Finding decent IFA without word of mouth?

JohnWinder

I think that gets to ‘what they can do for you’, but not ‘how well’. Assessing experts ain’t easy if you’re not an expert. Experts can assess experts most accurately with a lightly structured approach that allows the assessor to head down side tracks because they have a framework of understanding to fit their assessment into. Not so when non-experts assess experts; now you’re best served by a structured approach with specific questions that get ticked off against correct answers because the non-expert doesn’t have the depth of knowledge to pick up or appraise subtleties. So, if you’re a non-expert, might be better to come armed with some relevant questions. Now, where to find them? I’m sure the experts here could make some relevant suggestions as you compile your list.

Albermarle

Linton said:

solidpro said:

I note my question hasn't been answered. Sounds like the best suggestion so far is to write IFA and my town into google..... is that really where we are in looking for someone to trust our lives with?

Having found say 3 the next step would be to arrange a free half hour meeting with each when you can explain your circumstances and what you are looking for and they can explain how they can help you and the likely costs. Then choose the one, if there is one, you will feel most comfortable working with. 

That really is the key factor.

OP, Just be aware that many IFA's are busy and will also use these initial discussions to informally vet potential clients. If the client looks like they will be troublesome or very demanding or hard to communicate with, they may just politely decline taking it any further. Or bump their charges up.

_pete_

Just to add.  My experience of word-of-mouth is that it's pretty unreliable,  I had 2 IFAs recommended to me.  Both turned out to be poor.

I learned that the most important thing to do when looking for an IFA is to educate yourself so you can make an informed assessment of the IFA's you contact.  Once I'd read a couple of books, various blogs and the threads on here I was much better placed to decide who I could trust.

I take Dunstonh's point about the blind leading the blind on Facebook, but going on local suggestions does at least give you a shortlist of people to approach.

Albermarle

I learned that the most important thing to do when looking for an IFA is to educate yourself so you can make an informed assessment of the IFA's you contact.  Once I'd read a couple of books, various blogs and the threads on here I was much better placed to decide who I could trust.

You are of course correct in what you say.

One problem though is that many people seek financial advice specifically  because they are not interested in learning anything about personal finance themselves, and want someone else to do it for them.

Or alternatively are the sort who are poor with numbers and/or do not take in info on 'difficult' topics very easily. So even if they read about it they just end up even more confused, as we often see on this forum. 

Then of course if you are not one of these people and are more like you, it starts to beg the question why pay for financial advice when you understand most of it yourself anyway?

Interesting conundrums !

poseidon1

Albermarle said:

I learned that the most important thing to do when looking for an IFA is to educate yourself so you can make an informed assessment of the IFA's you contact.  Once I'd read a couple of books, various blogs and the threads on here I was much better placed to decide who I could trust.

You are of course correct in what you say.

One problem though is that many people seek financial advice specifically  because they are not interested in learning anything about personal finance themselves, and want someone else to do it for them.

Or alternatively are the sort who are poor with numbers and/or do not take in info on 'difficult' topics very easily. So even if they read about it they just end up even more confused, as we often see on this forum. 

Then of course if you are not one of these people and are more like you, it starts to beg the question why pay for financial advice when you understand most of it yourself anyway?

Interesting conundrums !

Have to whole hearted agree, self education is key to determining if an IFA is indeed on point and able to enhance/improve one's financial position beyond that which you could do for yourself. 

I find it baffling that so many people have little or no interest in mastering the basics of investment and tax planning, thereby becoming 'informed' consumers of services provided by others.

Yes I concede the UK has what could be considered a complex Web of investment related retail products, surrounded by an equally  complicated tax regime. However this is nothing new, and has one embarks on a journey to build wealth and financial security, failing to engage and make some attempt to comprehend, leaves you vulnerable to bad advice or worse.

This forum can be very useful in helping to pave the way to potential help/ solutions, but only if one is prepared to put in a degree of effort to meet the forum contributors halfway.

Aegis

If you want to vet them you can always say something like "I have an illiquid fund held in an offshore bond inside a QROPS, and I transferred from a final salary pension while I was an overseas resident" and see what they say.  It's a good sign if they have an aneurysm. 

_pete_

poseidon1 said:

Albermarle said:

I learned that the most important thing to do when looking for an IFA is to educate yourself so you can make an informed assessment of the IFA's you contact.  Once I'd read a couple of books, various blogs and the threads on here I was much better placed to decide who I could trust.

You are of course correct in what you say.

One problem though is that many people seek financial advice specifically  because they are not interested in learning anything about personal finance themselves, and want someone else to do it for them.

Or alternatively are the sort who are poor with numbers and/or do not take in info on 'difficult' topics very easily. So even if they read about it they just end up even more confused, as we often see on this forum. 

Then of course if you are not one of these people and are more like you, it starts to beg the question why pay for financial advice when you understand most of it yourself anyway?

Interesting conundrums !

