IFA qualifications

Madeinireland

Hi,

I think I am in need of a IFA to help me with some decisions on my pension which I am about to take soon. This involves a defined benefit and defined contribution pension and also there is likely to be some knowledge of LTA required. I also would need advice on managing the pensions to minimise income and inheritance tax.

What sort of qualifications should I be looking for? Is Certified Financial planner suitable (or is that overkill)? I know it’s not just about qualifications but unfortunately I don’t think I’m in a position of being able to ask others (friends and family) for advice on local IFA’s who can help.

I have checked on unbiased and I am meeting someone tomorrow but I was surprised to find he wasn’t really independent and is restricted. I thought everyone on unbiased was supposed to be fully independent but it seems not.

Thanks...

Albermarle

The issue will be the defined benefit scheme . It needs a specially qualified pensions IFA , who is able to get a high level of personal indemnity cover .( there are numerous threads on this forum on this topic) Even then they may not want to take you on and if they do it will be expensive . Even if you get this far some providers will not accept transfers of defined benefit schemes even when you have taken proper advice. The rest of the advice you require is more standard stuff and should not be a problem.

Albermarle

Just reread the original post . My comments only apply if you want to transfer out of the DB scheme, so I might have jumped the gun if you are not planning to actually do this.

Pension_Geek

Although if you are just planning to take the income from the DB scheme, a transfer specialist wont be required.

Madeinireland

Not planning to transfer out of the scheme - just help with choosing best options going forward with the scheme and perhaps the additional SIPP I have so as to manage tax and inheritance issues.

Thanks...

dunstonh

I have checked on unbiased and I am meeting someone tomorrow but I was surprised to find he wasn’t really independent and is restricted. I thought everyone on unbiased was supposed to be fully independent but it seems not.

Unbiased used to be a directory for IFAs. Now it is a lead generation site which includes restricted FAs. Most IFA firms I know have stopped paying to be listed there and now just have the free entry.

just help with choosing best options going forward with the scheme and perhaps the additional SIPP I have so as to manage tax and inheritance issues.

That is pretty routine with the standard qualifications. Qualifications J05 or AF3 would be nice to have but necessary. Although there are multiple exam boards and new modules replace old (so if you search for a specific qualification, it will only show those that particular exam board and qualification and not those with a different examination board or a higher or predecessor qualification).

https://adviserbook.co.uk/ is a newer directory. They check IFA status and only show independent on those verified as such. However, as a newer directory, it hasnt yet got large volumes with personalised entries.