Savings and Investments some Financial Advice

Andrew-M

Ive recently made an appointment to see Allie Baglow from best-financial-advice.co.uk prior to her coming round to advise me on the best way to invest for my retirement . I wondered if anyone else had any dealings with her company ? I was recommended by a work colleague and wanted to know if there was any contrary opinions on her company ?

dunstonh

The IFA profession is still mostly made up of small local firms employing a handful of people dealing with small numbers of consumers each year. It is unlikely the internet would have any coverage of such local firms.

It is akin to asking countrywide if the butchers down the road is any good.

Andrew-M

Neglected to mention Im in St Helens Merseyside

Andrew-M

dunstonh wrote: »

The IFA profession is still mostly made up of small local firms employing a handful of people dealing with small numbers of consumers each year. It is unlikely the internet would have any coverage of such local firms.

It is akin to asking countrywide if the butchers down the road is any good.

So what you saying is its waste of time asking for the opinion on an IFA on here ? or a "small IFA" ?

jimjames

Andrew-M wrote: »

So what you saying is its waste of time asking for the opinion on an IFA on here ? or a "small IFA" ?

Certain things can be very misleading to ask on the web. Often the feedback can come from unhappy customers when happy customers don't bother to comment.

An exception on here is for investment companies when a lot of posters are happy to say which fund supermarkets they use and their experiences.

For an IFA in St Helens you would be lucky to find another user here who has experience I think.

JohnRo

Have the preliminary meeting with this IFA and then start asking for opinions about what has been suggested and the costs involved, that might prove to be a more productive endeavour.

It's unlikely you'd manage to find anyone with any specific dealings with the person in question who'd be willing to discuss details on a national forum.

Andrew-M

jimjames wrote: »

Certain things can be very misleading to ask on the web. Often the feedback can come from unhappy customers when happy customers don't bother to comment.

TBH it was primarily the un happy customers I wanted to hear from, I know that a persons more inclined to post a review or comment on a company if theyve had bad dealings. I googled her company and couldnt find any reviews as such. Just the testimonials on her site (the page has disappeared) which now only go back to the front page of her site. Im a pessimist at heart I find if I expect the worst (and plan for it) then Im rarely dissapointed

dunstonh

So what you saying is its waste of time asking for the opinion on an IFA on here ? or a "small IFA" ?

Yes. As mentioned, its akin to asking the UK if the butcher down the road is good. How would anyone other than local people who have used them know?

TBH it was primarily the un happy customers I wanted to hear from, I know that a persons more inclined to post a review or comment on a company if theyve had bad dealings. I googled her company and couldnt find any reviews as such.

You wouldnt expect to.

Im a pessimist at heart I find if I expect the worst (and plan for it) then Im rarely dissapointed

IFAs account for under 1% of complaints at the FOS despite handling the majority of regulated advice transactions. Nothing is perfect but it is one area that is not of general concern.

jimjames

Andrew-M wrote: »

TBH it was primarily the un happy customers I wanted to hear from, I know that a persons more inclined to post a review or comment on a company if theyve had bad dealings. I googled her company and couldnt find any reviews as such. Just the testimonials on her site (the page has disappeared) which now only go back to the front page of her site. Im a pessimist at heart I find if I expect the worst (and plan for it) then Im rarely dissapointed

One place you may find reviews if you are a member is on Which Local which has lots of reviews of all types of company, even local butchers. They are behind their paywall so results won't appear on Google.