Affordable IFA advice

JuicyJesus

doughnutmachine wrote: »

I honestly think that an averagely intelligent person could get the hang of investment fairly easily. It's not some massively complex skill like brain surgery or flying a 747.

It's still reasonably complex, and has a number of pitfalls. It also involves large sums of money, which most people are understandably and rightfully cautious about. A person of average intelligence probably could understand the concepts involved - whether they could make the right decisions for the right reasons, and be willing to lay a large amount of money on the line for them with no recourse should their decisions turn out to be poor is another matter.

My point was not that investments are too complex to understand. My point was that some people don't understand them or don't want to understand them. Some people have some knowledge but don't feel they know enough or have enough experience to make a go of it themselves. All these groups of people would probably be well served by seeing an IFA.

I have no particular axe to grind, not working as an IFA or in financial advice at all. But just to say that advisers are pointless full stop is nonsensical. As are some of your points, which betray a very poor understanding of how advice is structured or regulated.

doughnutmachine

dunstonh wrote: »

Did you catch that figure. Just 714. Out of over 327,000 complaints. Of those 714, the biggest IFA network had 292 of them and the FOS only upheld 1 in 5 of those. Millions of transactions a year but just 714 complaints at the FOS in the first 6 months.

Perhaps it would be better to talk about good advice from an IFA? Just because no one has complained about an IFA doesn't mean they offer a good service.

What would you consider "good" advice from an IFA? A list of perhaps 15 different Unit Trusts to invest in? You really think a list of Unit Trusts is worth paying a couple of thousand pounds for?

Then another couple of thousand a year for a letter from your IFA with a projection of the portfolio value?

dunstonh

Clearly you dont actually understand what an IFA does. Not just based on your last post but others. You also dont want to know as you ignore things that are inconvenient for your point of view. Seeing as you dont want to use one (which is fine) and you havent used one and dont understand what they do then it is difficult to see what you can add to any conversation on the subject beyond making things up to suit your jaded views.

jem16

doughnutmachine wrote: »

Lol, I sense a lot of anger in this post.

I didn't get any sense of anger from his post - thought it was quite funny really.

I wouldn't be too happy if I went to a doctor and he prescribed the medicines that just so happened to give him commission.....

Do you really believe that doctors get no kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies? How quaint.

doughnutmachine wrote: »

Perhaps it would be better to talk about good advice from an IFA? Just because no one has complained about an IFA doesn't mean they offer a good service.

You really do need to make your mind up. One minute you're backing up your accusations with lots of people coming onto this forum complaining of IFAs and the next you're suggesting that few complaints don't mean they offer a good service.

What would you consider "good" advice from an IFA?

What do you consider good advice?

doughnutmachine

jem16 wrote: »

What do you consider good advice?

Good question, I would consider good advice to be "go buy yourself a couple of books on investments and forget about paying an IFA thousands of pounds a year to do simple admin tasks".

Of course if a person is obviously a bit *simple* and they come into money they should go to an IFA and get their hand held.

doughnutmachine

dunstonh wrote: »

Clearly you dont actually understand what an IFA does.

I have six figures in shares/ sipps. I know how long it takes to look after my portfolio..... it's certainly not worth paying an IFA thousands a year to do it.....

but obviously some people value their free time at hundreds an hour and it's worthwhile for them to get an IFA.

grizzly1911

JuicyJesus wrote: »

If the punter thinks they have a greater attitude to risk than the advisor says they do then they can always stick two fingers up at the advisor and DIY with whatever they choose. And if that comes a-cropper then you're !!!!!!ed.

If you have enough knowledge to DIY then DIYing is a very viable option. Most people don't and are not inclined to learn.

Many punters don't know their **** from their elbow.

Nice man or lady in suit must know what they are doing. More so if they come to your house and talk about you.

This isn't restricted to financial advice alone.

grizzly1911

dunstonh wrote: »

Seeing as the average consumer is cautious in nature and a very common DIY error is to invest above the risk profile and capacity for loss, perhaps that same punter would be wise to follow the advice.

Indeed.

Open briefcase or laptop and here is one I made earlier, little tweak here and there followed a couple of days later with a smart printed up summary and recommendation. Sign here.

There are a few that will stretch the imagination, no doubt.

Limited risk, limited benefit, limited chance of being sued - half price?

jem16

doughnutmachine wrote: »

Good question, I would consider good advice to be "go buy yourself a couple of books on investments and forget about paying an IFA thousands of pounds a year to do simple admin tasks".

I would consider that bad advice as I can come on here and get that advice for nothing. However not surprising for someone who has never used an IFA to consider it good advice and who feels that admin tasks are all that an IFA would deal with.

doughnutmachine wrote: »

I have six figures in shares/ sipps. I know how long it takes to look after my portfolio..... it's certainly not worth paying an IFA thousands a year to do it.....

An IFA wouldn't be dealing with shares so probably no point anyway.

but obviously some people value their free time at hundreds an hour and it's worthwhile for them to get an IFA.

Many people's free time is worth far more.

gadgetmind

dunstonh wrote: »

Seeing as the average consumer is cautious in nature

I was recently discussing this with a very intelligent lady who also has far more than a few bob. She didn't understand why she'd been asked various questions so I explained that it would be used to guide her asset allocation between (mainly) equities and bonds, and also how much "home bias" to give her.

You could see the light dawning and the scales falling from her eyes.

I don't think that trying to judge someone's attitude to risk has any meaning until you've explained about different kinds of risk and why psychology matters.