Investment ISAs Advice - independent or not?

johnD17 · 13 November 2017 at 3:32PM

Hi all - I have a chunk of money (dad's inheritance) that I need to invest for my mum (including her savings too).

I had some free advice from what I thought was an ifa - but understand it may not be independent. They recommended using an investment ISA with at James place, however they are part owned by them.

I also tried to find a local IFA but it went through to the same company.

Quick search and I found a post on here pouring scorn on a recommendation to invest a big chunk of money exclusively in one at James place bond.

I looked into Harvey landsdown for self investment but I don't know enough about choosing the fund/funds myself for such a chunk of money. I was trying to find a similar fund (conservative low risk, similar past performance figures) and came up with more questions (which I may pick up seperately - OEIC Vs unit trust, funds Vs portfolios, ready made and managed etc)

My concern is paying an initial advice fee and a chunk of the returns percentage of this advice didn't consider whole of market and is influenced by pushing their own products.

From working within FS I know a few people to ask, but they are split between paying an ifa and picking shares themselves (which I wouldn't want to do) via Halifax share dealing.

Thanks in advanced.

johnD17 · 13 November 2017 at 3:39PM

St James place - not At place ! Stupid auto correct

eskbanker · 13 November 2017 at 8:22PM

johnD17 wrote: »

Hi all - I have a chunk of money (dad's inheritance) that I need to invest for my mum (including her savings too).

Why would your mum be looking to invest her savings as well as the inheritance money? It's always recommended to have (and retain) cash-based savings before thinking about investing.

johnD17 wrote: »

From working within FS I know a few people to ask, but they are split between paying an ifa and picking shares themselves (which I wouldn't want to do) via Halifax share dealing.

How big is the unspecified 'chunk of money'? If it's large enough to warrant engaging an IFA then this makes more sense if you aren't confident enough to handle investment decisions yourself....

DrSyn · 13 November 2017 at 8:23PM

I think you should have posted this on the main Savings & Investment forum than this sub-site.

The IFA you mentioned are considered by some on this site to have expensive charges.

1. Before you ever see any IFA then I suggest that you look at the following website it should answer a number of your quires:-

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/getting-financial-advice/#h-how-much-will-the-advice-cost

2. The following sites may be of interest to you:-

https://protected.fscs.org.uk/about-fscs/

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/safe-savings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_chiIIxMGl0

http://monevator.com/how-to-chooose-total-world-equity-trackers/

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/advanced-search.php?q=investing&searchtype=guides

3. Before others can make any helpful suggestions a number of questions need to be answered. Some of these are:-

How old are you and your mother?
What is the state of health of you both?
How much money are you talking about investing?
What is the amount of risk that you both are willing to take with that money?

I hope the above will be of some help to you.

dunstonh · 13 November 2017 at 8:39PM

I had some free advice from what I thought was an ifa - but understand it may not be independent. They recommended using an investment ISA with at James place, however they are part owned by them.

Not an IFA as mentioned. SJP are a tied salesforce who only sell their own product and investments. They are damned expensive.

I also tried to find a local IFA but it went through to the same company.

Is this company telling porkies about their advice status? SJP firms must not refer to themselves as IFAs. It would be a regulatory breach if they did.

I looked into Harvey landsdown for self investment

Sorry, that made me chuckle.

My concern is paying an initial advice fee and a chunk of the returns percentage of this advice didn't consider whole of market and is influenced by pushing their own products.

Which is why you should either only use IFAs or DIY. All other options should be off the table.

Investment ISAs Advice - independent or not?

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