Some Investment Advice If possible

Choirgrl

rabbit87 said:

…

1. Pay off as much debt as you can now. Mortgage and loan

If the debt is at 0% (credit card) and 1.86% (mortgage), why pay it off now? The OP should easily be able to earn more in interest by saving (even allowing for tax on the interest) and then pay off when the interest on the debt increases ( or savings rates fall)

Choirgrl

Richard1212 said:

Going back to earlier posts from and regarding Financial Advisers, an IFA like Dunsonh can be called an IFA after as little as 3 -6 months correspondence course even if he has worked as a postman all his life ( no offence to the great work they do) and has no financial background. My comparison with an aromatherapist is quite accurate, except I believe aromatherapists need slightly more course work and exams. 

A Wealth Manager is very different ( and perhaps dunsonh can tell us what subject his 2: 1 University degree was in, and what postgraduate work, and which University) . Here are exact quotes from online summarised in one paragraph :

QUOTE > " Usually wealth managers enter their career by taking part in an employer-based training or a graduate scheme. You'll need a 2:1 degree or higher, preferably in a business, finance, economics, management or a maths based subject. However, you will then need to have a good level of previous experience, and an in-depth knowledge of the finance industry.  Chartered Wealth Manager is the mark of an up to date, experienced and qualified financial sector professional. You will become part of an elite group of CISI Chartered Wealth Managers, similar in standing as other Chartered professionals with a specific occupational role, such as Chartered Surveyors. The Chartered Wealth Manager title is separate from CISI membership designations and should be added underneath your name on business cards and letterheads; it will formally demonstrate your professional competence to employers, colleagues and customers and set you apart from the competitors. The Chartered Wealth Manager Qualification is recognised by Ofqual as the CISI Level 7 Diploma in Wealth Management on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF). On the European Qualifications Framework this equates to a level 7 qualification." <UNQUOTE.

IFAs are not even much use for a punter with a few hundred £s. Wealth Managers, as clearly explained above, are for clients with real wealth and for those who want the excellence that brings a great deal more wealth to the wealthy. 

The facts are clear and I won't be explaining them again or responding to the desperate IFAs or their users on this site. If anyone wants to increase real wealth and manage it well , I am sure they can find a Wealth management team as good as mine by googling and then investigating their backgrounds etc. All the best to real investors who rely on professional excellence to make their fortune rather than those who use the IFAs fresh from their 3-6 month "training".

What you’ve quoted is the detail for a  chartered wealth manager. What you’ve been asserting is that anyone describing themself as wealth manager requires those qualifications, which isn’t the case. ( And the reference to a 2:1 degree is clearly a description to a career  route via an employer training scheme, not a requirement for describing oneself as a wealth manager.)

simon_or

rabbit87 said:

 

1. Pay off as much debt as you can now. Mortgage and loan

I agree with the sentiment of paying off debt but from a money-saving angle, a £55k fixed rate mortgage at sub 2% with 3 years left to run, is as close to free money as you can get in an environment when even a true easy access FSCS protected savings account pays 4.21%. Same for the 6k on a 0% cc.

I don't see any good reason for paying it off until the point at which the mortgage rate catches up and the cc offer ends.

Eyeful

Two can play at the "QUOTE" game.

"QUOTE" 
Under FCA rules, there are two sorts of financial advisers. The sort you want are called “independent”. This means that they have to look across the whole market for investment products before recommending a specific one. What you need to avoid are the second type of adviser, namely “restricted” advisers, who are tied to recommending products from a particular firm, or sometimes from a panel of firms. The problem is that restricted advisers generally avoid using that term, and many deliberately give a false impression that they are in fact independent. So be on your guard.

Under the FCA rules there is no mention or definition of "Wealth Advisors". 

If you were unkind you might think of "Wealth Advisors" as the "restricted advisors" you are told about above. Who are basically salesmen just trying to sale you their employers products. 

If you were kind you might say wealth advisors help high-net-worth individuals or ultra high net worth individuals and families manage their financial wealth.

You can be sure that the latter will have posh surroundings, make the client feel extremely important and the client may even be invited to "special invitation only events". The client will be told of the high qualifications and years of training their advisor has had. So they and their money are in safe hands.

Of course you can be sure that this all comes at a very high yearly ongoing charge which over the years will transfer a lot of the clients money into the wealth advisors pocket.

