Financial Advisors

MigsyBigsy

Hello all,

can anyone recommend a Financial Advisor in the London area.

What expectations do you have when you use them and does the amount you have to invest affect the type of advisor one chooses.

thank you for the replies

dunstonh

What expectations do you have when you use them

That they do the job they are employed to do.

and does the amount you have to invest affect the type of advisor one chooses

There is only one type of financial adviser. That is IFAs. Every other type is a sales person. (ok, that definition doesnt come in until next year but its worth working to that basis now as its only a clarification of what is really the case).

Lokolo

I went past a estate agent place this morning (I know its not investment advisors but stay with me) and it says Independant Mortgage Advisors. Will these people really be independant or sales reps for the estate agents?

Ian_W

Lokolo wrote: »

Will these people really be independant or sales reps for the estate agents?

That's an interesting question - and the answer is even more interesting unless things have changed fairly recently since I last took an interest in mortgages.

They're probably employed by the EA's but that doesn't mean they aren't independent in respect of which lender they recommend. Doesn't mean they are either, as you and I would understand the term.

They can be independent and "whole of market", according to the FSA, if they have a panel of 6,8, 10 lenders who the EA has deals with which is the norm with EA MA's. They can be "whole of market" and have access to all mortgages available to brokers but as some mortgages [more since the crunch apparently]and lenders are only available direct they don't have to tell you about them.

Clear init?

dunstonh

Independent in mortgage terms doesnt mean independent in the same way as it does for investment advisers. FSA have basically messed up mortgage adviser titles as independent can mean an adviser with a panel of lenders. Independent mortgage advisers can also be tied to insurance companies for insurance products. If that is the case, the insurance company will have targets and incentives and they are not good things to have when you need independent advice.

There is also the potential for conflict of interest. The estate agent is working for the vendor. The mortgage adviser (if truely independent in all areas) is working for the buyer. If it is a tied rep (who is doing whole of market mortages) then they work for the insurance company.

Lokolo

Wow... why oh why did I ask... :beer:

MigsyBigsy

So any recommendations for IFA (not a mortgage one) in the London area? Where can i find out more about them?

dunstonh

Where can i find out more about them?

IFAs are mostly a cottage industry. So, you are not likely to find out much about a particular adviser as the majority of the 9000 IFAs are self employed, partners or directors or employees of (or attached to) small firms.

Unbiased ( http://www.unbiased.co.uk/) is the uk database which you can sort by postcode (untick the default option to only show those IFAs that pay to use unbiased as most dont and dont fall prey to the thought that the IFAs showing in blue boxes are better than those in grey. Another way of looking at that is that the ones in grey dont need to advertise whereas those in blue do).

isofa

You get building societies such as the Norwich and Peterborough advertising "Independent Financial Advice", but I suspect it isn't that independent, and there is most certainly a conflict of interest. Certainly not like a proper IFA as dunston says.

As for Banks offering a Financial Review - this is just an opportunity to sell badly performing bonds, insurances and all sorts of things to unwitting "customers".

dunstonh

You get building societies such as the Norwich and Peterborough advertising "Independent Financial Advice", but I suspect it isn't that independent, and there is most certainly a conflict of interest. Certainly not like a proper IFA as dunston says.

I have bad experiences of N&P. However, they have paid out on 3 of the complaints I have put in about their advisers so far. They effectively gave their salesforce whole of market product access and called them IFAs. They are the wolves in sheeps clothing. They have the title but the quality of the advice is on par with tied agents. One of the broker consultants (reps fom insurers that deal with IFAs) told me that they have recognised that the advice is often naff from N&P but they cannot do anything about it.

Aegis

isofa wrote: »

You get building societies such as the Norwich and Peterborough advertising "Independent Financial Advice", but I suspect it isn't that independent, and there is most certainly a conflict of interest. Certainly not like a proper IFA as dunston says.

As for Banks offering a Financial Review - this is just an opportunity to sell badly performing bonds, insurances and all sorts of things to unwitting "customers".

I had one of my branch's IFAs tell a customer that moving his investments across to us might not be in his best interest. That really made me very aware that they are indeed independent rather than being dead-set on getting business at all costs.

Not that I thought they would be, mind, but it's always nice to get confirmation that your co-workers really are looking out for the right people