Independent Financial Advisor - expectations
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Good question. I checked they are FCA registered, unbiased.co.uk who appear to be satisfied that they are an IFA and I checked what they say about themselves on their website. Is there something else I should have done?
If you name them, someone here will be able to confirm (or otherwise!).0 -
The IFA is Flying Colours0
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Did anyone ask you how much income you need? I'd start with a detailed budget and a retirement date. You can then see if your current pensions will work or if transfer and consolidation would be better. Take some time to learn about drawdown, seriously it is not that difficult in principal, the difficulty comes in making the choices and living with the risks.“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”0
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Yes, the initial consultation covered all aspects of my current situation and future planning. It seemed very thorough. It's just the output I'm disappointed by. I'm glad I posted this thread as it seems my only course of action is to go back and discuss with the IFA.
Many thanks0 -
The Standard Life Easy Option Pension seems to have a low monthly contributions threshold,
This does not appear to be the case.
https://www.standardlife.co.uk/c1/accounts-and-services/pensions/easy-option-features.page
Once you!!!8217;ve set up regular payments and as long as you meet minimum payments and HM Revenue & Customs limits, you can pay in when you like, and how much you like.
It also accepts transfers in.
https://www.standardlife.co.uk/c1/guides-and-calculators/managing-your-pension-tax-relief.page0 -
Yes, the initial consultation covered all aspects of my current situation and future planning. It seemed very thorough. It's just the output I'm disappointed by. I'm glad I posted this thread as it seems my only course of action is to go back and discuss with the IFA.
Many thanks
It would certainly be reasonable to give your IFA a chance to remedy matters. If you don't talk to him, how can he know you aren't happy?0 -
I'm very disappointed with their report. It sets out the facts and figures of my current pensions (which I already knew)
The report is a compliance driven document. The FCA and FOS expect to see the figures in there.and simply recommends that I consolidate my pensions into the IFA's own SIPP which is administered by a company I've never heard of (Liberty).
IFAs don't have their own product. You probably havent heard of most financial companies.Notwithstanding the potential for this SIPP to perform better than my existing pensions, which I cannot predict, I've paid for this advice yet have nothing to indicate whether to accept it. My instinct says no.
The report summarises the discussions. You dont normally get to the report stage until you have had the discussions, Q&A and info supplied. So, what have they said?Was I naïve in expecting the IFA to talk through the different options?
The IFA is required to filter the options out and present the recommendation. The discussions you have had should give the filtering that the IFA needs. It the IFA presents you with choice then they havent done their job correctly. You have already said you are not comfortable with this. So, giving someone a choice who doesnt know what it best is not a good idea.and I'm uncomfortable that the pension he recommends is managed by the company for which he works.
Well that would not make him an IFA. IFAs faciliate the purchase of products from the marketplace. FAs recommend their own products. Is this person really an IFA as you make it sound like they are not?I checked they are FCA registered, unbiased.co.uk who appear to be satisfied that they are an IFA and I checked what they say about themselves on their website. Is there something else I should have done?
The FCA register does not have the status. Unbiased includes FAs and IFAs as long as the FA is broad market (e.g not single tied or low panel).
IFAs don't have their own product. Although some platforms allow the addition of the IFA logo to the branding.The IFA is Flying Colours
Their website does seem to promote their investment committee. However, being IFAs they cannot have just this option. If they did, they would be FAs. Now, some firms out there do have the IFA tag but don't act as IFAs. The FCA is catching them slowly and getting them to convert to FA. So, what has made you think that they are only offering their own product?I've taken a look and I'd be more comfortable with that. The Standard Life Easy Option Pension seems to have a low monthly contributions threshold, however, and as I'm 50 I'd like to make larger contributions.
Its also largely an out-of-date pension with relatively basic investment options and about to be pulled from the market. I wouldnt use it. So, why are you comfortable with that?Yes, the initial consultation covered all aspects of my current situation and future planning. It seemed very thorough. It's just the output I'm disappointed by. I'm glad I posted this thread as it seems my only course of action is to go back and discuss with the IFA.
The report is disappointing. The FCA say they want it as short as possible but containing the risks and compliance issues. The FOS have a slightly different view and compliance companies want backside protecting. So, you get a lot of text that doesnt tell you much other than the key points and key reasons. The value is in the discussion and communication. To get the best out of an adviser/client relationship you need good communication both ways. If you dont talk then the business relationship is doomed for failure.I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.0 -
We had a long initial discussion about why I wanted pension advice and what my financial aspirations were for my retirement. I provided all my pension details and signed an engagement form for them to contact my providers, analyse the data and recommend options. I also completed a risk profile questionnaire.The report summarises the discussions. You dont normally get to the report stage until you have had the discussions, Q&A and info supplied. So, what have they said?
