Financial advisers

jimjames

Neenie01 wrote: »

I was looking to savings and low risk investments, they have a portfolio that they offered.

Not sure what the IFA said but there generally isn't much benefit using them for savings as there isn't a lot that can be offered other than accounts available anyway. They may help you decide the split between savings and investments if you aren't sure how much you need as savings and how much you want to invest for the future.

Neenie01

jimjames wrote: »

Not sure what the IFA said but there generally isn't much benefit using them for savings as there isn't a lot that can be offered other than accounts available anyway. They may help you decide the split between savings and investments if you aren't sure how much you need as savings and how much you want to invest for the future.

Sorry I wasn't clear, its not savings, as such, its what to do with my savings as the interest rates are so low, i.e. low to medium risk stock market investment advice I am after, the best yet safest return I can achieve (in the long run I understand there is a risk but have been assured by a number of people that it will be okay in the long term) .

davidm_uk

"have been assured by a number of people that it will be okay in the long term" !!!!!
There is ALWAYS a risk with investments, don't believe anyone who tells you different. However by taking a risk, and playing the long game it is possible that you will gain higher rewards than anything you can get from a bank.
Since 2013 my investment portfolio has grown by 67% overall, despite a couple of years where it's lost some value. I count myself lucky. Others will have done better and others will have done worse.
I use an FA, not an IFA, but I have dealt with him for over 20 years, and there's a level of trust in the relationship now. A tied FA is not necessarily a bad thing.

bowlhead99

davidm_uk wrote: »

I use an FA, not an IFA, but I have dealt with him for over 20 years, and there's a level of trust in the relationship now. A tied FA is not necessarily a bad thing.

There's no denying that tied FAs can be friendly, helpful, trustworthy and useful people, and that some IFAs may not be quite as good as the very best restricted adviser - either in terms of competence, efficiency, not good at explaining things etc etc

However at the end of the day if you are not an investment expert yourself and are looking for independent advice for your circumstances about what products would be most suitable to invest in out of all options under the sun, it doesn't make a lot of sense to go to a tied service where the advice will be:

"What product that I want to sell is likely to be the most suitable, or least unsuitable, for you to invest in - out of this restricted list of things that I have for sale?"

In a world of increasing regulation it is not surprising that advice firms or intermediaries might organise themselves to be tied or multi-tied to a product range or set of product ranges which are known to them, and which seem to be suitable for lots of potential customers and can have the suitability checks maintained easily because the choice has been artificially limited. If the client doesn't really want you to compare the full range of solutions and products on the market because he is happy with something from his bank or from a famous name in the industry, then it is certainly easier not to bother. You could give your advice service to the client more cheaply, if it is not full independent advice.

Of course, if the advice is cheap it is not necessarily better, because the tied firm might sell you a product that's simply not as good as what he could have advised you to buy *if* he had been able to include all the good rival funds or investment products that are out there.

Really I am inclined to give the same comment that many IFAs on here tend to give: the practical choice is to either do it yourself or get independent advice. No point buying non-independent advice.

IMHO it is important to distinguish between on one hand, true independent FAs and firms that are restricted in some small way but are pretty much independent and unbiased in all the main areas in which you'd practically find the solutions that are best for you ; and on the other hand, the firms which are tied to a range of solutions which might be higher cost or lower quality than the best in the market.

Neenie01

Thank you for your comments. It looks like my best option is trusting an IFA and wish me good luck that my investment does well.