I was at a TEDx event recently, and whilst basking in some late autumnal sunshine during the lunch break, got chatting to a fellow attendee. She had quite complex tax affairs with a business she was running and a series of property investments.
On the face of it she was someone who needed a lot of financial advice because she didn’t know when she could retire or how to access her money tax efficiently. Yet her main complaint was that no adviser was interested in advising her because she didn’t have an investment portfolio. Or they were, but only if she sold all of the properties and reinvested with them in the stockmarket.
In any other profession, if you had a person who needed a service and was willing to pay for that service – someone would sell them that service.
In the majority of financial advice this isn’t how it works. The reason that financial advisers want her to invest in the stockmarket is because that is how they will earn an income for their advice, as a percentage of the investment portfolio. A property investment portfolio doesn’t pay an adviser a percentage and so these investors are largely locked out of receiving advice.
Fortunately by complete coincidence she was speaking with someone who charged a flat monthly fee for advice and so could provide exactly what she needed. Unfortunately flat fees is still a tiny majority of the advice profession, and so you probably have more chance of finding an adviser this way than winning the lottery.
Paying a flat fee for advice is a fairer way to pay because you get the advice you need regardless of the solution. You might not have a property portfolio but the right advice for you might be to pay down debt or keep your money in cash or National Savings. A flat fee is again the only way that you will be able to access this advice.
If you need advice that is independent of the investment being recommended, please take a look at our map and find an adviser that suits you.