Choosing A Financial Advisor

Getting Financial Advice

A financial adviser may be able to help with:

• investing or saving your money

• planning for your retirement

• making the most of a lump sum of money such as a redundancy payment or an inheritance

• buying a property or taking out a mortgage

• what type of insurance you need

• significant life changes, for example starting a family, getting divorced

• improving your tax situation

An adviser can help you to find the most suitable financial product based on your personal circumstances.

There are several types of advisors:

Multi-agency intermediaries: They give advice about, and sell products from, a number of financial service providers. They must hold what is known as a letter of appointment from the financial service providers they advise and sell products on behalf of. They are sometimes referred to as ‘restricted intermediaries’.

Authorised advisers: They give advice about all financial products right across the market even if they don’t hold a letter of appointment from the financial service provider. They must consider and advise you on the most suitable financial product or products available in the market. They are sometimes called fair analysis advisers.

Tied agents: They only advise and sell products from the financial services providers they are tied to. They cannot offer financial products from other financial services providers they are not tied to.

A financial adviser can only call themselves independent if they carry out a fair analysis of the market, meaning that they give advice on all financial products, right across the market.

If you are looking for investment advice, a financial adviser has to tell you if the advice is being given on an independent or non-independent basis.

Where do you find a regulated and qualified financial adviser with relevant experience? The key to finding a financial adviser is to work out what type of financial advice you are looking for. For example, do you want advice on investments or pensions? Here are a few additional considerations:

Where do you find a regulated and qualified financial adviser with relevant experience? The key to finding a financial adviser is to work out what type of financial advice you are looking for. For example, do you want advice on investments or pensions? Here are a few additional considerations:

Authorisation

Check if the financial adviser is regulated by the Central Bank. You can check this by typing in their name here. If the financial adviser is not regulated and things go wrong, you may not have access to complaints procedures and compensation schemes. Also, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints against an unauthorised firm or financial adviser, so it’s very important to check they are authorised before contacting them.

Status

Check what type of financial products they can give advice on. Are they independent and can they consider and advise on all financial products across the market or, only on financial products available from a limited number of financial services providers? This information should be given to you by the financial adviser the first time they deal with you.

Qualifications and experience

Check if the financial adviser has a recognised professional qualification to give financial advice. Also check if they have experience advising people in similar situations to yours, for example, about retirement plans, buying property etc.

Fees

Find out how much the financial adviser will charge. Check if ongoing advice will be provided and if so, what the cost will be? Also ask what other payments the financial adviser receives, for example, if they are paid commission from the financial services firm they are selling products for. The first time you deal with a financial adviser, they must give you a document with information on their charges.

Compare

Before choosing a financial adviser, contact a number of them and compare their fees, qualifications and experience.

Ask financial advisers for a quote for the product you’re interested in on a nil commission basis and compare them with quotes that factor in commission.