Appointment systems: what your advisor collects before verifying you

Typical data collected in an initial appointment

Expect name, contact details, a preferred language and a short note on the topic. Some forms also ask for a wealth band, residency and whether you already have an adviser. Date of birth and full address belong to identification, not to a calendar invite.

Source-of-wealth questions are required later under anti-money-laundering rules. They are not required to book a free first meeting.

The verification gap

If a form asks for passport copies, account statements or tax returns before you have met anyone or seen a fee schedule, you are ahead of KYC and behind common sense. Identity theft does not need a full file — a name, a phone number and a wealth hint are already useful to a social engineer.

A serious firm will explain what it stores, for how long, and under which privacy notice. It will not demand your entire life administration to reserve an hour.

Questions hidden in appointment forms

“Annual income” can be planning, or it can be a sales qualifier. “Property abroad” can be estate work, or an upsell. “Considering inheritance” can open a useful conversation, or a product conversation. “Current adviser” can be continuity, or a poaching list.

Answer what you are comfortable answering. The first meeting is to see whether the people in the room are worth a second.

A sensible client sequence

Read the privacy notice before you submit. Ask what is stored and who sees it. After the meeting, verify FINMA authorisation yourself. Do not send bank documents until the fee structure is in writing and you have decided to proceed.