iFA qualifications for retirement advice

Ibrahim5

I was reading that a lot of IFAs won't touch customers with less than £500k. An IFA has about 100 customers. The ongoing average fee is 0.8%. So if they have 100 customers with £500k they would earn £400k for reviewing 100 pensions. So you could spend 3 days reviewing each one.

Ibrahim5

Dentists have roughly 10x the number of customers than an IFA has.

BritishInvestor

Ibrahim5 said:

I was reading that a lot of IFAs won't touch customers with less than £500k. An IFA has about 100 customers. The ongoing average fee is 0.8%. So if they have 100 customers with £500k they would earn £400k for reviewing 100 pensions. So you could spend 3 days reviewing each one.

I would hope if someone chooses to work with an IFA they find someone that does more than just "review pensions" on an ongoing basis.

dunstonh

I was reading that a lot of IFAs won't touch customers with less than £500k. An IFA has about 100 customers. The ongoing average fee is 0.8%. So if they have 100 customers with £500k they would earn £400k for reviewing 100 pensions. So you could spend 3 days reviewing each one.

The maths does not work out there but nice try.  The ongoing average fee will include small investors being charged 1% as well as large investors being charged 0.25% (or hitting the charging cap so reduced accordingly),   You cannot take 100 investors with £500k and apply the average to them.    I don't know if the average is 0.8% or not but the dominant figure is 0.5%.

The most I have seen a firm set its minimum level to was £250k. But as much as that is rare.  However, that was because they were at capacity.   It is more typically at £50k or £100k.  Again, capacity is usually the reason.  

You would be hard pushed to find an IFA (individual) with 100 clients with £500k+.  So, the example is pointless.  However, if you did find an IFA with 100 clients with £500k+ then good luck to them.   They would need to have worked damned hard for that and it will continue to be hard work all year, every year.

Malthusian

dunstonh said:

You would be hard pushed to find an IFA (individual) with 100 clients with £500k+.  So, the example is pointless.  However, if you did find an IFA with 100 clients with £500k+ then good luck to them.   They would need to have worked damned hard for that and it will continue to be hard work all year, every year.

Until Fred gets round to sending his two cereal packet tokens in to the FCA, offers to review the IFA's 100 clients' finances for £200 a throw, and takes all their business.