1 October 2023
As a lawyer or accountant, you will know who is good in your profession, but you may feel less sure about how to find a good financial adviser.
When you are searching for a financial adviser, there are four main considerations:
- Who can I trust?
- Do they have the specialist knowledge required to address my needs?
- Are they ‘independent’?
- Can they deal with my needs quickly and easily?
Perhaps the first thing to look for is qualifications:
- The Personal Finance Society and the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) provide corporate Chartered Financial Planner status to firms that meet the standards required.
- A corporate Chartered title is a commitment to an overall standard of excellence and professionalism, and evidence of that commitment to customers and employees.
- Individual advisers can attain Chartered Financial Planner status.
- The Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI) offers a Level 7 qualification for Wealth Managers (Chartered Wealth Manager).
- These qualifications ensure that advisers have the knowledge required, that they are governed by a code of ethics and undertake annual CPD.
Do they provide specialist services to City Partners?
- Do they provide financial planning and investment management?
- Do they create portfolios that meet with firms’ compliance requirements?
- Do they provide unbiased and unrestricted advice?
- Are they available to meet in your offices?
- Do they cater for the whole family?
What Investment Strategy do they offer?
- Do they provide a clear and transparent investment strategy, based on your objectives and attitude to investment risk?
- Do they offer active portfolio management?
- Are the portfolios suitably diversified?
- Do they offer ESG portfolios?
- Do they provide investment insights and comment?
- Do they provide longer-term portfolio performance information?
Do they provide specialist retirement planning?
- Advising on pensions requires specialist qualifications.
- Providing for income in retirement requires a holistic approach to make it tax efficient.
- Do they provide projections of future income?
- Do they provide updates on pensions legislation?
Do they provide Inheritance Tax Planning?
- Advising on Trusts requires specialist qualifications.
- Do they provide information on taxes and tax planning opportunities?
Did they ask you any interesting questions that made you think differently about your situation?
- Were they able to impart any snippets of insight or knowledge?
- Did they answer your questions and address any concerns that you raised?
Are their costs transparent?
- Is it clear what it will cost to receive good advice?
Risk Warnings This document has been prepared based on our understanding of current UK law and HM Revenue and Customs practice as at 1 October 2023, both of which may be the subject of change in the future. The opinions expressed herein are those of Cantab Asset Management Ltd and should not be construed as investment advice. Cantab Asset Management Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. As with all equity-based and bond-based investments, the value and the income therefrom can fall as well as rise and you may not get back all the money that you invested. The value of overseas securities will be influenced by the exchange rate used to convert these to sterling. Investments in stocks and shares should therefore be viewed as a medium to long-term investment. Past performance is not a guide to the future. It is important to note that in selecting ESG investments, a screening out process has taken place which eliminates many investments potentially providing good financial returns. By reducing the universe of possible investments, the investment performance of ESG portfolios might be less than that potentially produced by selecting from the larger unscreened universe.