Independent Financial Advice on Pensions & Savings

dosh1

Hi there,

Is there a financial governing body (website) that hosts information about independent financial advisers available please?

I need good, honest, reliable advice and guidance on my finances. Not interested in engaging with cowboys!

Any help in pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated.

Thanks

AlanP_2

As a starting point have a look at:

https://www.unbiased.co.uk/

and filter the results through the postcode option.

There is a regulators list somewhere online I think but don't know address.

Linton

Try https://www.unbiased.co.uk for details on local regulated IFAs. Note the tick-box at the bottom of the left hand side which should be unticked to include all rather than just "sponsored" entries.

dunstonh

Is there a financial governing body (website) that hosts information about independent financial advisers available please?

What information are you after?

There is the FSA register that verifies the control functions a regulated individual has (CF30 being the control function advisers have).
Unbiased (mentioned above) is a commercial listing but has the largest coverage. It does check adviser qualifications with the exam board and the statement of professional standard is uploaded for consumers to view.

I need good, honest, reliable advice and guidance on my finances. Not interested in engaging with cowboys!

Statistically, the odds are low. FOS stats show advisers running at under 1% of complaints with most rejected. There are not many tied agents around nowadays but as long as you avoid single tied or limited panel you should be fine.

You tend to find most discussions nowadays by consumers is not the quality of advice but the cost of advice. There are some greedy advisers out there along with the good value.

saver861

dunstonh wrote: »

Statistically, the odds are low. FOS stats show advisers running at under 1% of complaints with most rejected. There are not many tied agents around nowadays but as long as you avoid single tied or limited panel you should be fine.

I'm not sure I'd entirely go with this. It gives the impression that as long as they are independent then they are good. Conversely, advisers that are tied are bad. As long as the tied advisers make it clear they can only give advice on their companies products then they are equivalent, at that stage, to Independents.

dunstonh wrote: »

You tend to find most discussions nowadays by consumers is not the quality of advice but the cost of advice. There are some greedy advisers out there along with the good value.

Again, I would say it is the quality that matters - though at an appropriate price. If an IFA is 'greedy' with inflated prices then personally I would be inclined to mistrust his/her advice. Certainly if he is greedy then its likely he will advise funds in his interests as opposed to the clients.

Its no different to any other business - the right advice at the right price - anything else is untrustworthy.

dunroving

My experience and impression is that IFAs all want to "sell you" something and want a chunk of money to "manage" your investments.

What about a one-time consultancy to simply look over your plans and give you advice on your strategy? I don't want an IFA to tell me whether I should invest in tech stocks vs. SE Asia vs. growth vs. income funds. I want an IFA to give me his/her opinion on my overall plan, especially whether I am missing potential tax benefits or misunderstanding regulations and rules.

Aegis

dunroving wrote: »

My experience and impression is that IFAs all want to "sell you" something and want a chunk of money to "manage" your investments.

What about a one-time consultancy to simply look over your plans and give you advice on your strategy? I don't want an IFA to tell me whether I should invest in tech stocks vs. SE Asia vs. growth vs. income funds. I want an IFA to give me his/her opinion on my overall plan, especially whether I am missing potential tax benefits or misunderstanding regulations and rules.

Nothing wrong with this at all, except that some IFAs are still somewhat hung up on having assets under direct management. Just make it clear what you want when you make initial enquiries and you should eventually have some luck!

gadgetmind

dunroving wrote: »

I want an IFA to give me his/her opinion on my overall plan, especially whether I am missing potential tax benefits or misunderstanding regulations and rules.

Agreed 100%.

I'm a grown up, I can manage my assets myself, but can't possible know every aspect of income/IHT tax regulations nor the tangled mess that is our pensions legislation.

gadgetmind

Aegis wrote: »

Just make it clear what you want when you make initial enquiries and you should eventually have some luck!

A few years (2-3) ago, I tried speaking to three IFAs. Two of them weren't prepared to even meet if I wasn't going to let them run the whole lot, and the other met with me but said we couldn't go any further unless I signed a HNWI declaration, which he'd brought with him partially completed!

Aegis

gadgetmind wrote: »

A few years (2-3) ago, I tried speaking to three IFAs. Two of them weren't prepared to even meet if I wasn't going to let them run the whole lot, and the other met with me but said we couldn't go any further unless I signed a HNWI declaration, which he'd brought with him partially completed!

Interesting... Did you indicate that you wanted some sort of unregulated investment advice or something? Otherwise that just seems a bizarre thing to take to a potential client meeting.

gadgetmind

Aegis wrote: »

Interesting... Did you indicate that you wanted some sort of unregulated investment advice or something? Otherwise that just seems a bizarre thing to take to a potential client meeting.

Yes, bizarre.

Someone recommended said IFA, and I thought I'd add him to the list. It seems that his speciality lies in moving people's SIPPs across to funds that provided mezzanine loans to property developers, and if I'd just sign the forms, then I could have the "guaranteed 9% pa income" that all of his other happy clients enjoyed.

And yes, I checked him out, and he's got all of the fancy letters after his name and the appropriate approvals with the Fxx.

It seems that if you can just get that HNWI in place, everything downstream is more, um, relaxed.

He also said he didn't charge commision but quoted everything (up front and annual) as percentages of the pot. I floated the idea that even after I'd done full due diligence, the asset class in question would never command more than 5% of my portfolio, and he left a few minutes afterwards.

My experiences of finding a good IFA closely resemble my youthful experiences of playing "spin the bottle".