Can anyone shed light on Bellpenny?

WatlingA5

We've had a two-page letter from our IFA which I interpret as saying 'you don't earn us enough money and we are passing you on to a company called Bellpenny - but you'll still have the same adviser'.

In fact, from online searching, it appears that the IFA is now owned by an American company called Bellpenny and it appears many other IFAs are going the same way. But I can find out little else about its history or anything else, including why so many IFAs are selling up.

Obviously, we're concerned. I'm retired and we depend on our very modest investments to keep going, so I'm wary of our savings being looked after by a company that seems to be almost invisible. A search on this site failed to find even a mention of its name in any section.

Any information about what is going on would be most welcome.

WatlingA5

Well, four days without a response - most unlike this forum! Leaves me with the feeling that regular posters are thinking "if you can't say anything good..."

Frankly I don't like the way this has been done. Our old IFA did not even give us an option of NOT being transferred to Bellpenny (well, they wouldn't when it's their new owner!), which creates greater distrust in the whole operation. The fact that Bellpenny seems to be invisible not only here but on other sites adds to the feeling of a decision to tell clients as little as possible in the hope they'll just accept it as inevitable.

For the record, I've been pleased with the investment ISA set up by my IFA, which has performed well. However, I intend to end my association with both and make my own arrangements since the "dedicated team" in Reading is likely to be part of some call centre with a high turnover of staff.

I have no evidence of that, of course - and I'd love someone to correct me - but that's my gut reaction.

cloud_dog

Without having the letter details in front of me..... it sounds like the IFA (firm/company) has been sold/bought by Bellpenny therefore you so not get the option of 'not transferring' to the new company.

There is nothing stopping you moving your investment from the IFA (Bellpenny) to another firm/company.

If it is that only your actual IFA now works for Bellpenny and the old firm still exists, and you like the firm, you could see about moving/transfer the investments to be registered with another individual in the firm?

bigadaj

Like any purchase of goods or services the answer is to shop around.

Speak to a couple of other IFAs and see what they have to offer and how you feel about them, if you're not happy then move as you're paying for it.

jimjames

Or if you are happy with what has been setup and are not getting ongoing advice then you could always move to a DIY platform so you are in non-commission funds or potentially for the next 2 years will receive the commission your IFA would have done.

Depending on your investment value & mix it could amount to 0.5% per year so may or may not be significant for you.

BellSpell

I'm a member of the financial planning team at Bellpenny. I'm very sorry that we didn't spot your post and questions about Bellpenny sooner, but, now that we've done so, we're naturally very keen to give you the reassurance and information you are looking for. Suffice to say that we're farfrom 'invisible' a Google search of 'Bellpenny' produces more than 15,000 results, nearly all of them about us! we're most definitely not American (not that there's anything wrong with being American - we're just not!).


Bellpenny's Head Office is in Reading, but we have financial planners across the length and breadth of the UK, all strong believers in face-to-face, personal advice.


A public forum is clearly not the appropriate place to be going into detail about your personal situation or concerns, so can I suggest that we move the conversation offline. I'm sure that, in the first instance, you'll want to confirm that I am who I say I am! Ideally I would like to leave my email link but unfortunately this forum won't allow that, if you would like to talk further you can leave your email address with the team at Bellpenny Reading 0845 475 7500.


On behalf of Bellpenny may I apologise again that we didn't respond more quickly to the concerns you expressed on this forum. I look forward to hearing from you.

WatlingA5

A belated thankyou for responding - only just returned to this thread. I eventually got in contact with my named adviser, who was not moving to Bellpenny, and so am staying with him.

And like you, I have no problem with Americans; on a personal level I've always found them helpful and friendly, be it online or when we've been fortunate enough to visit them on their own turf

johmca

So now Bellpenny has acquired my IFA. The IFA was useless so not bothered by that however Bellpenny now wants to charge 3% up front as a one off fee which is about £1500 to analyse our situation, attitude to risk etc. On top of that 1% annual management fees which only seem to buy an annual review.

Does this seem reasonable?

The more I think I think about it the more annoyed I'm getting - is this not charging me, an existing client who they should know already from my existing relationship with the old IFA, to remain a client?

bowlhead99

Have they acquired the IFA so that individual will still be servicing you? If that's the case, and he's genuinely useless - not sure how you quantify that, what other service you are comparing him to, or why you were still with him if he was useless - you should perhaps drop them as you don't want to be serviced by a useless individual. Or have they just acquired the clients of your former IFA?

If the charge to properly assess attitude to risk and fully review the portfolio they are taking on is 3% but only £1500, I assume you only have about £50,000 for them to advise you on which is at the end of the scale where the charges become quite a high percentage of fees.

