Do You Need Financial Advice? When To Get It, When Not To Get It Discussion Area

dunstonh

Archi_Bald wrote: »

An independent one. Always choose an independent one for best advice.

There is a trend away from IFA status at the moment. Partly driven by liability cost and partly driven by the FCA having a tighter via on what IFA means compared to the FSA. There are increasing numbers of IFAs dropping advice in a small number of areas (such as unregulated collectives, VCTs etc - all the high risk niche stuff that the majority of the population never use) but remaining whole of market in all the other retail areas. So, don't rule out an adviser that is restricted but has no restrictions in the area you deal with.

We are looking for an IFA to advise on all aspects of our money lives as to which way to best invest and to tie our pensions together.

Which type of IFA would i be best using

Basically any IFA or restricted adviser with no restrictions in conventional investments. You may find the amount is below what many advisers typically deal with and that could lead to some giving high charges (i.e. if you pick a firm that typically deals with £250k plus investments, you may well find pricing that is good for £250k but really high for £50k). So, cost is the main thing to look at.

johnbax

My IFA tells me he is no longer an IFA but has 'aligned his business' with St James's Place Wealth Management, and passed the administration of my business to some outfit in Scotland called Policy Services. PS are apparently an IFA, but they won't be offering me any advice, just presumably doing whatever my ex-IFA tells them to do with my investments. The ex-IFA, though, thinks he's still going to be my financial advisor ('the very best financial advice available').

Are PS in fact now my IFA? Can I be transferred to a new IFA without agreeing to this? I am confused. This is not what I signed up to.

Since being informed of this change in October ('I will be in touch shortly') I have heard nothing from either the ex-IFA or Policy Services. Obviously these are questions I should ask him, but before I do so I would be very grateful for any comments from those who may have a better grasp of the situation than I do.

bigadaj

Johnbax wrote: »

My IFA tells me he is no longer an IFA but has 'aligned his business' with St James's Place Wealth Management, and passed the administration of my business to some outfit in Scotland called Policy Services. PS are apparently an IFA, but they won't be offering me any advice, just presumably doing whatever my ex-IFA tells them to do with my investments. The ex-IFA, though, thinks he's still going to be my financial advisor ('the very best financial advice available').

Are PS in fact now my IFA? Can I be transferred to a new IFA without agreeing to this? I am confused. This is not what I signed up to.

Since being informed of this change in October ('I will be in touch shortly') I have heard nothing from either the ex-IFA or Policy Services. Obviously these are questions I should ask him, but before I do so I would be very grateful for any comments from those who may have a better grasp of the situation than I do.

Their wensite says that they are aligned with st James place, so expect some lovely literature and heavy fees.

It's your money at the end of the day, so the choices are to manage it yourself, carry on as you are or go elsewhere.

I'd at least want a clear and detailed list of their fees as Sjp are known to charge harder Than an annoyed rhino.

I'd also look on unbiased.com and speak to another couple of guys in your area Mking sure sponsored ads are turned off.

gadgetmind

Johnbax wrote: »

Since being informed of this change in October ('I will be in touch shortly') I have heard nothing from either the ex-IFA or Policy Services. Obviously these are questions I should ask him, but before I do so I would be very grateful for any comments from those who may have a better grasp of the situation than I do.

It seems odd that he hasn't been in touch as I'd expect him to be trying to move you over to SJP. Their fees will be higher but they will hint at (but not put in writing) better long term returns.

You need to take control of your investments, either by doing it yourself, or by finding a good IFA.

Here and monevator.com are good places if you choose the former, and unbiased for the latter.

dunstonh

My IFA tells me he is no longer an IFA but has 'aligned his business' with St James's Place Wealth Management, and passed the administration of my business to some outfit in Scotland called Policy Services. PS are apparently an IFA, but they won't be offering me any advice, just presumably doing whatever my ex-IFA tells them to do with my investments. The ex-IFA, though, thinks he's still going to be my financial advisor ('the very best financial advice available').

You are either restricted or an IFA. He cant tell a third party what to do. Now, restricted is increasingly common. Many IFAs are dropping to restricted. Restricted can mean attached to one provider (this is the worst option) or it can mean they are fully whole of market in all areas except a handful where they choose not to transact. Such as unregulated schemes. This is becoming a popular option and is effectively similar to the pre RDR IFA classification. This type is fine to deal with as the limitations are typically in the high risk areas that most people dont want to deal in and you find most complaints are about. In between these you will have some that have a limited panel of a providers. Used to be known as multi-tie. This should ideally be avoided as usually key providers are not available.

