Wealth management

igg59

There seems to be a general consensus on this forum that any fa's with wealth management in their title are to be avoided
As a novice is this a true reflection of them

dunstonh

that any fa's with wealth management in their title are to be avoided

Two things really in your question.     The first is FA vs IFA and the other is firms marketing themselves as wealth management.
You should always pick IFA over FA.  That is the first filter.
Next comes the wealth management thing and avoiding firms that market themselves as such is a generalisation that is more correct than it is wrong.
It tends to be used by FAs mostly but some IFAs that outsource the investment selection fully to third parties at extra cost to the consumer will use it too.  It may be that the IFA is transitioning to FA status in the future.  Whilst there are some occasions when that discretionary fund manager can be suitable for someone, much of the time, it is just an extra layer of cost with no real benefit.

OldMusicGuy

igg59 said:

There seems to be a general consensus on this forum that any fa's with wealth management in their title are to be avoided
As a novice is this a true reflection of them

Simple answer (big generalisation), yes. Many "wealth management" companies provide expensive services targeted at people who think they are too important to deal with their own financial matters and are suckers for slick marketing (because it plays to their somewhat inflated self-image). I know because I was one of those people - busy job, earning quite well and attended various corporate shindigs where the smooth salesforce would be targeting more clients. I would have fallen for their marketing had I not come on here and educated myself about the alternatives.

They are not all bad but they are generally very expensive compared to alternatives (like an IFA or DIY) and they offer far less choice in the market. IMO I can't see why anyone would ever go with a wealth management company like this if they bothered to research alternatives, but YMMV.

However, if a company with "wealth management" in its name is small, doesn't have a tied salesforce and is truly independent offering whole of market options at typical IFA rates, then they aren't conforming to the wealth management stereotype. So treat "wealth management" as a big warning sign rather than avoid at all costs.    

dunstonh

Also worth noting that some directories of advisers have wealth management as a filter.    So, most firms will have it against them on the directory.  That is not the same thing as having it in their marketing or tag line.

johnnyren

well well that’s a bummer ,  the ifa I use to manage my pension pot has wealth management in the company name he works for 

cfw1994

johnnyren said:

well well that’s a bummer ,  the ifa I use to manage my pension pot has wealth management in the company name he works for 

Presumably you're happy with him?
If so - great!    perhaps you could educate the OP about what is good from your viewpoint!
My *personal* view has been to avoid them - but then my *personal* viewpoint is that the best financial advisor you can have can be yourself (DIY) - I fully appreciate *many* don't have the interest to do that, and some might also be too scared and make daft decisions as well!
On a forum like this, I always feel the implication is that most who come here *probably* can manage their finances just fine.    A sub-forum like this is not the majority of the population though!

dunstonh

johnnyren said:

well well that’s a bummer ,  the ifa I use to manage my pension pot has wealth management in the company name he works for 

Its quite possible that your IFA doesn't look at social media sites and isn't aware of the stigma that is building up with that tag line.
As said, it is a generalisation and any generalisation will have exceptions.
Equally, over half of people who think they have an IFA (or think they used one) actually have (or used) an FA without realising.  

johnnyren

dunstonh said:

johnnyren said:

well well that’s a bummer ,  the ifa I use to manage my pension pot has wealth management in the company name he works for 

Its quite possible that your IFA doesn't look at social media sites and isn't aware of the stigma that is building up with that tag line.
As said, it is a generalisation and any generalisation will have exceptions.
Equally, over half of people who think they have an IFA (or think they used one) actually have (or used) an FA without realising.  

I spent a while going through vouched for for a ifa who had good reviews regarding pension management ,    we had a few meetings and found him open and trustworthy ,  I'll freely admit I'm far from clued up on these things and have to rely on his professionalism,   so far all ok ,    though since I'm here about 80 percent is invested in a prudential series a plan ,ten percent in a vanguard 40% life strategy equia a account and the rest in 17 different funds  in overseas equities and multi assets,      this is all in a standard life wrap.  At cost glance does that sounds ok or alarming ?

bigadaj

johnnyren said:

dunstonh said:

johnnyren said:

well well that’s a bummer ,  the ifa I use to manage my pension pot has wealth management in the company name he works for 

Its quite possible that your IFA doesn't look at social media sites and isn't aware of the stigma that is building up with that tag line.
As said, it is a generalisation and any generalisation will have exceptions.
Equally, over half of people who think they have an IFA (or think they used one) actually have (or used) an FA without realising.  

I spent a while going through vouched for for a ifa who had good reviews regarding pension management ,    we had a few meetings and found him open and trustworthy ,  I'll freely admit I'm far from clued up on these things and have to rely on his professionalism,   so far all ok ,    though since I'm here about 80 percent is invested in a prudential series a plan ,ten percent in a vanguard 40% life strategy equia a account and the rest in 17 different funds  in overseas equities and multi assets,      this is all in a standard life wrap.  At cost glance does that sounds ok or alarming ?

How much are you being charged?
With that much in pru funds the influence of the other funds will be minimal.

johnnyren

bigadaj said:

johnnyren said:

dunstonh said:

johnnyren said:

well well that’s a bummer ,  the ifa I use to manage my pension pot has wealth management in the company name he works for 

Its quite possible that your IFA doesn't look at social media sites and isn't aware of the stigma that is building up with that tag line.
As said, it is a generalisation and any generalisation will have exceptions.
Equally, over half of people who think they have an IFA (or think they used one) actually have (or used) an FA without realising.  

I spent a while going through vouched for for a ifa who had good reviews regarding pension management ,    we had a few meetings and found him open and trustworthy ,  I'll freely admit I'm far from clued up on these things and have to rely on his professionalism,   so far all ok ,    though since I'm here about 80 percent is invested in a prudential series a plan ,ten percent in a vanguard 40% life strategy equia a account and the rest in 17 different funds  in overseas equities and multi assets,      this is all in a standard life wrap.  At cost glance does that sounds ok or alarming ?

How much are you being charged?
With that much in pru funds the influence of the other funds will be minimal.

At cost glance the product charge is 0.02 % platform charge is 0.07% investment management charge is 0.90 % and my adviser is 0.50% ,aggregated total charge of 1.6 %.    I seem to have payed out £ 7484 pounds 

bigadaj

Product charge looks suspiciously low, vls funds are typically 0.2-0.25% from what I recall, would expect platform charge to be similar too. The advisor charge sounds par for the course and the investment management charge looks high, but maybe includes an element of the product and platform charges. DIY would remove the adviser and investment management fees, so for low cost index funds would be around 0.5%, say a third of what you are paying now.