Bank Service

Pollycat

My complete quote regarding Investec Group:

Pollycat wrote: »

Why would you expect her to have heard of Investec Group?
She may have worked in financial services for some time but I would expect her to be knowledgeable about the financial services offered by her bank, not some other financial institution.
How did Investec Group come into the conversation?

giraffe69 wrote: »

Because it is quite a major group with a big Zebra.

So?

bod1467 wrote: »

Financial advisers tied to a single supplier/group are interested in only one thing ... selling their employer's policies so the adviser can get their commission/bonus. The customer is merely a vehicle to achieving this.

As above, I doubt she'd be interested in any product other than what she can push onto customers and increase her bonus.

giraffe69

Why would you expect her to have heard of Investec Group?
She may have worked in financial services for some time but I would expect her to be knowledgeable about the financial services offered by her bank, not some other financial institution.

Perhaps there is a difference between "having heard of" and "being knowledgeable about". I would expect a Ford car salesman to have heard of Renault even if he wasn't an expert. I expect someone selling NatWest products to have heard of Santander etc.

Pollycat

giraffe69 wrote: »

Perhaps there is a difference between "having heard of" and "being knowledgeable about". I would expect a Ford car salesman to have heard of Renault even if he wasn't an expert. I expect someone selling NatWest products to have heard of Santander etc.

I would also expect someone selling NatWest products to have heard of Santander.

Santander is a high street financial institution.

Is Investec Group also a high street institution?

I've had a look on Google.
They do offer a 'private bank account' to individuals earning in excess of £75,000.
Oh, and there's another one - 'Voyage' - exclusively available to individuals with an annual income of £150,000 or more.

Hardly the usual customer of NatWest or Santander, I would think.

Maybe the OP should have gone to Investec, instead of his 'local bank'.

pmduk

I suspect it would have been more beneficial to pay an IFA, that way no commission would be taken out of the investment.

Momax10

Pollycat wrote: »

I've had a look on Google.
They do offer a 'private bank account' to individuals earning in excess of £75,000.
Oh, and there's another one - 'Voyage' - exclusively available to individuals with an annual income of £150,000 or more.

Hardly the usual customer of NatWest or Santander, I would think.

Maybe the OP should have gone to Investec, instead of his 'local bank'.

Interesting comments clearly made without the full facts. There are other Investec accounts available without the need for a high income. Investec are pretty well known not least because they sponsor a number of major sporting events. I would certainly expect someone in the financial industry to have at least heard of them.

Pollycat

Momax10 wrote: »

Interesting comments clearly made without the full facts. There are other Investec accounts available without the need for a high income. Investec are pretty well known not least because they sponsor a number of major sporting events. I would certainly expect someone in the financial industry to have at least heard of them.

In that case, why didn't you terminate the meeting as soon as the 'lack of knowledge' of the financial advisor became apparent?

So Investec sponsor a number of major sporting events?
And what other things are they well known for?
Because seeing a logo behind a football manager being interviewed or a fruit drink in the hands of a tennis player doesn't actually educate someone about what that particular company does.

giraffe69

So Investec sponsor a number of major sporting events?
And what other things are they well known for?
Because seeing a logo behind a football manager being interviewed or a fruit drink in the hands of a tennis player doesn't actually educate someone about what that particular company does.

They are known for financial services. The adverts of them sponsoring, say, a test match are no doubt in part to raise brand awareness. If OP had never heard of them fair enough. If the adviser wasn't an expert on their products fair enough but not to have heard of them as an adviser would suggest a lack of knowledge about the sector she should know something about. If the client said "That sounds good. Is it better than Investec's product" and she replied "I don't have the detail of the product so can't advise you" that seems acceptable but if she instead said "I've never heard of Investec" that would leave me in some doubt about her knowledge and competence as well as knowing she wasn't a cricket fan!

Pollycat

giraffe69 wrote: »

They are known for financial services. The adverts of them sponsoring, say, a test match are no doubt in part to raise brand awareness. If OP had never heard of them fair enough. If the adviser wasn't an expert on their products fair enough but not to have heard of them as an adviser would suggest a lack of knowledge about the sector she should know something about. If the client said "That sounds good. Is it better than Investec's product" and she replied "I don't have the detail of the product so can't advise you" that seems acceptable but if she instead said "I've never heard of Investec" that would leave me in some doubt about her knowledge and competence as well as knowing she wasn't a cricket fan!

I would agree if the OP had visited an IFA.

But she wasn't an IFA.

She was a bank employee employed to sell products provided by that Bank.
People go into branch to ask about that particular bank's products - not their competitors.

Would you seriously ask a bank employee if their product was better than someone else's?

Why would you expect her to have details of a competitor's product?

If I go into a bank/building society, I've done all my research beforehand.

It's called personal accountability.

giraffe69

But she wasn't an IFA. Agree

She was a bank employee employed to sell products provided by that Bank. Agree
People go into branch to ask about that particular bank's products - not their competitors. Agree, mostly

Would you seriously ask a bank employee if their product was better than someone else's?

Why would you expect her to have details of a competitor's product? No

If I go into a bank/building society, I've done all my research beforehand. Good for you

Perhaps you have forgotten what you said in post 3 which was
Why would you expect her to have heard of Investec Group?

So the key phrase is "heard of" not be knowledgeable about or recommend or be conversant of the details of. Please be clear before you commit to more nonsense in this thread.