IFA Contact

waveneygnome

How much contact should I expect from an IFA?

Invested in SIPP  since 2020 with IFA;  lots of contact setting up the pension;  since then, had no contact, apart from quarterly statements from the platform (Quilter).

(Total invested so far £213k......current valuation £223k)

I'm not too concerned about the current valuation (should I be?);  just concerned am I on the right track.

51 yr old, not looking to touch this until mid/late 60's if at all  (i.e. leave for inheritance)

Stubod

...ideally you would normally expect a meeting at least once a year with your IFA to make sure everything is going to plan?...3 years with no contact is taking the proverbial...IMHO....

Sunnylifeover50plan

Do you know how much you have spent on professional fees since 2020, do the statements show this? 

El_Torro

Whether you should be concerned about the value of your SIPP depends a lot on what the investments are. It also depends on when in 2020 you invested. On the face of it the return sounds disappointing to me, depends though.

If you are paying an ongoing charge then I would expect at least one meeting a year. Doesn't even have to be in person, could be online. Do you want more contact with your IFA though? If you're not pushing for more contact then maybe your IFA thinks you are both happy to just leave things as they are.

phynix_uk

Assuming you're paying for ongoing service from your IFA, you should expect 'at least' an annual review. It's important for you IFA to ensure nothings changed in your circumstances but to also review the investments.

Even if your circumstances remain the same, your IFA doesn't know that. What we do know is that the economic situation has changed, what changes to the investment strategy have they made? Have they rebalanced your investment portfolio? Is it still in line with your chosen attitude towards investment risk.

It's possible that you're in a portfolio that's regularly reviewed, rebalanced and changed which will certainly help but you need to be sure about what service you agreed you'd receive. If you're going to pay for a service, expect to receive your pound of flesh, otherwise, what are you paying them for?

It's impossible to determine of your growth rate is god, bad or indifferent without knowing what you're invested in and what level in investment management it's benefitting from.

Pat38493

Are you sure you are with an IFA and not an FA?

dunstonh

How much contact should I expect from an IFA?

Whatever you agreed wtih that IFA.  That could be zero if it was a transactional piece of advice.   Most common is annually on  pro-active basis (often by tax year to ensure allowances etc are used where necessary) but reactively as much as you like.

.3 years with no contact is taking the proverbial...IMHO....

If the Op is not paying for ongoing advice, then no ongoing advice will be provided.  if the Op is paying for ongoing advice, then it has to be at least annually.  

JohnWinder

I’m not convinced you/I would need yearly contact with your advisor, beyond what you’ve been getting. It was set up for anticipated withdrawal starting in 15-20 years time, why would you bother fussing over it every year? ‘I’ll send you quarterly statements, call me if your circumstances change significantly, otherwise see you again in 10 years’. Wouldn’t that work? An unnecessary yearly meeting, which requires little effort if it’s unnecessary, might help justify an AUM fees, but decent people wouldn’t do that.

waveneygnome

Thanks for all the replies.

Yes = IFA

Yes:  paying ongoing fee = 0.7% IFA + 0.32 Quilter + 1% fund Mgr......2.03% which as I type it does seem rather high....thought it was in region of 1.5%

2020 = inital £80k

2020 = tran in £10k

2021 = £80k

2022 = £40k

2023 = £0 (so far)

Risk profile was high.  From memory 8-ish...if that sounds right(?)

Am really tempted to put this years into HSBC ALL World Index Acc C.......possibly even transfer everything into it ?

 

Fund	%	Value
Cash Cash	0.04%	£87.57
Cash GBP Cash	0.34%	£761.79
Investment FSSA Japan Focus Acc -U	1.79%	£3,997.10
Investment Invesco Money (UK) Acc	1.89%	£4,231.78
Investment abrdn Sterling Money Market Acc -U	1.90%	£4,262.93
Investment Aubrey Global Emerging Markets Opportunities Acc -U	2.33%	£5,225.26
Investment CT Japan Acc -U	2.37%	£5,309.63
Investment BlackRock Emerging Markets Acc -U	2.55%	£5,712.59
Investment Baillie Gifford Emerging Mkts Leading Companies Acc -U	2.64%	£5,900.84
Investment Baillie Gifford American Acc -U	2.69%	£6,026.93
Investment Aegon Global Sustainable Equity Acc -U	2.85%	£6,373.77
Investment Rathbone Global Opportunities Acc -U	3.51%	£7,861.62
Investment AXA Framlington Global Technology Acc -U	3.54%	£7,918.15
Investment T. Rowe Price (Lux) US Large Cap Gwth Eq Acc -U	4.41%	£9,861.27
Investment UBS US Growth Acc -U	4.61%	£10,328.08
Investment AXA Framlington American Growth Acc -U	4.77%	£10,675.76
Investment FP Octopus UK Micro Cap Growth Acc -U	4.80%	£10,735.29
Investment Baillie Gifford Pacific Acc -U	4.83%	£10,818.32
Investment Matthews Asia ex Japan Total Return Equity Acc U	5.08%	£11,363.61
Investment JPM Asia Growth Acc -U2	5.18%	£11,599.74
Investment Premier Miton European Opportunities Acc -U	6.09%	£13,633.48
Investment BlackRock Continental European Acc -U	7.20%	£16,114.48
Investment Slater Growth Acc -U	7.89%	£17,665.55
Investment MI Chelverton UK Equity Growth Acc -U	8.31%	£18,604.42
Investment Slater Recovery Acc -U	8.73%	£19,549.32
		£224,619.28

dunstonh

Yes:  paying ongoing fee = 0.7% IFA + 0.32 Quilter + 1% fund Mgr......2.03% which as I type it does seem rather high....thought it was in region of 1.5%

As you are paying for ongoing servicing, then the adviser is required to contact you at least annually.  So, if that hasn't happened, you are entitled to ask for a refund of the adviser charge for the years where it did not happen.    As mentioned previously, that is often measured by tax year.   So, if you haven't had any contact for 3 tax years, then you would expect 3 years worth of refund.

Pat38493

dunstonh said:

Yes:  paying ongoing fee = 0.7% IFA + 0.32 Quilter + 1% fund Mgr......2.03% which as I type it does seem rather high....thought it was in region of 1.5%

As you are paying for ongoing servicing, then the adviser is required to contact you at least annually.  So, if that hasn't happened, you are entitled to ask for a refund of the adviser charge for the years where it did not happen.    As mentioned previously, that is often measured by tax year.   So, if you haven't had any contact for 3 tax years, then you would expect 3 years worth of refund.

Out of interest, what is the minimum they would have to do to avoid this?  For example if the quarterly statements mentioned in the OP said "Your annual review is due by x date - please contact us to arrange a suitable appointment" would they be covered?