Portfolio for a Retired parent

innovate

That IFA has an interesting view on things!

He doesn't have to agree with passive investing - but to suggest discussing it is a waste of time is taking it too far! Clearly, the IFA expects to make a lot more (for themselves) with a non-passive approach and couldn't care less about the benefits to the investor. How much do they want from your mum's money? One-off charge or regular annual charge?

TBH, I would not bother going back to them, and instead either find a more trustworthy IFA or just DIY it. Places like monevator and motley fool will have a lot of useful information.

bigadaj

At least two reasons why they have adopted that approach. First would be compliance as they may feel open to complaint more from this approach than from a full service

Working in consultancy I find this approach a little unjustifiable, though probably blame the regulator more for this than the individual firms or individuals.

Second reason is that anyone obviously wants to maintain business going forward and this is one way of promoting this.

As is frequently stated here, it is generally best to shop around for services and go with those you feel comfortable with, patticulalry where there is no history or personal recommendation.

jem16

jimmyjones wrote: »

They didn't seem very keen to just give us an investment strategy and asset allocation and let us DIY, they want to setup the account, transfer all of the isas, annually re-ballance etc. We are having another meeting in 2 weeks where they are going to suggest a portfolio of funds and platform.

The problem with suggesting an approach and letting you DIY, is that the IFA is still responsible for the advice and you could come back at a later date and claim missale if you make a mess of it.

Also i was surprised that they said tracker funds were high risk but didnt want to waste valuable time debating the merits of a passive approach :-)

Trackers can be higher risk than other funds - depends what the other funds are.

Was it you or the IFA that's saying "didn't want to waste valuable time debating the merits of a passive approach"?

innovate wrote: »

That IFA has an interesting view on things!

He doesn't have to agree with passive investing - but to suggest discussing it is a waste of time is taking it too far! Clearly, the IFA expects to make a lot more (for themselves) with a non-passive approach and couldn't care less about the benefits to the investor.

With RDR, the IFA is going to make the same money regardless of active or passive approach as the fee is now set by the IFA and not the provider.

atush

jimmyjones wrote: »

Today we analysed all of the accounts:

Savings - £93k
- Instant Access - £86.5k
- 5 Year Fixed Rate ISA - £6.5k
- Premium Bonds - £2k

Investments - £73k
- M&G Recovery Fund - £29k
- Standard Life Global Advantage Fund - £12k
- Barclays UK Core Fund - £11.5k
- Scottish Widows Balanced Growth Fund - £9k
- Mortgage Endowment (matures later this year) - ~£9k
- SSE plc Shares - £1.5k
- Iberdrola Shares - £500
- Lloyds Banking Group Shares - £500

To me, the investments don't look very diversified - they are very focused on the UK and light on bonds. Some of the funds look quite expensive particularly the initial charges - I am sure they made the Halifax Financial Adviser made a decent commission!

Lets see what our IFA has to say about this lot.

What happened to the money? 80 has shrunk to 73K, but more important 120K has shrunk to 93K!!! Does this include the 100K inheritance?

As a first thought, she needs to stoke up her ISAs, esp cash so get this years in ASAP, and next years as well.

Then, what is the state of her home/car? Do either need upgrading?

jimmyjones_2

jem16 wrote: »

Was it you or the IFA that's saying "didn't want to waste valuable time debating the merits of a passive approach"?

It was me that didnt want to waste time... I should read before posting!

atush wrote: »

What happened to the money?

A car purchase and an error due to including a closed S+S ISA account in the original figures.

atush wrote: »

Does this include the 100K inheritance?

Yes

atush wrote: »

As a first thought, she needs to stoke up her ISAs, esp cash so get this years in ASAP, and next years as well.

This is the plan, the IFA implied that we should put almost all of the money into Shares and Bonds so we are probably not looking at a cash ISA... just need to wait 2 weeks for their suggestions.

atush wrote: »

Then, what is the state of her home/car? Do either need upgrading?

Some of the money has already been spent on home/car.