Retirement - do I need an IFA?

bigfreddiel

I'm fairly clued up on investing, I understand what funds are and discount brokers, charges, isa wrappers,diversification, etc. I know how to read perfomance reports and I read the financial papers - so what exactly will an ifa do for me?

Don't ge me wrong I fully respect professional advice, particularly in areas of taxation, inheritance, trust funds and so on, but with the internet anyone can research funds, work out a risk profile and formulate an investment strategy to meet ones income requirements (I know my pension, outgoings and so shortfall so I know what Iwouldlike out of my funds), and once i'm retired i will have more time to keep an eye on my investments.

Over to the forum.....

cheers

fj

I have started a new thread on the investment board - Rate Your IFA

yelf

just out of interest what is your risk profile, how did you ascertain it, and what funds are you using to match your ATR? The internet tells me how to fix my car - but I'd rather a qualifid mechanic did it.


And there are so many different options available than simply chooing a fund. if you think all you need to do is decide on risk, google a fund and then watch a graph then you are very much mistaken. Would you look at the info ratio, or alpha by the way?

dunstonh

If you think you can DIY and do a good job then DIY.

bigfreddiel

yelf wrote: »

just out of interest what is your risk profile, how did you ascertain it, and what funds are you using to match your ATR? The internet tells me how to fix my car - but I'd rather a qualifid mechanic did it.

Actually I could fix my car - maybe not as quick as mechanic but its not exactly rocket science.

Thanks for your reply

bigfreddiel

dunstonh wrote: »

If you think you can DIY and do a good job then DIY.

Now dunstonh - I really appreciate your advice and respect your experience, and yes i know what you mean - if I think I'm better than an IFA then go for it, my question boils down to this, can anyone quantify the worth of an IFA, in fact are there any league tables of IFA's so i can make an educated choice rather than 'interviewing' a selection and making my own mind up.

Cheers

fj

Lokolo

bigfreddiel wrote: »

Now dunstonh - I really appreciate your advice and respect your experience, and yes i know what you mean - if I think I'm better than an IFA then go for it, my question boils down to this, can anyone quantify the worth of an IFA, in fact are there any league tables of IFA's so i can make an educated choice rather than 'interviewing' a selection and making my own mind up.

Cheers

fj

No. They "gamble" your money. They cannot read crystal balls or anything, but what they do do, is put your money into investments that suit what you want. Obviously if they want your service to continue, they will do their best. But there is no "best" IFA like football teams

CLAPTON

bigfreddiel wrote: »

I'm fairly clued up on investing, I understand what funds are and discount brokers, charges, isa wrappers,diversification, etc. I know how to read perfomance reports and I read the financial papers - so what exactly will an ifa do for me?

Don't ge me wrong I fully respect professional advice, particularly in areas of taxation, inheritance, trust funds and so on, but with the internet anyone can research funds, work out a risk profile and formulate an investment strategy to meet ones income requirements (I know my pension, outgoings and so shortfall so I know what Iwouldlike out of my funds), and once i'm retired i will have more time to keep an eye on my investments.

Over to the forum.....

cheers

fj

RIRO

you have given us virtually no information about your financial affairs so no-one can sensibly give any you any useful advice

bigfreddiel

Lokolo wrote: »

No. They "gamble" your money. They cannot read crystal balls or anything, but what they do do, is put your money into investments that suit what you want. Obviously if they want your service to continue, they will do their best. But there is no "best" IFA like football teams

Lokolo - good answer - yes I know there are too many variables to actually rate IFA's considering the range services they provide, and if you had absolutely zero interest in reading the finance pages, dand following trends etc, I can see an IFA would be useful.

I'm not saying I have better crystal ball, but I feel I can do as well as an IFA.

I would still like to see some sort of league table, or ratings 'Amazon style' - maybe I will start a thread here - Rate you IFA.

Cheers

fj

Lokolo

Ha

Dunston
Location - Inbred Land (Up the Ipswich!)
Rating - 1/5
Reasons - Pos: Always gives good advice. Neg: Supports Chelsea

I'm such a meanie.

bigfreddiel

Bad form to post to oneself but here goes anyway - just found this

FT's Top 100 IFAs list 2007

http://www.ftadviser.com/CMS_FTA_ROOT/cms_assets/Pdf/FTAdviser/Assets/Pdf/Top_100_Ifas_2007.pdf

and for 2009

http://rankings.ftadviser.com/ftadviser/top-100-financial-advisers-2009-in-association-with-matrix-data

fj

dunstonh

bigfreddiel wrote: »

Bad form to post to oneself but here goes anyway - just found this

FT's Top 100 IFAs list 2007

http://www.ftadviser.com/CMS_FTA_ROOT/cms_assets/Pdf/FTAdviser/Assets/Pdf/Top_100_Ifas_2007.pdf

and for 2009

http://rankings.ftadviser.com/ftadviser/top-100-financial-advisers-2009-in-association-with-matrix-data

fj

Thats not quality of advice. IFAs are still largely a cottage industry. Most are small local firms with 2-5 advisers. That "top 100" is a list by earnings. Indeed, that list contains IFA firms and iFA networks. A network is a collection of IFA firms. i.e. the top IFA in that list is Sesame. They have around 3000 IFAs but none of the work for Sesame. They are independent companies that use Sesame as a compliance company. They, like other networks, will be a collection of different types of IFAs, different business models, different skills and ability and quality.

in fact are there any league tables of IFA's so i can make an educated choice rather than 'interviewing' a selection and making my own mind up.

What could a league table say and how would you measure it? What would it tell you? Assuming you only mean investment performance then that isnt much use as even if the firm has say 10 risk profile portfolios, the ratio of holdings will vary with different clients even within the same risk profile. A client may be best with one platform but not another. The investments available on those two platforms may differ and require a different fund selection.

How would you measure the performance if the IFA does transactional advice AND servicing advice. The recommendations would be different with each. How do you strip out the directly authorised firms and those attached to networks (which under FSA rules are only recorded under the network and not the individual member firms)