Financial advisers - are they worthwhile

dunstonh

It's hardly surprising when the system is so opaque that many people are now choosing to go to discount brokers

Those companies have to comply with exactly the same rules of disclosure using so there is no difference on that front. Discount brokers are IFAs with a website. That is the only difference.

Happychappy

Remebering how an IFA get's paid and the debacle when they were selling endowment mortgages as sure things :rolleyes: and making huge commissions only to find the whole endowment mortgage scam was worthless, you really need to make your own mind up, and by that I do not mean they knew what was coming and that is my point, but Im sure there must be some worth in getting advice, just dont put 100 percent trust in it.

Clearly I had a bad experience and would not use one at any price, but that is based on the endowment mortgage scandal and the fact that the IFA firm I used, wound up when the endowment fiasco hit the news, didnt stop the four individuals setting up independently and now I have no recourse as the firm "no longer exists"

Regarding share advice, I have always gone my own way and then I dont mind if I lose out as it was my decision but with the internet there are so many avenues open to gain information and do research.

Purely my own opinion based upon many £k lost after getting good advice :mad:

Jennifer_Jane

Am not a Financial Advisor and wasn't in UK for the Endowment mis-selling so cannot comment, but I do have the UK FPC3 (Financial Planning Certificate). Even so, I would always use a Financial Advisor (and in fact mine is a tied agent who has still done wonders for me).

Hope this helps as it's impartial.
Regards
Jen x

Coops10

I'm an IFA and have to second what dunstonh has said. By bringing in difficult to understand menus only seeks for the client to question more about what is being earnt by the adviser, rather than how good the contract is and the recommendation of the adviser concerned.

I realise people do have bad experiences mainly bought about before regulation was so stringent, but I genuinely believe that for the majority of the very good advisers that are around, they are definitely worth having. If your adviser is worth his salt, he will be giving you the cheapest and best insurances, planning your tax for now and future, choosing investment contracts according to in depth market knowledge and sourcing the best mortgage deals - and on top of this, regularly reviewing these areas to ensure they do what they should.

Personally, I think this is very valuable.

TBeckett100

always use an IFA, I am one and if I wasnt I would use one. there is such a debacle over commisisons but if you understood the cost of overheads and insurance you get advice with recourse, usually!

brasso

TBeckett100 wrote: »

always use an IFA, I am one.....

:rotfl:

But seriously, one of my best friends is an IFA, so I don't have a downer on them.

I would use an IFA if I had no interest in/knowledge of the issues, the same way that (as someone said) I use a mechanic to fix my car, and the mechanic uses me to maintain his website.

But I don't use an IFA for general stuff e.g. investment decisions. It's quite easy to grasp the options with a little research. I would however use a specialist tax adviser for instance, if I needed to.

greenface

i am on the lookout again for a IFA been a little unfortunate trying to find one.

1ST i contacted made a appointment to visit my home ten days later afetr taking a few detail on the phone.rang the morning and said they couldnt make it and i would be better off going elsewhere (true)

2nd one i contacted made a appointment in about 12/14 days we went met spoke gave all our details chatted liked gave them 14k (2 isas) no exsisting funds etc that was eight weeks ago tommorrow they still havent got back to us with any sort of plan

Now thinking of contacting HL from good feedback here the closest one is 50 miles away though all i want is sound information as to where to bung our loot.
we are not tax payers

why are we finding it so hard

jamesd

You're finding it hard because 14,000 isn't likely to be highly profitable business. That means you're likely to be pre-empted by many other clients if there's a shortage of available time.

debbie42

jamesd wrote: »

You're finding it hard because 14,000 isn't likely to be highly profitable business. That means you're likely to be pre-empted by many other clients if there's a shortage of available time.

I wonder what sort of amount is reasonable to be looking toward an IFA for advice?

dunstonh

I wonder what sort of amount is reasonable to be looking toward an IFA for advice?

Depends on the business model.

An employed IFA who only gets to keep 30% of the commission would earn £126 if full commission taken on £14k. IFAs that discount wouldn't have much scope to discount and cover costs. However, a small local firm would earn £420 on that amount assuming full commission so most would be happy with that.

Now thinking of contacting HL from good feedback here the closest one is 50 miles away

Its unusual to find you are that far away from some. Try www.unbiased.co.uk and search by postcode. Do not filter anything else (filter system is highly flawed, especially qualifications).