report brings together the choices made across a group, helping you reflect on how your advisers approach complex client situations.
A shared perspective
See where judgment patterns converge and where they vary across the eight dimensions, giving leadership a starting point for reflection.
People stay private
Group reports contain group findings only. They never show anyone’s answers, score or report, and small groups are protected.
Clarity about the limits
Every finding is presented with context. Where there is not enough evidence to draw a conclusion, the report says so.
Interested in GFAB for your firm or institution? We will be in touch.
Before you take part
A few things worth knowing.
Clear expectations are part of a useful assessment. Here is what the founding edition offers, what remains under review, and how your privacy is protected.
Can I take part now?
Yes. Registration for the GFAB 2026 founding edition is open until 16 November 2026. Allow about two hours to answer. Once you start, you have 48 hours to finish, and your private report is prepared automatically after you submit.
Is GFAB an exam or a qualification?
GFAB is an annual benchmark of professional financial judgment. It is not a knowledge exam, training course or certification. A completion attestation records participation; it does not award a professional qualification or certify competence.
What does the founding report tell me?
The founding edition is an expert-referenced diagnostic: your responses are scored against reference answers approved by GFAB for this edition. It describes the choices you made in that edition, with two strengths and one focus area. It does not predict your future conduct or define you as a person. Independent validation is planned for the next annual edition.
Will I see how I compare with other advisers?
Not yet. The founding report does not currently provide a percentile, regional rank or global standing. Comparisons will appear only when there is enough evidence to support them.
What can my institution see?
If an institution invited you, it can see your name, the email address it invited, and whether you have registered and completed. It never sees your answers, your score or your report. If you allow it in your privacy settings, your result can count towards the institution’s group report, which never identifies anyone and is produced only when at least 10 people are included.
Get a feel for what your report could reveal.
Explore a fictional adviser’s report, from the overall picture to individual strengths and a focus area. Registration for the founding edition is open until 16 November 2026.