St James place is single tied. So, very much the type to be avoided. They are also expensive. Very slick and professional normally but you pay for that many times over.

sassy165

I am 70 years of age and for the past 10 years, in addition to my State Pension, have been drawing a personal pension which amounts to a paltry £12.82 PER MONTH.

I understand that the annuity 'pot' is something like £2500.

Following the budget I thought that I would be able to commute my annuity (the lump sum would do me more good than the monthly sum I receive) however, when I wrote to my provider - Abbey Life - their reply was that they had not amended their scheme rules to allow 'existing' annuities to be commuted to a final lump sum payment and they go on to say that they understand that many other companies are also not offering this facility.

Can they do this? Their reply implies that some other companies are offering this facility! I struggled to pay into my private pension while I was working and I feel that I am not being dealt a fair hand now.

Is there any way round this please?

Thank you


Thanks dunstonh for your reply - if thems the rules thems the rules! Given my time over I would not opt for a private pension.

dunstonh

sassy165 wrote: »

I am 70 years of age and for the past 10 years, in addition to my State Pension, have been drawing a personal pension which amounts to a paltry £12.82 PER MONTH.

I understand that the annuity 'pot' is something like £2500.

Following the budget I thought that I would be able to commute my annuity (the lump sum would do me more good than the monthly sum I receive) however, when I wrote to my provider - Abbey Life - their reply was that they had not amended their scheme rules to allow 'existing' annuities to be commuted to a final lump sum payment and they go on to say that they understand that many other companies are also not offering this facility.

Can they do this? Their reply implies that some other companies are offering this facility! I struggled to pay into my private pension while I was working and I feel that I am not being dealt a fair hand now.

Is there any way round this please?

Thank you

The budget has had no impact on existing annuities.

Yes they can continue to provide the income under the terms you and they agreed to when you took it out.

bowlhead99

I guess exercising his brain by dispensing free guidance across 70k separate posts which are all open to public scrutiny, without appearing too incompetent, over the course of a decade, probably helps him keep his wits about him when faced with a new client whose personal status and financial objectives he's likely seen before anyway.

Working in professional services, you can't be accurately judged from afar about whether you're truly focussed on a client's best interest or just enough of their interests to not generate a complaint. You might charge £300 an hour for three hours direct work on a client that would have taken 30 hours for someone to do without the benefit of decades of experience and buying in certain services from elsewhere, and deliver a high quality product.

If the client gets that three hours of focus and a quality product, he can't say that you can't go to sleep that night or take a weekend off or work on any other clients or post on any internet forums because it will dilute the standard of service delivered in the three hours. A personal professional service comes with a duty of care, but not an obligation to spend all your time thinking about that client's problem to the exclusion of all else.

If you do the maths on 70k posts at 3 min per post, that's 210k mins or 3500 hours. But since mid 2004 we have had over 87000 hours. So the 3500 hours posting is 4% of his time. Then assuming he spends half as much time again reading what people wrote on this and other forums, it's 6% of every living day, an hour and a half.

Many people would spend that fraction of their life eating and pooping. Maybe his posting is concurrent with one or both of those, or maybe he sleeps less than 8 hours a night, or commutes for 1.5 hours a day fewer than I do.

Or maybe he's his own boss and gets to spend a lot of his working day writing on forums tangentially related to his work, drumming up business and keeping educated about what people out there in the wide world are thinking about personal finance, while having his employees handle the easier cases that come in. None of this would preclude his clients receiving a decent service.

We are supposed to be nice to newbies here and I did see you put a 'winky face' on your question so am not going to write you off as an imbecile just yet . Still, seems a strange reason to join a forum, just to point out someone's postcount.

Cheers, bowlhead99 [0.36 posts per day, thanked in 74% of posts...:A]

JohnRo

jem16 wrote: »

Dunstonh is a very well respected contributor to this board and many here, including myself, are very thankful for all the efforts he puts in here and, as you point out, for free.

I'll second that with bells on.

Helped me extensively, for free, over several weeks, to apply technical pressure and retrieve a five figure reimbursement from a portfolio churning, commission hungry, bone idle IFA who had exploited my ignorance and abused the trust placed in him.

Melodrama aside, it restored my faith in humanity at the time.

dunstonh

If you have time to post so many times and you are a qualified adviser I doubt you are truly focusing on your own clients best interests spending so much time on here giving free guidance/advice

And yet you find time to register on a website and then make a post to criticise. Perhaps you should focus on your clients best interests rather than post during working hours.

I am guessing that, as you have quoted that text, that your are not happy about my comments on that ridiculous charging method. Perhaps it is you that uses that daft method. Try and justify it to me and others if that is the case.