Cheapest Financial Advisor

leicestersq wrote: »

So far the ones I have spoken to have come up with costs that charge me literally an arm and a leg.

Really? Literally?

leicestersq wrote: »

Hope someone can help.

I feel as if I have a pretty good handle on the world of finance. I knew that my DB pension scheme would close to new accruals, and it has, and I was ready to move my pension to an execution only SIPP where I could manage my pension myself.

I am having trouble that I didn't plan on though. Finding a financial advisor who will just give me some low cost advice on the pension is proving difficult. So far the ones I have spoken to have come up with costs that charge me literally an arm and a leg.

I would hope you don't literally mean 'literally'. It would be a most unusual charging model.

The adviser needs to give you advice. That's what the law says. The adviser needs to fully understand your position, your objectives, and then advise a transfer as being in your best interests. All this must be carefully documented, and if you complain about the advice in 30 year's time, the adviser will still be on the hook for it. As this is one of the highest risk pieces of advice an adviser can give, it tends to make advisers a little nervous, especially when a client has already determined that a transfer is in their own best interest, and the client wants to manage the investments themselves.

Hopefully, that will make sense as to why advisers tend to charge such high fees for this advice. You will find many advisers who just don't want this kind of work, and will quite happily price themselves out of it. You will also find many advisers who don't have the ability to do this work, and can't take it on never mind how much you might pay them.

leicestersq wrote: »

The irony is the the FCA rules about taking financial advice before moving a DB pension means that financial can rip me off for financial advice that I don't really want or need, but have to have because it is a legal requirement.

The trouble is, the vast majority of people looking at transferring their DB pensions don't actually know what they are doing, or fully understand the implications. People get blinded by big numbers, and don't think about about consequences further down the line.

It may well be that you are not in the majority, however, the government has decided to implement the rules as they are, to protect a large number of people from making a very poor long-term financial decision. There are people out there with incredibly good pension knowledge, even those that have designed pension schemes and run large schemes themselves as pension trustees, and these people also need to have to take advice to transfer.

leicestersq wrote: »

I either have to accept this large cost, or hope that my pension isn't ravaged by inflation (my DB scheme has next to no inflation proofing).

If the adviser fees make the difference as to whether you should transfer or not from a financial perspective, then it's a strong indicator that a transfer is unsuitable.

leicestersq wrote: »

Worse still, many of the execution only SIPP providers are acting pretty much as a cartel rather than as a utility, and will refuse to accept the transfer unless the financial advisor agrees it. I hadn't realised that the whole system was so bad.

The providers are even more nervous about being sued than the advisers are.

leicestersq wrote: »

So my question to you people out there, can anyone tell me how to go about finding a financial advisor that wont cost an arm and a leg to help me transfer my pension?

You could just leave your pension where it is, that won't cost you anything at all.