A question about investments and charges

overcharged123

dunstonh said:

It may be worth checking the status of the adviser. Certain sales companies have been buying up IFA firms and converting them to tied basis. This prevents them from making new recommendations on plans not operated by the tied provider, but they can continue to keep existing plans running unchanged. It's probably not that, but it happens and there has been a lot of consolidation in recent years. If it has happened, you may want a stronger word.  (you can check the FCA register and look up the adviser and see if they are down as an appointed representative of a tied firm.

I looked him and the firm he works for up on the FCA register - it does not appear to be a tied firm.

overcharged123

Albermarle said:

The normal practice is at the start of the relationship, the advisor asks you a lot of questions about yourself, your objectives and your attitude to risk.
For the latter if you say you are risk averse, then they will put you in a lower risk fund. So can you recall any of the conversation at the time?
The problem is that low risk means low growth, especially recently. So being risk averse can actually prove to be more risky in the end/long term. 

Yes, we did have that conversation.  I asked for a medium risk, as I'm unlikely to ever have access to that amount of money again.

overcharged123

Keep_pedalling said:

overcharged123 said:

wmb194 said:

How many more years does it have left to run? I.e. when your children will receive it.

There are four children with ages between 14 and 23.  I will tell each of them about the fund when they are in a position to need it for eg a house purchase.  So the eldest may want it in a few years but the youngest will perhaps not need it for 15 years.   I haven’t told them yet because they will think 20K!!! and perhaps feel they don’t have to work so hard. 

Was this your inheritance that you put in trust or did the testator leave this to be held in a discretionary trust for the children or were the children left a share of this money sbsolutely?

It was my inheritance from my parents that I decided to put into trust for my children.

overcharged123

masonic said:

Most people, I'd venture including the OP, do not have an optimistic US mindset that would enable them to invest in 100% equities, let alone single sector equities. No matter how remarkable long term returns have been in the past, the crashes are too scary a prospect for them to sleep at night.

In any case, nobody knows when the US will cede its outperformance to some other market.

That's true, I will never have that amount of money again, from now on it is only what I earn and save.

overcharged123

JohnWinder said:

'What would you do in my position?'

Now you know. Nothing until you read Hale's book.

And ignore a Nasdaq index tracker if it was a suggestion. Would have been great advice 6 years ago, but it's 6 years too late now, or even 7 years if it's 2024.

Thanks, but I am time-poor which is partly why I went to a financial advisor in the first place.  I've got a long term illness that makes me tired and so gives me even less time.  However I might still read the book but it won't be soon.

overcharged123

jimjames said:

What are these 2 charges that appear to be for much the same thing? Is the annual £500 the platform charge? You refer to his annual charge so what is he charging for annually on a multi asset fund and how does the review differ?

Yes, there are two charges from the financial advisor, both (just under) £500.  One £500 is his annual charge, then every two or three years he calls me in for a review and that is another £500.  He wants to do another review soon.

The Standard Life fund itself levies charges throughout the year which always add up to about £1000.

overcharged123

Millyonare said:

An over-cautious approach has lost out on around £116,000. I, and I'm sure many others, would happily have a few semi-sleepless nights for raking in £116k 👍

I'd happily put up with a few sleepless nights as long as I could be sure I'd get the £116k at the end of it, but if that was the case, then I suppose they wouldn't be sleepless nights.