Advisors who keep fees secret

bigfreddiel

Only 11 of the largest 100 independent financial advisors (IFAs)publish their charges on their websites.

Even when asked most were not able to tell you how much they charged without a face-to-face meeting.

So its impossible to make any decision beforehand.

Those who could state their fees upfront were Towry and Chase de Vere. Those who refused were St James's Place, Tilney Bestinvest and Heartwood.

Good advisors will will give you a range of costs on their websites. It would be wise not to even approach those who are not upfront with their fees, at least that's the opinion of Mark Polson of Lang Cat.

The FCA has now launched an investigation it o this area of non-transparency.

When fees were given there is a huge range when asked to quote on advising on a £200,000 pension pot. Brewin Dolphin quoted £4,800 for the initial meeting and £2,400 per year to manage it whereas Candid Financial Advice could do the initial meeting for £1,500 and manage it yearly for £1,200.

This was all reported in The Sunday Times. and so just as I suspected anything to do with money you should be very, very careful with how you seek advice from anyone, IFA or FA or Banks. Make sure you have all your questions worked out before any meeting and ask very clear cut questions as to how much you may be charged before agreeing to anything. I'm sure most people do this anyway, but write this down and if you are at all unsure walk away or request another meeting at a later date. Do not sign anything on your first meeting and son't feel obliged to accept anything just because someone has paid you a visit, apparently some people do feel under pressure in these circumstances!

Cheers fj

masonic

It's a very bespoke service, so I'd be surprised if it is even possible to publish charges that are not misleading. It's by no means unusual to have to go out and get specific quotes when the work needs to be tailored to your personal needs to the extent that financial planning does. In my view, if your circumstances are straightforward, you should be asking yourself whether individual financial advice is necessary at all.

dunstonh

Only 11 of the largest 100 independent financial advisors (IFAs)publish their charges on their websites.

We dont publish the charges on ours as its little more than a placemat. Plus, we get no business from the website and it costs to get changes approved.

Those who could state their fees upfront were Towry and Chase de Vere. Those who refused were St James's Place, Tilney Bestinvest and Heartwood.

You start off by saying IFAs yet you list firms that are not IFAs. Some are not even advisers.

The FCA has now launched an investigation it o this area of non-transparency.

Nothing in the financial press about this. Nothing on the FCA website about it. Just the planned thematic review follow ups.

This was all reported in The Sunday Times.

Doesnt sound like very good reporting then if it cant tell the difference between firms. Some of those firms have services that are easily priced as they are non-advised one-size-fits-all. Others have bespoke services that are priced for the work and not one-size-fits-all and wouldnt suit being published on a website.

Fee agreements have to be signed stating the charges agreed in monetary amounts and the charges have to be clear and obvious. By all means you should verify the charges if they have not been presented to you but before any fee can be taken or accrued, a signature is required.

bigfreddiel

Those Sunday Times reporters are such scallywag's, in particular Ali Hussain,I would never have believed they could have written such a rubbish article, now not only can't I believe the press I can't believe an ifa!

I'm cancelling my ST order forthwith! Thanks dunstonh!

Cheers fj

dunstonh

I dont have a sub so dont the know context but if its having a dig at IFAs and goes on to list firms that are not IFAs and some that are not even advisers then you have to question the research.

If the FCA was doing new work then it would say so.

bigfreddiel

The usual excuse for not providing a published scale of fees by ifa said, is that each person is so different that it isn't possible.

I say what a load of balderdash! In reality we're all the same.

We all have an income, we all fall into various age groups, we all have a family of sorts, we all have some debt, we all live somewhere, and some of us will live long enough to retire.

So we can all be categorised into a few similar types and so a plan can be easily created to suit those types needs for retirement.

The only reason certain professions try to deny this is to keep a certain mystery about how they work and how difficult it is.

Well I guess it is kind of tricky, when you get these professionals setting interest rates to suit their own needs. Luckily they do get caught occasionally.

And misselling, seems to be a requirement of any professional person in finance.

Any bets on the next misselling scenario!

So my message, be very, very wary of any professional in the finance industry.

Cheers fj

bigfreddiel

dunstonh wrote: »

I dont have a sub so dont the know context but if its having a dig at IFAs and goes on to list firms that are not IFAs and some that are not even advisers then you have to question the research.

If the FCA was doing new work then it would say so.

Well I just re- read the article and Ali Hussain and he says 'Last week the Financial Conduct Authority launched an investigation into this area.'

So I guess Ali has got his facts wrong!

Cheers fj

jem16

bigfreddiel wrote: »

So my message, be very, very wary of any professional in the finance industry.

It's been a while since your usual rant against IFAs and you're still making the same assumptions and mistakes.

Hard to take you seriously really.

dunstonh

Well I just re- read the article and Ali Hussain and he says 'Last week the Financial Conduct Authority launched an investigation into this area.'

The only thing launched last week by the FCA was a review into advice as there are concerns that regulation has got too much and is now stifling supply and increasing costs.

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/financial-advice-market-review

Nothing to do with the Times and not linked to what you say was published in the article. It should also be noted that the vast majority of advice is done with personal contact. Not the internet. Although the FCA does want to see robo advisers and that is part of this review.

So I guess Ali has got his facts wrong!

Looks like it.

The usual excuse for not providing a published scale of fees by ifa said, is that each person is so different that it isn't possible.

I say what a load of balderdash! In reality we're all the same.

Some people are similar. However, advice is required to be personalised. I can do some meetings quickly whilst others take half a day and that is just sitting in front of the client. Not the work behind the scenes.

And misselling, seems to be a requirement of any professional person in finance.

IFAs account for under 1% of complaints at FOS and the majority are rejected. Now you are just returning to form. Shame as you hadnt been so silly recently. What could have been a decent discussion thread you pollute with stupid rants.

masonic

bigfreddiel wrote: »

The usual excuse for not providing a published scale of fees by ifa said, is that each person is so different that it isn't possible.

I say what a load of balderdash! In reality we're all the same.

We all have an income, we all fall into various age groups, we all have a family of sorts, we all have some debt, we all live somewhere, and some of us will live long enough to retire.

So we can all be categorised into a few similar types and so a plan can be easily created to suit those types needs for retirement.

Everyone should be investing only in Vanguard Lifestrategy or similar through the cheapest available DIY platform. Anyone who gets told any different by an IFA or anyone else is being missold or ripped off. Have I got that about right?

Pincher

My uncle who got conned by ABN AMRO into buying their "investment products" used to say the "free" coffee in their office cost him $10,000 a cup, and he had a lot more than one cup.


Tried a roofer called Patrick a couple of weeks ago, driving an Irish registered Transit. It's almost like a genetic instinct, he ripped open my gutter behind my back, so he can charge me to fix it.


Charges? Don't worry about the few hundred pound you can see on an invoice. Worry about the £50,000 you lose, so he can make £2,000 on back handers. Hookers in a Five Star resort in the Cayman Islands doesn't get listed on the bill.