Have to whole hearted agree, self education is key to determining if an IFA is indeed on point and able to enhance/improve one's financial position beyond that which you could do for yourself. 

I find it baffling that so many people have little or no interest in mastering the basics of investment and tax planning, thereby becoming 'informed' consumers of services provided by others.

Yes I concede the UK has what could be considered a complex Web of investment related retail products, surrounded by an equally  complicated tax regime. However this is nothing new, and has one embarks on a journey to build wealth and financial security, failing to engage and make some attempt to comprehend, leaves you vulnerable to bad advice or worse.

This forum can be very useful in helping to pave the way to potential help/ solutions, but only if one is prepared to put in a degree of effort to meet the forum contributors halfway.

I must confess I'm one of those people who has very little interest in financial affairs.

The reason I had to educate myself was that the level of service I was receiving from IFAs was woeful - basic stuff like not preparing properly for annual reviews, taking ages to respond to emails.  Both had come highly recommended by friends who, I now realise, were not well-informed consumers.

littlemissbossy

I used a local IFA a couple of years ago. 

She was a one”woman” band. I had a free hours chat. I felt comfortable with her, she listened to me and her charges seemed reasonable. 

I did feel like I made a good choice, I just went with the feel/vibes I got. 

PGammage

This thread is timely for me as I'm going through options for assessing my current adviser firm with the possibility of moving to another. 

Having read the thread, whilst you can search the various data sources for lists of local firms, it's still not clear where you'd get information about a firm to help understand if they are suitable for your needs. 

Some items I'm considering 

1. Firm profile - whilst a one man band might be good I prefer a firm with a few IFA's supported by a back office. So I'd like to know numbers of registered employees, particular number of IFA's (this later point I've found on the FCA's register https://register.fca.org.uk/s/search?) and how long the advisors have been with the company

2. Funds under management - If I'm going to move a large sum to a firm then I'd like to know what scale they are. I wouldn't move my bank account to new bank with 2 customers and £500 of accounts, so why would I consider a firm where my investments are a large proportion of their funds. I can't find a way to find this out 

3. Client base - if they have a significant FUM, where does my investment fit? Are there a couple multi-million pound clients and a handful of smaller clients and where do I fit in that mix (ie big fish in a small pond, small fish in a big pond, or the only fish in the pond). Again I can't find a way to find this out 

4. What do their clients think of them and have there been any complaints? This is the "truspilot" review or similar (and I'm well aware of the limitations of client feedback). Again I can't find anything along these lines. And as for finding complaint information - that should be easy, but it's not

5. As an addition to 4 above, what is their inflows/outflows and if there are outflows why (is it customer satisfaction that's causing people to stay or dissatisfaction that's causing them to leave)

So I empathize with the original poster and am suffering the same dilemma. If anyone has pointers as to where or how I can get the above information please let me (and many, many others) know

Albermarle

PGammage said:

This thread is timely for me as I'm going through options for assessing my current adviser firm with the possibility of moving to another. 

Having read the thread, whilst you can search the various data sources for lists of local firms, it's still not clear where you'd get information about a firm to help understand if they are suitable for your needs. 

Some items I'm considering 

1. Firm profile - whilst a one man band might be good I prefer a firm with a few IFA's supported by a back office. So I'd like to know numbers of registered employees, particular number of IFA's (this later point I've found on the FCA's register https://register.fca.org.uk/s/search?) and how long the advisors have been with the company

2. Funds under management - If I'm going to move a large sum to a firm then I'd like to know what scale they are. I wouldn't move my bank account to new bank with 2 customers and £500 of accounts, so why would I consider a firm where my investments are a large proportion of their funds. I can't find a way to find this out It would seem highly unlikely that one client would be a large proportion of an IFA firms business. AFAIK the typical client varies from £50K to £2Million, perhaps more in the wealthier areas of the country.

3. Client base - if they have a significant FUM, where does my investment fit? Are there a couple multi-million pound clients and a handful of smaller clients and where do I fit in that mix (ie big fish in a small pond, small fish in a big pond, or the only fish in the pond). Again I can't find a way to find this out 
If you are with a firm of IFAs presumably they will have hundreds of clients.

4. What do their clients think of them and have there been any complaints? This is the "truspilot" review or similar (and I'm well aware of the limitations of client feedback). Again I can't find anything along these lines. And as for finding complaint information - that should be easy, but it's not
There is a complaint register, but I can not remember how to find it.

5. As an addition to 4 above, what is their inflows/outflows and if there are outflows why (is it customer satisfaction that's causing people to stay or dissatisfaction that's causing them to leave) I do not think many companies in any sphere are going to give out that kind of info.

So I empathize with the original poster and am suffering the same dilemma. If anyone has pointers as to where or how I can get the above information please let me (and many, many others) know

Some comments in bold.
Worth noting that most IFA's are not short of work, so if you ask too many questions they could well lose interest in you as a potential client.