Choosing a Financial Adviser
Introduction
Good financial advice can make your money work harder for you. Choosing the right financial adviser / financial advisor (adviser and advisor are interchangeable - we'll be using adviser throughout the rest of this guide) is an important decision to get right.
Getting good financial advice will make a real difference to achieving your goals.
You might want to borrow money to buy a house, put yourself on track for a comfortable retirement or make sure your finances could survive if illness meant you couldn't work. There are hundreds more things to think about and a good financial adviser will help you understand and prioritise your financial needs, as well as recommend products which can help you.
Why choose an independent financial adviser (IFA)?
There are three different types of financial adviser. In the industry jargon, your adviser may be tied, multi-tied or independent. You need to know what the status of your financial adviser is because it may well dictate the depth of advice you may receive.
Independent financial advisers (IFAs) may advise you about products from a range of companies across the market; tied advisers may only sell products provided by the one company to which they are tied. A multi-tied adviser may also only offer products from companies with which they have a relationship. This may only be one company in each product area, meaning they offer no more choice than a tied adviser or they may have a relationship with a handful of companies.
Although all types of adviser are required to advise you about the products most suitable for you, you are always likely to get the most suitable advice for you and your circumstances from an independent financial adviser (IFA) who has been able to review the whole market-place rather than a tied or multi-tied adviser.
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