finding the right IFA

dunstonh

wunawanting wrote: »

How can you find a really Independant financial Advisor. I use an IFA who is most pleasant and personable but I am certain that he is working for his best interests and not mine.

What is it that you feel that this adviser is not complying with FSA regulations?

merl1955

Thanks for your replies but I think the thread went off on a bit of a tangant.
I know the advice is to use someone by word of mouth but to be honest we don't know anyone who has used an IFA. That's why we thought by using the one the company had used to talk to the staff about finanacial planning in retirement was safe, but then when I have tried to research them I can't find out much about them. Other than finding if they are registered with the IFA. Anyone got any suggestions

EdInvestor

merl1955 wrote: »

That's why we thought by using the one the company had used to talk to the staff about finanacial planning in retirement was safe, but then when I have tried to research them I can't find out much about them. Other than finding if they are registered with the IFA. Anyone got any suggestions

I suggest you accept the Trust's offer of a free IFA session and use it as a part of your pre-retirement information gathering, which is what it's meant for, after all.

Take notes of the questions he asks you - these will be the things you need to focus on to make sure your finances in retirement work well.There is no need or obligation to follow up the session or to do any business with the IFA, it's a 'don't call us, we'll call you' matter.

You will probably find he does make some suggestions that involve doing business with him - this is partly because of the strange way the payments are organised in this industry. Most IFAs don't want to quote an hourly fee - not least because it sounds horribly expensive to the average punter. Rather, they want to organise payment via a system of commissions payable by the product providers, or a comb ination of fees and commissions,which make the cost seem much more reasonable.

So in order to goive you a quote, he will need to suggest some products suitable for your needs.Just ignore all this, what you want at this stage is information.Ask him questions about things you want to know (eg state pensions, tax and NI, details about your NHS pension etc etc.)

It may be best to make sure the meeting is held in a place of your choosing (usually it is your home or his office.) This can affect people's confidence in their ability to manage a relationship which does still have a significant sales aspect.

EdInvestor

wunawanting wrote: »

How can you find a really Independant financial Advisor. I use an IFA who is most pleasant and personable but I am certain that he is working for his best interests and not mine.

Ask him to show how his interests are aligned with yours through his choice of investments for you, the returns both you and he can be expected to make and the future service he is going to provide.

Rozee-g

The card he gave us has his name on but I cannot find the company which is called Entire Wealth Management anyone heard of them?

I have dealt with them twice now in the last 6 months. They are a relatively new company but they helped me out and sorted out my investment issues. I would happily use them again.

Rozee-g

I have dealt with them twice now in the last 6 months. They are a relatively new company but they helped me out and sorted out my investment issues. I would happily use them again.

wunawanting

dunstonh wrote: »

What is it that you feel that this adviser is not complying with FSA regulations?

My concerns are "churning" and refusal, by prevarication/procrastination, to provide an annual statement of charges/fees/commissions etc.

There's no point in going to another IFA unless you are certain that the person is truly independent and in fact none of them are because as I said originally they are working for their own best interests which probably do not coincide with their customer's. By using trial and error to find an IFA that one is happy with, another couple of years would have passed by.

dunstonh

My concerns are "churning" and refusal, by prevarication/procrastination, to provide an annual statement of charges/fees/commissions etc.

churning is allowed when justified. You should expect it with portfolio rebalancing for example or where newer products have come out that are better. You cant "churn" without your agreement anyway so if you dont like it, dont give agreement.

Are you on fee basis? That should be easy to work out and the IFA should be able to verify fees paid. Product charges takes a bit more work and if you are not on fee basis and you are asking for this information and its on older products then you could be charged a fee for that.

There's no point in going to another IFA unless you are certain that the person is truly independent and in fact none of them are because as I said originally they are working for their own best interests which probably do not coincide with their customer's. By using trial and error to find an IFA that one is happy with, another couple of years would have passed by.

Everybody works for their own interests. Its what people do to pay the bills. To think any different is just naive. However, what that has to do with financial advice, I dont know.