But hay! If you notice our high charges, we don't want you as a client in our "exclusive club" 
 

Prism

Can I play too...

"QUOTE" from the CISI wesbite

Entry requirements

It is a requirement that all candidates hold an appropriate benchmark qualification prior to enrolling in the Chartered Wealth Manager Qualification.

Appropriate qualifications acceptable for entry to the Chartered Wealth Manager Qualification, include the following:

1. Investment Advice Diploma (IAD) or any other RDR compliant qualification, including a qualification that is RDR compliant with gap fill (even if the gap fill is not actually carried out)
2. Any relevant Level 3 benchmark financial services qualification

For clarity, a level 3 qualifaction is equivalent to A-Levels - not a degree

eskbanker

Richard1212 said:

The facts are clear...

Indeed, the most obvious one being that you're trying to distort a comparison by selectively highlighting the top end of your favoured role and the lower end of the one you seem to like to sneer at!

Aromatherapy isn't particularly effective if the predominant odour is that of bovine excrement....

london21

Reading the responses some great input.

I put my money in instant savings account currently Santander 3.2% but will be opening Chip today offering 4.21% could get £100 more interest monthly I had gotten comfortable with Santander. 
I have £5000 in Barclays rainy saver paying 5.12%
I have some Vanguard funds in ISA
I also put some money in my pension monthly.

dunstonh

A Wealth Manager is very different ( and perhaps dunsonh can tell us what subject his 2: 1 University degree was in, and what postgraduate work, and which University) . Here are exact quotes from online summarised in one paragraph 

Your quoted paragraph is incorrect as others have pointed out.  You seem to be mixing up wealth managers with chartered financial planners.  It is the chartered bit that matters.  Not the wealth management bit.

There is no requirement for wealth managers to have any additional qualifications.  No university degree or anything beyond the required levels for all advisers.   The default level for advisers (including those that call themselves wealth managers) is level 4.

However, chartered financial planners are those that have passed sufficient modules at level 6.  Most chartered financial planners are IFAs but they can also be FAs.  Some of those IFAs or FAs may refer to themselves as wealth managers or not.

I have completed a number of level 6 qualifications but the reality is that the additional knowledge from those is not used with 99% of consumers.   Qualifications like G60 and G10 sat over 20 years ago don't offer much today.  Indeed, if I am taking an adviser on and have two comparable advisers, one with 20 year old qualifications at level 6 versus another, with no level 6 but additional qualifications like J05, I would lean more towards the J05 (or others similar).    Further qualifications that extend knowledge in the mainstream areas are more useful for the majority than higher qualifications that focus on the top 5%.  Unless you are a consumer in that 5%.

IFAs are not even much use for a punter with a few hundred £s. Wealth Managers, as clearly explained above, are for clients with real wealth and for those who want the excellence that brings a great deal more wealth to the wealthy. 

So, what you are saying is that you prefer a wealth manager with no additional qualifications over an IFA (or FA) who doesn't call themselves a wealth planner but may have higher chartered-level qualifications.       i.e. you have it completely wrong.

Indeed, an unqualified person can call themselves a wealth manager as the title has no meaning in any regulatory sense.   It is an unprotected job title with no qualification requirement and no regulatory meaning.

The facts are clear and I won't be explaining them again or responding to the desperate IFAs or their users on this site. 

The facts are clear.  However, you are not factually correct and are posting completely wrong information.

Entry requirements
It is a requirement that all candidates hold an appropriate benchmark qualification prior to enrolling in the Chartered Wealth Manager Qualification.

Appropriate qualifications acceptable for entry to the Chartered Wealth Manager Qualification, include the following:

1. Investment Advice Diploma (IAD) or any other RDR compliant qualification, including a qualification that is RDR compliant with gap fill (even if the gap fill is not actually carried out)
2. Any relevant Level 3 benchmark financial services qualification

For clarity, a level 3 qualifaction is equivalent to A-Levels - not a degree

That is interesting as the RDR qualifications (which is the minimum currently) are level 4.     The normal route via the main examination boards is to take the RDR qualifications first (i.e. get to level 4) and then set the chartered modules.

Level 3  is the old pre RDR qualifications that would be too low for current FAs and IFAs but were acceptable pre 2013.