losing money advice please

westy69

i have ordered a copy of how to complain

My IFA was reccomended to me by my solicitor who in turn got paid for her reccomendation which i did not realise untill afterwards, it was a very emotional time for me (inheritance) with the knowledge i have now i should have seen 2 or 3 advisers from different companies.

thank you again for the contributions on this post i really do appreciate the advice given.

Footsie_2

The world of IFA's is a bit of a minefield, many many people have no idea what they are doing and go to see the first IFA they come across and assume their advice will all be the same. It's a very subjective industry, obviously previous advice on this very thread demonstrates the things a good IFA should say and point out but, as said before, it's hard to know who is a good IFA and who isn't.

I'm sure you have already seen this but you may want to pop along to the Financial Ombudsman Service site at http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm and this will give you information and an email address and telephone number. They should be able to provide you with more information that we can. Do let us know how it all turns out.

dunstonh

The term IFA covers a wide range of skills. You get those that focus on corporate business, those that do mostly mortgages and those that do investment & pensions. You also get General practitioners.

You dont want to see a mortgage IFA when you are investing money or vice versa. Some will be honest and say to you that they specialise in a certain area and cannot advise you in others whilst some will try. Increasingly, advisers are specialising and that is likely to increase from 2009 once the FSA has decided how its review is going to proceed (a review that should improve standards and qualification requirements).

It is also fair to state that the vast majority of transactions get done with quality advice. A forum like this highlights the bad and not the good. IFAs have the lowest percentage of complaints at the FOS than any other advice distribution channel.

You can often spot poor quality advice just by looking and discussing the advice through. If the questions you ask are not getting straight answers back, if questions about fees or commission are brushed to one side or you are rushed to make a decision with no real detail supplied then you should be on guard.

wombat42_2

I eat IFAs for breakfast with my Shredded Wheat

westy69

thanks, reading the above link it looks like i may have to complain firstly to the IFA and then if it is not resolved to the ombudsman but i will wait untill all the paperwork comes through on how to complain and have a good read of that, i will keep you all informed of any further developments
BTW the IFA in qusetion is a director of the comapany not that i suppose that makes any real difference....

Footsie_2

Was it a large company or just a one man band?

westy69

a reasonable size 3 or 4 directors i think.

dunstonh

With IFAs you complain to the IFA or their network. Networks are compliance support companies and IFAs pay networks to handle the back office side of things. You can tell if the IFA is a member of a network by looking at their intial disclosure documents under "What to do if you have a complaint". Their letterhead will also have "xyz is an appointed rep of.... blah blah message at the bottom as part of the compliance message. The FSA register will also show if they are appointed reps or directly authorised.

westy69

Hi it says appointed representatives/tied agents .... not sure what that means

out of curiosity what do you think the future for my 4 "investments" loosely termed is, i appreciate that it is only an opinion but i am interested

thanks

baby_boomer

Wot a laff.

The !!!! hits the fan and suddenly dunstonh is prepared

a) to slag off other IFAs for their mistakes
b) to provide detailed analysis of investment funds as opposed to vague generalisations.

Wonders will never cease .