Reply to: IFA recommendations?

[Lockhouse]

I use Ian Wilson as well. He's good, but sometimes things move slowly in the pension world. Where the added value comes in is that he stops me from making expensive mistakes. I can come up with my own retirement strategy and he can validate it. It is possible to do without an IFA, of course it is, but I've just made a total howler in another unrelated investment which wouldn't have happened if I'd have been bothered to bounce it off him.

[fatJock]

How bizarre. I have just received an email from him about an annual review so they're still operating.

I'll PM you his direct email address and see if that works.

Cheers, got your PM. Will drop him a mail.

[Fred Bloggs]

And why would this miracle bernard madoff exclusive WM be so valuable so as not to name this fund which grows risk free year on year?

Well, as Bernie Madoff didn't say, "if it seems to good to be true, it isn't ".

[malvolio]

And why would this miracle bernard madoff exclusive WM be so valuable so as not to name this fund which grows risk free year on year?

I didn't say that. I don't want to name the company. And it's not one fund. And nothing's risk free.

Apart from that, it's none of your business. I was merely offering an alternative option for the OP's question.

[NowPermOutsideUK]

Can't help but think that the OP doesn't need an IFA, he needs a decent Wealth Management company...

A selection of IFAs over the years proved more trouble than they were worth. The WM people I use (and no, I'm not passing that on) have organised a fund that increases year on year at a rate well above inflation despite their fees (not very much of them, a couple of hundred each quarter) and me taking a pension from it.

And why would this miracle bernard madoff exclusive WM be so valuable so as not to name this fund which grows risk free year on year?

[malvolio]

Can't help but think that the OP doesn't need an IFA, he needs a decent Wealth Management company...

A selection of IFAs over the years proved more trouble than they were worth. The WM people I use (and no, I'm not passing that on) have organised a fund that increases year on year at a rate well above inflation despite their fees (not very much of them, a couple of hundred each quarter) and me taking a pension from it.

[ladymuck]

Well I can’t say they’re good or bad …. never got back to my enquiry.

How bizarre. I have just received an email from him about an annual review so they're still operating.

I'll PM you his direct email address and see if that works.

[fatJock]

Well I can’t say they’re good or bad …. never got back to my enquiry.

[ladymuck]

Apologies! The rest of my post still stands: people should do their own very detailed research and take recommendations with a pinch of salt. Even without the accountant debacle (which may have seen Mudskipper involved in recommendations) I would have thought that a semi-anonymous forum would mean that people requiring recommendations for £200k to multimillion pound pension outputs would see even more people doing their own detailed research rather than seemingly random IFAs being thrown around.

I do think you're over egging this.

OP asked for a recommendation. A recommendation was given. The OP has asked for a call back to check them out and see if the recommendation is going to be any good for them.

IPSE list Forum Wealth on their website as a contractor focussed IFA and I'd hope they wouldn't recommend a firm that's dodgy (although they too have listed some questionable accountants in the past).

[agentzero]

No I don't, didn't and haven't.

Please check your facts before you go making such accusations.

Apologies! The rest of my post still stands: people should do their own very detailed research and take recommendations with a pinch of salt. Even without the accountant debacle (which may have seen Mudskipper involved in recommendations) I would have thought that a semi-anonymous forum would mean that people requiring recommendations for £200k to multimillion pound pension outputs would see even more people doing their own detailed research rather than seemingly random IFAs being thrown around.

[Lance]

No I don't, didn't and haven't.

Please check your facts before you go making such accusations.

even if it was true, IFAs are heavily regulated these days, unlike accountants.

[ladymuck]

Didn't you use and also recommend the accounting firm of which Darren Upton's was a recent illegal presence within?

No I don't, didn't and haven't.

Please check your facts before you go making such accusations.

[agentzero]

Yep. He can talk the hind leg off a donkey but he does know what he's talking about. I've mentioned in other posts the level of service I get and I am nowhere near being considered HNW.

Didn't you use and also recommend the accounting firm of which Darren Upton's was a recent illegal presence within?

This isn't having a go at you but is rather a recommendation for anybody to dig deep and do your own research before taking a recommendation from anybody. Your SIPP and financial health are going to be more valuable and important the older you get, costing a lot of money if advice is incorrect. Get recommendations, but do extensive due diligence. Making a mistake could cost you a multiple of the cost of your house and is likely to be the most expensive and important financial choice you ever make.

I don't see much difference between certain recommendations and an MLM scheme that relies upon the same recommendation to propagate. Do your own research, read the T&Cs three times, and ask how the IFA is paid. What referral fees and payments do they get for recommending particular services. Transparency is key.

[fatJock]

Please let us know how you get on. My previous experiences with ifas have not been good and seem to want to sell their funds only which of course they get a kickback on and refuse to talk about etfs

Will do - mine hasn’t been great either. Happily running my SIPP, annoyed that I have to consult someone else to make a decision I’m comfortable in making.

I get that there has been mis-selling etc but I’m not swapping a final salary scheme for magic beans.

[NowPermOutsideUK]

Please let us know how you get on. My previous experiences with ifas have not been good and seem to want to sell their funds only which of course they get a kickback on and refuse to talk about etfs