Finding an indépendant financial advisor for general advice rather than being sold products by them?

Carl_Freeland

How do I find an advisor who will give general advice as to my financial options and some ideas etc. My problem is that I am not sure I can trust an advisor who just really wants to sell me a bunch of products. I am happy to pay for profession financial advice but why would I trust them if they are motivated to sell me their products? 

Billycock

best-financial-advisers
Read and understand the differences between IFA's & FA's

tebbins

IFAs give personal financial advice based on your specific circumstances and situation, your goals, risk appetite etc. They do not give "general advice".

You are perfectly welcome to ask if an IFA

 will have an in-depth conversation with you about that, and then decide not to continue to use their services. Equally they are perfectly welcome to decline such a conversation, or after any such conversation, decide for any reason not to accept you as a client. I'm sure if you do some research you will find some reputable IFAs, near you, who would be willing to have such a conversation and for whom the value of any service, the peace of mind and convenience you would be getting may well exceed the additional cost over managing your affairs DIY.
I lean more towards the DIY side of the debate personally, but there are things like inheritance, if ever considered emigrating, that I would certainly see an IFA about.

dunstonh

My problem is that I am not sure I can trust an advisor who just really wants to sell me a bunch of products. 

General practitioner IFAs will provide advice.    FAs and Wealth management firms are product focused.

but why would I trust them if they are motivated to sell me their products? 

IFAs get paid to give advice  They do not have "their" products.  Are you thinking of FAs by any chance? (who do have their own products.

aroominyork

This is a good question and I expect our resident IFA will chip in soon. My view (not backed up by evidence) is that IFAs make more from their annual 1% commission for investing your funds than from giving you advice. I would be nervous saying to an IFA "I want your advice about how to structure investing my money but I don't want you to invest it". 

Thrugelmir

Carl_Freeland said:

How do I find an advisor who will give general advice as to my financial options and some ideas etc. My problem is that I am not sure I can trust an advisor who just really wants to sell me a bunch of products. I am happy to pay for profession financial advice but why would I trust them if they are motivated to sell me their products? 

Why would they be motivated to sell you products?  You are the client you set the terms of reference of the relationship. As long as the advisor gets paid for their time they'll be content. 

Chickereeeee

aroominyork said:

This is a good question and I expect our resident IFA will chip in soon. My view (not backed up by evidence) is that IFAs make more from their annual 1% commission for investing your funds than from giving you advice. I would be nervous saying to an IFA "I want your advice about how to structure investing my money but I don't want you to invest it". 

What commission?

aroominyork

IFAs who invest your funds will typically take 1% a year. It's negotiable, especially for larger amounts invested.

jamesd

IFAs charge fees and are required to refund to you any commission received. So pick an IFA and stop worrying about it. IFAs but not FAs are also required to consider the whole market for product choices.

For IFAs the days of commission and wondering about commission bias have been gone for many years.

JohnWinder

How do I find an advisor who will give general advice

https://www.evidenceinvestor.com/find-an-adviser/

'How does it work?

1. Above, submit your name and email, then click on the button to complete the questionnaire. This will allow us to find the most suitable adviser for you.'  Etc.
   

They have an address in Manchester (UK, not New Hampshire).

dunstonh

aroominyork said:

This is a good question and I expect our resident IFA will chip in soon. My view (not backed up by evidence) is that IFAs make more from their annual 1% commission for investing your funds than from giving you advice. I would be nervous saying to an IFA "I want your advice about how to structure investing my money but I don't want you to invest it". 

As mentioned, commission is long gone.   And the most common IFA charge for ongoing is 0.5%.  Although 1% is common at the lower value end or the greedy.

There can be consequences of asking for investment advice to build a portfolio and not have the IFA provide the ongoing servicing.   In that scenario, you are more likely to end up with a multi-asset fund rather than a portfolio of single sector funds. This is partly due to MiFIDII and partly due to common sense.  No point in putting someone in a portfolio that needs ongoing due diligence if they are not going to carry out the ongoing due diligence.