A 'not fully' independent financial adviser

dunstonh

A very good question. I had no recommendations so I used the Unbiased/ Vouchedfor lists, plus the MoneyHelper 'Find a retirement Adviser' Directory and Googling for local IFAs. I emailed about 10 asking if they could help with purchasing a specific product (Fixed Term annuity) on an Execution only basis and what their fees would be. Nine of them were unwilling to do this and insisted on a full financial review first. 

An independent IFA would likely do it.   A chain IFA would likely not do it.   However, it would also depend on the workload of the IFA.    An execution only fixed term annuity is still a fair chunk of work and not much of an earner and most IFAs are running at or above capacity.    So, there quite possibly wouldn't be much interest in doing it.   The budget also created a significant burst of work for IFAs as clients with annual CGT work needed to be brought forward to be done before the budget.    Then there were the 25% tax free withdrawals through scaremongering in the media (and the putting back afterwards).   So, if you are snowed under with work and someone approaches you for a low value piece of work  you are more likely to put that person off rather than add to your workload.

In relation to this thread, there have been a number of firms that call themselves IFAs but have been told by the FCA or their compliance support company to drop the "I" as they are not.    If everything is going into an own brand platform and the same portfolio range, then its likely they are not IFAs in reality.   A transactional client, for example, isn't going to do into the discretionary portfolio or advisory portfolio of the IFA.   You are likely to use multi-asset funds or a global tracker or a provider that has a good option aimed at transactional clients.   So, every IFA should have a mix of providers/platforms and if they cannot demonstrate that then they really shouldn't be referring to themselves as IFAs. 

I kept the details of the one who was willing (he was on holiday so replied too late to use him for the above) for future reference. He seerms to work mainly on word of mouth

That is quite common.  In my area, the firms that I consider to be good do not advertise and do not appear on any listings other than free entries.     They don't need to.  It also often means they are lower cost as well as they not paying thousands of pounds of month to have those entries on unbiased etc.

Suzycoll

tickledpink1 said:

I'm trying to find an independent financial adviser regarding sim tarting up a pension. I am 59 and self employed. I had an online meeting with an adviser at Fairstone, who operate across the country. Their website says they are completely independent but he said he was not fully independent. Are they fully independent or not?

I'm unable to answer your question re independent or not 

My only comment would be NEVER trust any financial advisor 
That's my mantra for life 😀