Anyone used or using one? Did you find a tangible ROI by using their services?

Probably long overdue, missus and self had a preliminary meeting last night, we could see it making sense but finding it hard to stomach the fee. Will probably shop around anyway but just wanted to hear some other people’s experiences.

the fee

At least you know what you are doing! Fees often > benefits. I presume that you have maxed out tax-efficient solutions first?

Mixed experiences, some very good (long family friends), some genuinely shocking. I went to one lunch presentation on pensions about a year ago by a very well-known name. It was embarrassingly awful with very dubious data and wild generalisations. They lady in charge did not take kindly to questions either!!

tax-efficient solutions first?

Not really – just ISA’s and CTF’s/Jr ISA’s even then not really making full use of them, hence part of the need to seek advice and get a holistic view of our financial health so to speak.

Thanks for the tip though.

we could see it making sense but finding it hard to stomach the fee.

What sort of fees (They’re always plural! :lol:) are they wanting these days?

Max them first IMO.

I would caution against some of the well known franchise models (the names are well-known) as their business model does not put the clients’ interests first IME. A least you already have a good understanding/healthy scepticism about how they earn their money.

Sorry that I cannot be more helpful, but I am a natural cynic of the retail financial services in the UK.

I am a natural cynic of the retail financial services in the UK

Me too, and I’ve worked in it for 20 years.

Since no one works for free, of course they’ll be a fee.

Whether this is worth it really depends on you and your OH’s finances and whether you’re able to invest/spend better to cover the cost of the fees (and make a ‘profit’).

Only you can know this.

suburbanreuben: 3 1/2 big ones though she added this was all inclusive irrespective of the investment pot and managing an investment portfolio etc as opposed to others who have a start up fee and then there are add ons depending on how you pick and choose the service

br – I appreciate a fee goes without saying – though the actual fee quoted made me wonder about the ROI etc

3 1/2 big ones

For an investment portfolio of approximately what size?

3 1/2 big ones though she added this was all inclusive irrespective of the investment pot and managing an investment portfolio etc as opposed to others who have a start up fee and then there are add ons depending on how you pick and choose the service

Ouch! Though I’d prefer to pay a one off fee up front than an ongoing percentage of my portfolio.
I have a yearly sit down with my accountant who explains the tax implications of my investments and how I could be saving money. It cost me less than a hundred quid. What mistakes I make after that are up to me.

For an investment portfolio of approximately what size?

Size doesn’t matter whether you invest 20K or 20M we were told

I think the one off fee makes sense, though I think will need to shop around as the quoted fees(s) seem a tad high

I think the point was, £3½k fee on £20m invested is peanuts and will be paid for pretty quickly. £3½k on £3k invested would potentially never pay for itself…

Read the FT weekend edition to find out what’s what. It’s pricey at 3 1/2 little ones, but well worth it. Just chuck the “How to Spend It” section straight in the bin!

Size doesn’t matter whether you invest 20K or 20M we were told

Well that’s balls for a start; if you have 20k to invest, you don’t want to be paying someone 15% of that for advice.

I think the one off fee makes sense,

Up to a point, they could just take the money, make the initial investment and you never hear from them again.

You shouldn’t be looking at paying anymore than 5% of the investment for advice, and 5% is at the TOP end of what you should be paying.

Out of interest OP, would you say that your finances are complex in any way? For example, I’m guessing a mortgage, couple of pensions and some savings. Something along those lines?

I read somewhere, that now the charging mechanism had changed, and IFA is only likely to be of any worth if you have over 100k in assets (excluding pension and house). In my, limited, experience I’ve never really found an IFA useful. I’m some way off the 100k though.

and IFA is only likely to be of any worth if you have over 100k in assets (excluding pension and house)

I’d agree with that.

That is a pricey up-front fee. I visited the family financial advisor last year after an unexpected inheritance. He charged me £1500 and takes an annual %age of the investment. So if I make money, so does he. That way, he’s got more incentive to manage the investments more carefully.

That way, he’s got more incentive to manage the investments more carefully.

Or, unless you lose the lot (which you’re unlikely to if he’s put you in any kind of balanced portfolio), he gets on-going income for doing nothing.

If you’re under the impression that your IFA is regularly assessing your portfolio and tinkering with it to try and maximise return you’re kidding yourself. You will probably get an ‘annual review’, where the portfolio may get rejigged, but the prime aim will be to get you to invest more, i.e. to earn him more commission. Sorry, we can’t say commission any more, ‘advice fees’. Being an IFA is a sales job first, advice job distant second.

And yes, I know I’m very cynical but, like I’ve said above, I’ve been in retail financial services for twenty years, I know the game.

Size doesn’t matter whether you invest 20K or 20M we were told

Utter nonsense, e.g. 20k falls well within your tax breaks, so you could put it all into a pension and get up to 40% back immediately. Max annual pension allowance is £40k, which is a lot less than £20M.

My strategy is to

1) max out pension allowance and get 40% back,
2) Max out ISA allowance (increased to £20k this tax year)

For a married couple, that’s £120k of tax free savings every year…

Then split the pension / ISAs betwen a small number of investment service providers (just in case one turns out to be the next Equitable Life / Bernie Madoff).

Within each provider invest the money in a small mix of funds, all equities, with a geographic split, some trackers, some managed.

You shouldn’t be looking at paying anymore than 5% of the investment for advice, and 5% is at the TOP end of what you should be paying.

valuable advice there IHN thanks

I wasn’t convinced with their fee structure hence the post and some more research into IFA’s etc.

Out of interest OP, would you say that your finances are complex in any way?

Not really tbh and the asset pot is modest, but the assets are overseas which come with their own issues if it comes to transferring them over but I reckon we will also need some tax advice on those matters

I reckon we will also need some tax advice on those matters

Speak to an accountant; you’ll get the same (or better) advice for a lot less money.

Hold on an minute. First off you say they are “not really” complex, and then you casually drop in that the assets are overseas. Those two statements are not compatible in my book.

The reason I asked if they were complex, was to work out if you need expert input or not. I would suggest that having overseas assets increases the chances that expert advice would be required. I guess it depends on the assets involved though.

Funny the IFA told you that size doesn’t matter. All of the IFAs I’ve recently approached want at least a 1% fee, no flat fees.

Possibly size doesn’t matter when the percentage looks high, but does when the fee is high and the percentage small.