You can perhaps complain about the fact that they should not need to reassess you if nothing has changed. However, if you went somewhere else, you'd struggle to find a new IFA who wants to assess your circumstances from scratch and give you proper advice and guidance together with a portfolio plan for less than about £1500 (just my opinion but based on other people posting here and what I've seen in the market when looking into it a bit, in the past).

And if the existing assessment of you is rubbish and previous IFA useless then getting together with the new IFA sounds like something that you probably need (if you need an IFA at all, rather than just DIYing). When was the last time you had a full assessment of your situation, attitudes, risks and goals with the last one? Could it be that the files are properly out of date and worth more of a review than a simple 'keep it ticking over' annual rebalance?

I would say that the thing to do is to tell them that the existing IFA should already have documented your history and previous meetings and if the documentation is not adequate, you don't want to pay again in full because you already paid the old guy whose business they have inherited. Perhaps offering to pay something at a reduced rate is sensible. If the old guy had just retired and not been 'taken over' you would have had to go and find someone new anyway - and while he could have referred you to someone, they would want to do their own checks and reviews while at the same time you would want to consider whether they are suitable for you, so it goes back to the point of going through a new relationship take-on which isn't really a cost-free exercise.

So, perhaps suggest they reduce that one-off fee to get started with them, on the grounds of existing customer loyalty if nothing else. If they need the business they will be more amenable than if they do not (for example, perhaps they have inherited a mixed bag of business from the old guy but their ideal client has a lot more than £50k of assets to invest and more problems for them to solve and a bigger wallet to pay for it). If they don't, they may suggest that there's no point continuing the relationship - which is their right, just as it is your right not to pay fees that are higher than you're comfortable with: you can both walk away.

On the annual review fee - based on the amount implied by the 3% = £1500 setup fee, it sounds like you're talking about something like £500 per year. What more, other than an annual review and perhaps some transactions resulting from that review (e.g. moving some unwrapped assets into an ISA or pension), would you expect for £500?

That's probably only a couple of hours of time for a business charging by the hour for professional services, and it covers their staff, equipment / software, their rent, lots of non-chargeable time like training, regulatory compliance work etc etc. I wouldn't expect to see much under £500 if you went somewhere else, to be honest. I'm not an IFA but I know my firm would lose their shirts if they only charged me out at £250 an hour though of course my take-home pay is only a fraction of that.

So to me the fees don't seem extortionate but you should definitely see how much of that setup fee they will consider trimming back on the grounds that you can't be expected to pay a new setup fee every time the person you're physically meeting is going to change. There must be some element of your business that is quicker and easier for them to take on than sourcing an entirely new customer and hence it is fair for them to knock down the fee to below 3% if that's the standard new customer rate. Particularly in the interest of cultivating a long term partnership. They may or may not go for it but it is worth a try.

Presumably in the small print of your old contract with the last IFA it doesn't say he guarantees to find you a replacement with zero takeon fee. These guys will likely be the same as it's a promise that nobody can really make. You could consider asking them what would happen if they decide to sell up or drop out of the game (servicing accounts like yours) in a couple of years time from now... if they can't do much to comfort you that you won't need to pay another setup fee to another business in a few years, then consider using a different group altogether.

Or DIY would be an option for some people with that size of pot; I don't use an IFA myself and neither do many of the more active members on this forum. For those who don't have the time, inclination or aptitude to learn how to fully manage their own financial affairs, IFAs can be very useful, but others are happy not to bother with one if they don't need any specialist services or prefer to have the risks on their own shoulders to save money.

mgdavid

BellSpell wrote: »

I'm a member of the financial planning team at Bellpenny. I'm very sorry that we didn't spot your post and questions about Bellpenny sooner, but, now that we've done so, we're naturally very keen to give you the reassurance and information you are looking for. Suffice to say that we're farfrom 'invisible' a Google search of 'Bellpenny' produces more than 15,000 results, nearly all of them about us! we're most definitely not American (not that there's anything wrong with being American - we're just not!).


Bellpenny's Head Office is in Reading, but we have financial planners across the length and breadth of the UK, all strong believers in face-to-face, personal advice.


A public forum is clearly not the appropriate place to be going into detail about your personal situation or concerns, so can I suggest that we move the conversation offline. I'm sure that, in the first instance, you'll want to confirm that I am who I say I am! Ideally I would like to leave my email link but unfortunately this forum won't allow that, if you would like to talk further you can leave your email address with the team at Bellpenny Reading 0845 475 7500.

On behalf of Bellpenny may I apologise again that we didn't respond more quickly to the concerns you expressed on this forum. I look forward to hearing from you.

If you're posting as a company representative did you first gain the permission of those that run this site, as you are obliged to do? If not it might be both wise and polite to do so, else your post could be deleted / userID banned.

johmca

Thanks for such a long and considered response Bowlhead99.

I'm just not comfortable with the principal of the thing.To my mind when they acquire a firm they are acquiring the existing relationship with the firm's customers and there should be no need for one off reviews as if I am a new customer.