Financial advisers - are they worthwhile

Coops10

I must say that I am rather surprised by these last couple of comments. I am an IFA, and I would say every one I know, would be happy to take a £14,000 investment from you. The main reason is, although not hugely lucrative, you do a job for them and they become good clients, which leads to repeat business! It strikes me that you have just had bad luck, as I realise that not all of them are good.

M3_Sussex

I am happy with my IFA and have recommended him to quite a few people who he has also helped. He's a very knowledgeable chap with a very pleasant manner and has never tried to push any product on me.
I have all of my investments set up in a portfolio on Moneyextra.com so I can see how they're doing. I also keep the old ones set up which I had before he recommended changes so I can track them to ensure my new ones are better performers. They always are!!!

He makes me laugh with his 'client car'. This is a Skoda he uses to visit clients to hide the fact that he's loaded.

greenface

hi its me again from post#18 sorry if my wording mislead you
When i said i gave IFA £14k means i gave them a cheque for 2x£7k = £14k to put into ISAs before April 5th 2007 to get in my allowance for that year.
I have no previous experence in investments or funds and we dont pay tax at present and have around £350k sitting in one bank paying 5%.

Im sure most IFAs would consider that profitable but still waiting been onto number two and they are "on to it"

debbie42

greenface wrote: »

When i said i gave IFA £14k means i gave them a cheque for 2x£7k = £14k to put into ISAs before April 5th 2007 to get in my allowance for that year.

Is that how it works? You give them the money and they invest it? I'd have thought you needed to apply yourself, given all the money laundering checks etc.

dunstonh

The adviser arranges all the paperwork and does all the money laundering checks themselves. There is no money laundering check done by the savings/investment company you place the business with.

Its a start to finish process with the adviser doing all the work.

greenface

I needed my & oh passport and driving licence and NI number sign the form and hey presto done thanks,

tbd_2

An IFA proposed a £200-£500 fee for looking into my personal details. Is this normal? The range puzzled me a bit. How can I know what to expect if it's that vague?

dunstonh

tbd wrote: »

An IFA proposed a £200-£500 fee for looking into my personal details. Is this normal? The range puzzled me a bit. How can I know what to expect if it's that vague?

How do they know what to charge you if its that vague?

When you have a fault with a car, washing machine etc, until the mechanic, repair person etc knows what the fault is they cannot tell what the cost will be.

If the adviser doesnt know initially what you will be wanting from their advice they wont know if its a 3 hour job or a 20 hour job.
Once the adviser knows what you want from them, they should be able to narrow down the pricing to either exact or near enough (most do not charge by the hour but some do). An IFA cannot charge you until they tell you that you will be charged beyond a certain point. That gives you a chance to end it before incurring costs. Usually the first consultation is free of charge.

tbd_2

dunstonh wrote: »

When you have a fault with a car, washing machine etc, until the mechanic, repair person etc knows what the fault is they cannot tell what the cost will be.

If the adviser doesnt know initially what you will be wanting from their advice they wont know if its a 3 hour job or a 20 hour job.
Once the adviser knows what you want from them, they should be able to narrow down the pricing to either exact or near enough (most do not charge by the hour but some do). An IFA cannot charge you until they tell you that you will be charged beyond a certain point. That gives you a chance to end it before incurring costs. Usually the first consultation is free of charge.

This was a quote for an initial investigation, charges were on top of this, from 2.5-5%, from memory, for investments.

dunstonh

Sounds expensive then.

For investments, you should be aiming for 1.8% with no other charges. The FSA publish average commissions every 6 months and currently 1.8% is the average. Average of course means some charge more and some charge less. However, aim for that 1.8% and you know if you are getting worse or better than average.