Do I need a Financial advisor

carlbhoy

I have a s/s isa with prudential, it has been sitting there for many years now, and I have not added to it, not taken any thing out, and that is the way it will remain, my financial advisor has told me, if I want to draw money out, all I need do is to get in touch with Prudential, and they will release the funds.
So my question is do I need my advisor?, when the money is looked after by the prudential fund manager, whom I’m paying an annual management charge, and I’m also paying a financial advisor an ongoing advisor charge, and I see him once a year, and all he does is, give me pieces of paper with graphs on, and says we’ll keep your money where it is, as I’m a cautious investor 
As I have stated, I will not be investing anymore money, so the only thing I will be doing, when the time comes is withdrawing any money, I’m sure I can manage that myself!  thank you

MeteredOut

What services is your IFA providing to you? Are they actively reviewing/managing the S&S ISA? Are you happy where your ISA is invested? Are you happy with the risk profile of your chosen investments? Do you ever want to change investments? If so, do you think you could pick alternatives yourself (DIY)? How/how much are you paying them (eg, a % of ISA value)? Do you believe you are getting value for money? 

Answer these questions, and you'll hopefully be able to answer your own question posed in this thread.

For what it's worth, based on how you've posed your question, I suspect your own answer will be No.

carlbhoy

I was hoping I would get an answer like this, as I’m sure I did not need one, but wasn’t sure without a bit of advice as I said I’m not putting anymore money in and I don’t know enough to go moving it about, i’m just happy with it sitting there waiting for a rainy day. Looked  this afternoon and I’m paying him a £156 a month, to tell me once a year that it’s doing ok, and giving me sheets of worthless paper👍

MeteredOut

I also meant to add, is he an FA or an IFA? FA's are often referred to as Salesmen on this board, as they can only sell the products offered by their employer/whoever they are tied to.

Unless you have major capital (and with a S&S ISA, you'd have to have topped that up with the max contribution over a number of years), £156/month is a lot in my opinion. Imagine that amount was getting added to your investment pot each month...

I would also say, it might be worthwhile hanging about on this board for a bit, just soaking up the posts. You'll soon start learning and might actually want to top up your investments. Depending on your age, you might also want to look at your pension provisions.

dunstonh

Different people have different needs.   Yours seems very light.  Others might be doing bed & pension from their ISA each year or have other aspects of tax that the adviser handles.   Or if it was an IFA, maybe the portfolio is theirs and they are doing more on that front.   But as yours in an off-the-shelf single fund then there isn't much to do.   Pru is an unusual choice  - I have referred to it as the lazy option on this site before.  Both lazy adviser and/or lazy client.   i.e. lazy adviser as they haven't made an attempt to train/coach their client to use conventional investments and/or lazy client as they haven't wanted to be coached.  So, they end up in a sub-optimal niche option that costs more.

Beddie

No, you don't need an adviser, so tell them to cancel the ongoing fees.

Eyeful

From your description, no you do not need a financial advisor. The £156 month would be better in your pocket than in that of "the man from the PRU".
If all you want is just a simple buy and forget approach, then a low cost passive "Global Multi Asset Fund or ETF, set at a share/bond ratio you would be comfortable with, might be of interest to you.
For example:-
https://www.hsbc.co.uk/investments/products/hsbc-global-strategy-portfolios/#balanced
https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investing-explained/what-are-lifestrategy-funds?intcmpgn=lifestrategyfunds_learnmore_link

You may find these two videos of interest:-
https://www.kroijer.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGQ9KyQq8Jw

carlbhoy

Thanks for all your comments, very interesting, I shall do a bit more research, yes he is a FA, so I guess he sells Prudential

boingy

You definitely don't need the FA and there are better places for your investment with the same levels of risk.
You may not be able to keep the same Pru investment without the FA but don't let that put you off from acting. £156 pcm should be going into your pocket rather than theirs (or, better, it should be going into your investment).

If you give the exact name of the Pru investment(s) and the amounts in each then plenty of folks on here will be able to suggest equivalents and suitable low cost providers. That money can be working harder for you.

dunstonh

You definitely don't need the FA and there are better places for your investment with the same levels of risk.
You may not be able to keep the same Pru investment without the FA but don't let that put you off from acting. £156 pcm should be going into your pocket rather than theirs (or, better, it should be going into your investment).

Pru do allow you to retain their investment options without an adviser.   Although whether you would want to or not is a different matter.  If this was the late 90s/early 2000s Pru WP bond then that is attractive. But the later Prufund versions are less appealing.   The Pru ISA does have a small range of unit linked funds on it too.  But its not whole of market and the platform charge is easily beaten and lets not get started with Pru's software.....

Albermarle

So my question is do I need my advisor?, when the money is looked after by the prudential fund manager, whom I’m paying an annual management charge, and I’m also paying a financial advisor an ongoing advisor charge,

Just for 100% clarity. Your financial advisor should pick funds that are appropriate for your personality and situation. Also they should look at your overall financial situation, like pension provision, inheritance and tax planning etc If your situation changes then it might be appropriate to change your investment (s)

The fund manager just manages that particular fund that you have chosen and that's it.

As said it seems an advisor is not needed in your case, especially as you seem to have relatively modest requirements. However just be clear that you will get no advice from the Pru on what to invest in. That will be your responsibility ( even if you just leave it in the same investment that is your choice) .