When someone deals with a financial adviser for the first time, they want to know that the
adviser is acting in their best interests, that they will get the best advice and the best
products available.
How can the client be sure of this?
There cannot be any guarantee, but their best chance is talking with an independent financial adviser (IFA), and not everybody is.
Apart from the IFA you have two other classes of adviser, restricted and tied, or company representative.
Examples of the tied/company representative are St James’ Place, NFU and Wesleyan.
They have their own products and funds and that is what you get whether they be good, bad or indifferent. The advantage to them is that they just have to sell their company’s products and that is it. No research or due diligence.
The restricted offering is a little different and will either be offering advice in limited areas or using a limited panel of providers, possibly both. Examples of restricted advisers are Evelyn Partners and True Potential, both very big players in the region and nationally.
So why would a firm choose to be restricted?
There can be commercial advantage to the firm, for example lower costs or enhanced commissions on protection policies. Many mortgage brokers are restricted advisers.
I am not suggesting that you will receive bad advice from anybody other than an IFA. Clearly, that would not to be true. However, if you want the widest choice of product, and your greatest chance of getting the best for you, then an IFA is essential.
As for Rutherford Hughes, we are independent and would not consider any other status. We want to provide our clients with the correct solutions and best outcomes possible. To achieve this, we regularly review our potential providers and their products, and we have a monthly review of the investment funds we recommend to ensure that they are providing consistent outperformance in their peer group. Further, we have invested heavily in technology so that we can provide our clients with the best possible service and welcome meetings and calls at anytime.
We do like to think that we are approachable and endeavour to keep explanations understandable, and, naturally, questions are welcomed.
If this sounds of interest, please contact us and we will be delighted to help. Our email is contactus@rutherfordhughes.com and office number is 0191 229 9600.
Please note that the FCA does not regulate tax advice.
