Advice sought

qpop

darkpool wrote: »

i've got a fairly large portfolio, i pay nowhere near 4% a year in fees..... are you thinking of the IFA clients paying 4% a year?

i honestly think if someone has the intelligence to save money they have the intelligence to invest it. fair enough going to an IFA if you've inherited money/ got divorced etc. but overall the fools are paying 3 or 4% a year for no discernible benefit.

You've entirely missed the point of what I was saying, but then, that really doesn't surprise me.

Anyway, I'm all out of troll-feed, so this is the most you'll get from me I'm afraid

darkpool

Meeper wrote: »

You are, of course, entitled to your opinion, erroneous though it is.

of course you have some evidence to prove that going to an IFA is worth the fees?

westy22

Without wishing to add fuel to this heated debate, and on a purely practical basis, just what proportion of FAs (employed advisers) or IFAs (independent advisers) would actually be prepared to advise a brand new client wishing to purchase £1,000 of shares, plus invest £100 per month in shares, in a self-trade share trading account?

And if they did, as there is clearly no commission involved, what might the fee be?

What tangible benefit would the client receive from the advice he may receive?

By the way, I have no axe to grind either way - I do much of my investing on a DIY basis but have also used an IFA for certain transactions. I am just interested in whether seeing an adviser in these particular circumstances would be a practical option.

Meeper

I would do that, as I recognise that the individuals £1k and £100 per month may be a significant sum for him personally and not something that should be "played around" with.

I'd start by doing a thorough assessment of circumstances, as trading in individual company shares may not be the most appropriate solution for the OP in any case. However, I would carry out the fact-finding mission then determine the most appropriate solution for the individual. I would generally carry out the initial fact-finding mission with no charge, but if the client wanted a report as to his best course of action, there would be a charge. The amount of the charge would depend on the depth of the requirements following a full fact-find. If the mission was as intended, just to come up with some share recommendations for self-trading, I'd expect that to take a decent amount of my time, so I'd be charging something in the region of £250 +VAT in that case.

darkpool

Meeper wrote: »

I'd expect that to take a decent amount of my time, so I'd be charging something in the region of £250 +VAT in that case.

250 + vat for someone wanting to invest 1k plus 100 a month? you'd be better pointing him to the nearest library and telling him to get a book.

to the OP if you want some "safe" shares consider vodafone, sse, glaxo, sainsbury etc.

just be wary about financial experts, if they were that good they wouldn't be working.....

Ark_Welder

831badger wrote: »

I am looking to invest £1000 in to selftrade initially and then £100 per month in to the account. I have got my first 100 trades free. I have already used my isa and would like advice on this method of saving. What would be good (safe, if there is such a thing...) shares to start with? I am looking at this as a long term investment.

Thanks ahead for any advice on getting in to this world...:beer:

You haven't said whether your ISA is cash, stocks & shares, or both. In any case, you might be better off initially by putting your contributions into an OEIC, unit trust or investment trust, because these will spread your investment risk by putting your money into a broader set of companies. Within each these investment vehicles you could consider either a manged fund or a tracker - but you do need to have a look at the drawbacks of each of these options.

Whilst you are building up your investments you could spend the time getting to understand what is involved with selecting individual shares. Anyone can pick a company share to buy, but selecting one that is likely to perform to your requirements better than a different share is more difficult. And buying a share just because others have said that it is a good idea is not the way to go: you need to have a deeper understanding of why that particular share is being bought. When you feel able to do this then you might be able to find some companies that are not yet being suggested by other investors, and you can buy-in before the crowd arrives: that way you might make more of a return by being a leader rather than a follower.

westy22

If the mission was as intended, just to come up with some share recommendations for self-trading, I'd expect that to take a decent amount of my time, so I'd be charging something in the region of £250 +VAT in that case.

Thanks, Meeper. Would that include advising him each month where to put his £100 monthly subscription as presumably a recommendation of where to invest in February 12 would not necessarily be the same as today's recommendation?

Meeper

Probably not on a monthly basis, but I would likely include a quarterly review in that figure.

atush

dunstonh wrote: »

I thought you were not going to talk about darkpool again

About half the posts on this thread are not showing for me as the are from people that are on my ignore list because of their past stupidity. That gives me an idea of the [lack of] quality responses in this thread!

Tell me about it- I tried to get it back on track but hey ho lol.

Rollinghome

qpop wrote: »

Your ignorance is astounding in this case. If somebody can only advise on their employers products, they're not allowed to refer to themselves as an Independent Financial Adviser.

Please check your facts before talking rubbish.

Nor did I say that. I said “Most financial advisers… and if, even worse, they work for a bank, they’ll usually be limited to selling their employer's products”.

So which “facts” are you suggesting that I got wrong? Was it really so tricky for you to follow what I said?

I would also point out to you for the record, if you didn’t notice, that Meeper states that “I am a Financial Adviser” and suggested that the OP consults “an adviser”. He does not say that he is independent. What sort of “financial adviser” he is I have no idea. The degree of independence he has will also depend on whom he works for.

Whatever the case, that’s beside the point, which is that to suggest that someone who has just £1000 available and wishes to buy equities directly should “consult an adviser” (presumably like himself) is pure fantasy. What sort of “adviser” would he or you suggest? A bank “adviser” who could sell him one of their bonds? Not an IFA surely? Which IFA would offer to give advice on a sum of that size without taking the entire amount as his fee?

In any case, the vast majority of IFAs know nothing about direct investments in equities that pay no sales commission and most would not be authorised even if they did. What experience does Meeper have of trading equities or of managing portfolios of equities? Perhaps he meant a stockbroker then? Do you know of any stockbroker that would take on a client with only £1000 available on an advisory basis?

So which “adviser” would you suggest the OP consults about investing his £1000 plus £100 a month? Please advise.