Can anyone recommend an Independent Financial Advisor?

[NATOPotato]

Dear members of Prune.

I am looking for an independent financial advisor, preferably one with knowledge of the intricacies of the AFPS as well as ‘normal’ personal pensions, and would prefer someone with a positive recommendation, hence this post in the Military Aviation thread. I am based in Hampshire, so anyone south of the M4 corridor would be perfect, but any recommendation, even if further afield, would be appreciated

If anyone has a positive (or negative!) recommendation, please would they PM me details.

Thank you.



Yours

NATO Potato

[B Fraser]

There are a number of IFA search websites where you can invite a practitioner to contact you such as Find 27,000 IFAs, Financial Advisers, Mortgage Brokers, Accountants & Bookkeepers (unbiased.co.uk). There is then Register Home Page (fca.org.uk) where you can check their accreditation and background.

I use a chap who is a little bit outside of your area and he has been excellent to far. it appears that there are products that can only be accessed via IFA's and this includes funds managed by some of the biggest household names in the industry.

I'm not in the MOD so don't know if you are in a defined benefit or a defined contribution scheme. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages. I have jumped ship a few times so have both. I wrote to my defined benefit scheme and got a transfer value that I thought was excellent. My advisor then told me that they had probably pitched it low to get me to leave it where it is. You need someone with particular training and accreditation to advise you on those.

I hope that is of some help.

[NATOPotato]

Thank you,

Yes that is helpful. If I don't receive any recommendations I will have to do my own research and the links will be very useful.

Yours

NP

[Ninthace]

If AFPS is an issue, have you considered?
https://forcespensionsociety.org/
Starting there would seem to be logical.

[NATOPotato]

Yes, I did start with the FPS, but have a question they couldn't give specific advice for, just generic, ending in 'ask an IFA'.

I don't want to go over the specifics on-line, but its not urgent, so I can wait to see if anyone can recommend someone and if no one does, I'll stop being lazy and find one myself. However, thanks for thinking of the FPS.

NP

[Tartiflette Fan]

Originally Posted by B Fraser

Ther

I'm not in the MOD so don't know if you are in a defined benefit or a defined contribution scheme. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages. I have jumped ship a few times so have both. I wrote to my defined benefit scheme and got a transfer value that I thought was excellent. My advisor then told me that they had probably pitched it low to get me to leave it where it is. You need someone with particular training and accreditation to advise you on those.

I hope that is of some help.

Do you think that is possible ? They have to use an actuary which is a rare, highly-paid, professional beast, several grades above an IFA. and not likely to compromise him/herself.

[Uplinker]

I will pm you tomorrow. I have found a truly excellent chap, and I am a sceptical hard case where financial advisers are concerned. .

Remind me if I forget.

[B Fraser]

Originally Posted by Tartiflette Fan

Do you think that is possible ? They have to use an actuary which is a rare, highly-paid, professional beast, several grades above an IFA. and not likely to compromise him/herself.

To be honest, I just have to take the advice from my IFA at face value. Had he advised to take the money out and reinvest it elsewhere, he would have earned a commission. The fact that he didn't would suggest to me that he is correct. It's rather like your dentist telling you that the best course of action is to leave well alone. You tend to agree with them.

[NATOPotato]

Thanks Uplinker,

I appreciate your help.

NP

[downsizer]

Is it worth employing an IFA.....I have cash sitting around not doing much and I'm thinking of investing it....what do I get that I have to pay someone for that I couldn't suss out myself?

[Tartiflette Fan]

Originally Posted by downsizer

Is it worth employing an IFA.....I have cash sitting around not doing much and I'm thinking of investing it....what do I get that I have to pay someone for that I couldn't suss out myself?

You can of course try, but chances of success ? I have been seriously interested in financial matters for 25 years, but have no better than a reasonable return on investment. Simply because of natural inclination, I , for example, have never had the slightest interest in bonds and know nothing, but undoubtedly ( now for instance ? ) these may have been the best choice. This is one area where i find that, for me, the Net has seriously worsened the flow of information: I used to subscribe for many years to a since defunct magazine which published topical articles every month and had an absolutely superb set of tables with 10 years of data of all Investment trusts and other funds: if interested in UK Smaller Cos, I could have all the relevant data in front of me in 20 seconds. Now, with the Net, this would take hours and I know of no site that would allow me to compile it in an easy-to-read format.

EDIT: I did use an IFA for several years but was deeply unimpressed by his performance. There is one major change just being introduced this/next month and that is IFA's will have to show (in some way ) that you are receiving and benefitting from their advice: it should no longer be possible to pull in their 1% or 2% in exchange for a generic quarterly newsletter.

[pasta]

Originally Posted by downsizer

Is it worth employing an IFA.....I have cash sitting around not doing much and I'm thinking of investing it....what do I get that I have to pay someone for that I couldn't suss out myself?

Three separate elements to this, in my view:
1. Tax, investment vehicles etc. Is it more efficient to invest money in a pension, ISA, property, pay off the mortgage etc?
2. Within the investment vehicle (ISA, pension etc), what's the money actually invested in? Fixed income, equities, managed funds, ETFs, cash deposits etc. What's your risk appetite? How do you manage those investments on an ongoing basis?
3. Is your financial planning realistic? Is your long-term spending plan in line with what's funding it? Is there something you've forgotten to factor in? Future changes in spending, contingencies, legacies etc

If you're confident you have all these elements covered, you may not need an IFA. There's loads of information on all of this online, some of it's accurate, and if you have the time to research it and the critical thinking to sort the wheat from the chaff, there's no reason you can't do it yourself; that's my preferred approach. If you're uncertain, or don't want to do the research, a good IFA will most likely be worth the fees.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket, and beware of any investment strategy, fund or fund manager that claims it beat the market, there's almost certainly a catch. Google "Neil Woodford" for a salutary example.

Edit: There's a pretty well-understood relationship between risk and reward in the financial markets. If you find something offering high rewards at low risk, the most likely reason is that some of the risk is hidden.