Two months later I was invited back to discuss the findings. I was handed a report and papers to sign for executing their recommendations. I expected a verbal summary of the work conducted, a dialogue about the state of my current pensions vs alternatives and a rationale for the recommended action. The adviser seemed a little surprised when I tried to open such a dialogue and said it was all in the report. He didn't seem very familiar with it. I went so far as to ask him what he personally had done and he explained that he'd written up my requirements and passed them to his team who had compiled the report, which he had read and approved. He was able to explain the benefits of their own SIPP which he was recommending, but I wasn't able to draw him to comment on whether there was in fact anything unfavourable about my existing pensions.
I didn't sign the papers and said I would take the report away to study and revert with any questions. Having read it, my overriding question is to ask how their fee is justified.
The report recommends that I transfer my existing pensions into their SIPP because it is "most suited to your investment objectives" and that I invest a specific sum a month in order to achieve my retirement aims. It says that they have discounted the option of not transferring my existing pensions because I would not have maximum flexibility for income drawdown or benefit from a discretionary fund manager. It also doesn't explain why I should triple my current annual charges by moving to a SIPP with additional platform and advisory fees.So, what has made you think that they are only offering their own product?
Put it this way: professionally, if I'm considering whether a particular product or service is still fit for purpose and financially viable I may seek professional consultancy. For a fee, I expect an assessment of my requirements, evaluation of the current solution and research into a range of options from current market leader to new solutions. I receive a report and presentation containing a summary of the options reviewed, evaluation criteria, pros & cons of different solutions and a quantifiable recommendation. If they found that changing my current solution wasn't necessarily beneficial I expect them to say that too. If they returned 2 months later with a report that contained none of the above and merely recommended their own in-house product I wouldn't find that acceptable. Likewise for my personal affairs. Am I wrong to apply the same principles to an IFA?0 -
It also doesn't explain why I should triple my current annual charges by moving to a SIPP with additional platform and advisory fees.
In the conversations, did you tell them you put charges ahead of returns?Put it this way: professionally, if I'm considering whether a particular product or service is still fit for purpose and financially viable I may seek professional consultancy. For a fee, I expect an assessment of my requirements, evaluation of the current solution and research into a range of options from current market leader to new solutions.
All of which the IFA is required to do.
Some clients want little or chat and just want the IFA to sort it. Some want far more detail. You need to communicate what you want.If they found that changing my current solution wasn't necessarily beneficial I expect them to say that too.
That is a consideration. A pension cant be moved willy nilly. There must be justification.Am I wrong to apply the same principles to an IFA?
This is a conversation you should be having with the IFA. If you dont tell them, they won't know.
A typical client file will have hundreds of pages of data and internal reports which can be supplied to you if you want. There is plenty of supporting documentation if you want it. Most people don't. You do and you need to make that clear.I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.0 -
Which isn't required until you actually want to drawdown. Is that imminent? If not, they should have considered the option of leaving the old pensions where they are and benefitting from the low charges until the point you want to drawdown. Maybe there's other reasons to move them, but flexibilities, until you need them, shouldn't be one of themThe report recommends that I transfer my existing pensions into their SIPP because it is "most suited to your investment objectives" and that I invest a specific sum a month in order to achieve my retirement aims. It says that they have discounted the option of not transferring my existing pensions because I would not have maximum flexibility for income drawdown
An IFA suggest something resulting in additional advisory fees? Shock horror!or benefit from a discretionary fund manager. It also doesn't explain why I should triple my current annual charges by moving to a SIPP with additional platform and advisory fees.
No. You are right.Put it this way: professionally, if I'm considering whether a particular product or service is still fit for purpose and financially viable I may seek professional consultancy. For a fee, I expect an assessment of my requirements, evaluation of the current solution and research into a range of options from current market leader to new solutions. I receive a report and presentation containing a summary of the options reviewed, evaluation criteria, pros & cons of different solutions and a quantifiable recommendation. If they found that changing my current solution wasn't necessarily beneficial I expect them to say that too. If they returned 2 months later with a report that contained none of the above and merely recommended their own in-house product I wouldn't find that acceptable. Likewise for my personal affairs. Am I wrong to apply the same principles to an IFA?0
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