5/1/08The importance of Independent Advice

You already appreciate the value of independent financial advice; a recent initiative reinforces its importance.

Investors and those seeking advice on protection and mortgages are accustomed to consulting Independent Financial Advisers, but recent research for the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA) suggests that IFAs could also help to cut credit card debts amongst younger people and lower earners.

It is also suggested that middle income groups could benefit from independent financial advice in order to ensure that they have adequate investment, protection and pension provision.

This news comes as AIFA responds to initiatives by the regulators aimed at ensuring that independent financial advisers are able to demonstrate increasing levels of professionalism and “treating customers fairly”. This last initiative is intended to move regulation to a more principles-based approach, rather than the current prescriptive one, which frequently obscures rather than clarifies.

We are firmly committed to the principles of treating our clients fairly and this includes keeping you up to date with developments in financial services through the pages of this newsletter.

The importance of independent financial advice is also reinforced by concerns that consumers, turning to the internet for their financial needs, could easily find themselves getting into difficulties if they fail to take individual advice, based on what they learn on the web.

Some sources of information—perhaps all—have their own agenda, whether to sell space to companies who advertise on their sites, or simply to promote their own viewpoint.

IFAs, on the other hand, are responsible only to their clients and are therefore able to place their interests at the very heart of their advice. We are able to take time to research your individual needs and priorities; websites can only talk in generalities.

Our advice is based on thorough research of your current position, your attitude towards risk, your existing financial commitments and your financial goals and needs that we identify. We then take time to research the options available to you, ensuring that the recommendations we make meet your requirements as closely as possible.

We are then able to proceed to put in place agreed plans, often saving you considerable time and effort, as well as to ensure that your instructions have been correctly interpreted by service and product suppliers. And unlike websites, we are covered by Professional Indemnity insurance.

But our service does not stop there. We are committed over the long term (subject to your agreement) regularly to review your arrangements in order to ensure that they continue to meet your needs as closely as possible. This can include ensuring that protection plans offer the right level of cover, as well as looking at the balance of your investments to ensure that they reflect your goals and risk profile.

Independent financial advice is about you—not a vague “consumer”.