Are you an IFA?

Alexland

Malthusian said:

Blue collar service professions are depicted on film more frequently thanks to !!!!!!.

badger09

eskbanker said:

Malthusian said:

Advisers probably appear in dramas as frequently as accountants, dentists, and any other unglamorous white collar service profession. (Blue collar service professions are depicted on film more frequently thanks to !!!!!!.)

Conjures up a disturbing image of some sort of innuendo-laden "Confessions of an IFA", with a Robin Askwith figure leering over a nubile young lady, "ooh can I get my hands on your assets, let's get you into some bonds, look at the size of these returns, can't wait to make a deposit", etc, etc

Oops, did I say that out loud?

At least you've distracted me from wondering why Malthusian appears to know more about !!!!!! than about Midsomer Murders

IAMIAM

dunstonh said:

IAMIAM said:

IFA and Mortgage Advisors are going to be extinct soon anyway. They are becoming more and more not needed as consumers educate themselves and go direct, the need to pay commission for a sale and then ongoing fee to maintain is really a waste of a consumers money.

I suspect you do not get out much and have contact with people if you think that.
Indeed, you just have to spend a day on here to see the mistakes people are making when they DIY.
Also, what commission are you referring to?  It hasn't existed since the end of 2012.
And you are mistaken if you believe that going DIY automatically saves money.   90% of DIY investments are on one platform which is nearly double the cost of a typical IFA platform and a good chunk of that money goes into their own-brand funds which results in higher charges than a typical IFA portfolio.
DIY well and you can save money. DIY badly and it can be very costly.

Agreed, I do not get out much or have contact with people.  Thanks Sherlock.

Sailtheworld

dunstonh said:

IAMIAM said:

IFA and Mortgage Advisors are going to be extinct soon anyway. They are becoming more and more not needed as consumers educate themselves and go direct, the need to pay commission for a sale and then ongoing fee to maintain is really a waste of a consumers money.

I suspect you do not get out much and have contact with people if you think that.
Indeed, you just have to spend a day on here to see the mistakes people are making when they DIY.
Also, what commission are you referring to?  It hasn't existed since the end of 2012.
And you are mistaken if you believe that going DIY automatically saves money.   90% of DIY investments are on one platform which is nearly double the cost of a typical IFA platform and a good chunk of that money goes into their own-brand funds which results in higher charges than a typical IFA portfolio.
DIY well and you can save money. DIY badly and it can be very costly.

You won't spot many IFA mistakes on here because typical IFA portfolios aren't posted - this is a site that has a bias towards DIY and therefore isn't the best place to compare DIY portfolios with IFA portfolios.

IAMIAM

I didn't once mention DIY portfolios, but hey ho, I am do not get out much or have contact with people. But you are spot on about the bias, intelligence! 

newatc

dunstonh said:

IAMIAM said:

IFA and Mortgage Advisors are going to be extinct soon anyway. They are becoming more and more not needed as consumers educate themselves and go direct, the need to pay commission for a sale and then ongoing fee to maintain is really a waste of a consumers money.

I suspect you do not get out much and have contact with people if you think that.
Indeed, you just have to spend a day on here to see the mistakes people are making when they DIY.
Also, what commission are you referring to?  It hasn't existed since the end of 2012.
And you are mistaken if you believe that going DIY automatically saves money.   90% of DIY investments are on one platform which is nearly double the cost of a typical IFA platform and a good chunk of that money goes into their own-brand funds which results in higher charges than a typical IFA portfolio.
DIY well and you can save money. DIY badly and it can be very costly.

A few questions from a DIY investor (used IFA once but that was sometime ago and probably before platforms).
What is a "typical IFA platform"? How secure are they? Does the IFA have any access to their customer's account?

dunstonh

What is a "typical IFA platform"? 

Much the same as a DIY platform.  Indeed, many run the same software (e.g. Aviva and Std Life uses FNZ.  Vanguard uses FNZ - to be fair something like over half use FNZ).  Just the front end is focused for IFAs to do the work and provide reporting to IFAs and caters for regulatory differences.

How secure are they? 

Just the same as DIY platforms.

Does the IFA have any access to their customer's account?

Yes.  

newatc

dunstonh said:

What is a "typical IFA platform"? 

Much the same as a DIY platform.  Indeed, many run the same software (e.g. Aviva and Std Life uses FNZ.  Vanguard uses FNZ - to be fair something like over half use FNZ).  Just the front end is focused for IFAs to do the work and provide reporting to IFAs and caters for regulatory differences.

How secure are they? 

Just the same as DIY platforms.

Does the IFA have any access to their customer's account?

Yes.  

Thanks Dunstonh. One follow up please:
On the access to customer account. Is that view only for IFA and if not is there additional security to protect customer from unauthorised actions.

dunstonh

On the access to customer account. Is that view only for IFA and if not is there additional security to protect customer from unauthorised actions.

IFAs have transactional ability.   They have to otherwise they cannot transact the advice they are giving.

There is no additional security over what a consumer would have. Username and password. Some offer two form factor authentication.  IFA computers should have full system encryption.

You may want to clarify what you mean by unauthorised actions if you had something specific in mind.  However, buy, sell, switch, asset transfers between wrappers, keying in direct debits, withdrawals, requesting account closure, account set up etc are all routine transactions the IFA can do.  It is even possible to do ISA and pension transfers without a single signature now.

newatc

OMG- That the IFA has far more control than I expected. I would , in my ignorance, expected those advertising "Discretionary Fund Manager" to have that access not an IFA. I suppose my concern would boil down to fraudulent activity either by an IFA or someone hacking an IFA.