Pension Booster

GhIFA

So the IFA carries out all the research, produces the report, and if the client chooses not to go ahead there is nothing to pay?? Post RDR I cannot see how that is any kind of viable business model. I think you need to be careful about using the words free review - the advice has to be paid for somewhere, and I am not aware of many IFA's who now don't charge a fee for carrying out research and making a recommendation regardless of whether that recommendation is taken up or not.

If you're that concerned about people's pension arrangements I don't see why you don't do the study and the training and provide the advice yourself.

dunstonh

We are not an Appointed Representative which would require us to be on the FSA Register.

You are an introducer. The FSA have a classification for introducers that operate on a commercial basis.

Our compliance company recently issued a warning to all IFAs using the network side or directly authorised side saying that we should not accept leads from any firm acting as an introducer unless that firm has obtained the appropriate authorisations. They said that purchasing leads from firms who do not hold the required FSA authorisation is a breach of the FSA’s rules and you could be held jointly liable with the introducer for the breach.

atush

So, if post 13 is correct (and I have no reason to think it is not)

then Steve, your whole business is now illegal post RDR.

jamesd

stevebooster, unfortunately:

"If a financial services company calls you first, ignore them, they are almost certainly scamming you in some way".

However ethical your business is, a consumer has no really good way to tell the difference between a call from a good company and a call from a scammer and has to ignore the call if they are not to take serious risk of losing money.

This doesn't mean you are bad, it's just how prudent consumers have to act to protect themselves. Way too many scams in this area. For this reason you can expect that every time someone mentions such calls, the comments here will be highly negative.

I agree with you that there is benefit to be had from consumers reviewing their pension arrangements.

Do follow up on what dunstonh has written. Dunstonh is a highly capable IFA who pays close attention to such issues and it's very likely that it is dunstonh who is correct. For you there's one benefit: an FSA registration for the activity will provide some chance for you to set yourself apart from the scammers.

dunstonh

To follow up on what dunstonh has written. Dunstonh is a highly capable IFA who pays close attention to such issues and it's very likely that it is dunstonh who is correct.

what i typed was actually a copy and paste (with slight adjustment for context) from what was on the compliance bulletin . I hope it is right because that is why I pay a compliance company!

When others have posted on this board about cold callers, some of those have appeared on the FSA register as Introducer.

stevebooster

Thanks for the feedback posters 15 and 16, I will double check the position on our introducer status with our IFAs. But they have looked into this in the past and advised that our activity is exempt and not classified as regulated by the FSA.

To address the skepticism from poster 12, I can confirm that the reviews completed by our IFAs are free even if a client decides not to proceed with any transaction. I believe the post highlights that the service provided fills an important requirement for many people who do not wish to pay fees for a review and do not have the knowledge or confidence to undertake a review themselves via web resources.

Velcro_Hotdog

stevebooster wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback posters 15 and 16, I will double check the position on our introducer status with our IFAs. But they have looked into this in the past and advised that our activity is exempt and not classified as regulated by the FSA.

To address the skepticism from poster 12, I can confirm that the reviews completed by our IFAs are free even if a client decides not to proceed with any transaction. I believe the post highlights that the service provided fills an important gap in the market for many people who do not wish to pay fees for a review and do not have the confidence to undertake a review via web resources.

So they fees paid by clients that do go ahead must be inflated to cover the cost of those that don't?

dunstonh

Thanks for the feedback posters 15 and 16, I will double check the position on our introducer status with our IFAs. But they have looked into this in the past and advised that our activity is exempt and not classified as regulated by the FSA.

I believe it is a relatively new requirement. Possibly brought in to avoid firms circumventing the RDR requirements. i dont recall seeing the introducer status on the register before late last year.

To address the skepticism from poster 12, I can confirm that the reviews completed by our IFAs are free even if a client decides not to proceed with any transaction. I believe the post highlights that the service provided fills an important gap in the market for many people who do not wish to pay fees for a review and do not have the confidence to undertake a review via web resources.

I suspect they are not doing a full review. That would just be economically crazy. My best guess is that they obtain the pension details, run it through O&M or selectapension and if it comes in cheaper then they go back to the individual to tell them they can beat it and this is the cost for doing it. If the client then agrees to proceed, then the formal process proceeds. You can turn around a quick and dirty O&M/Selectapension comparison in about 10 minutes. A full review from beginning to end is about 5-6 hours.