Three filters for choosing a financial adviser

How do you choose a good financial adviser?

Writing for Money Marketing today, prize-winning financial journalist shares his three filters for giving people the best chance of getting good financial advice.

What are these three filters and how does Informed Choice measure up?

Independent-only

Paul’s first filter is to only ever use an independent financial adviser.

Here at Informed Choice, we are passionate about independent financial advice. It’s what is best for our clients as it means we act in your best interests, not those of a bank or product provider.

So that’s us comfortably through the first filter. Is your financial adviser an independent financial adviser?

Chartered or Certified

The second filter suggested by Paul Lewis in his article is to only ever use a financial adviser who is a Chartered Financial Planner or Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professional.

These are higher than mandatory standards of professional qualifications, which reflect a serious commitment to not only technical excellence but also high standards of continuing professional development.

You will be pleased (and hopefully not surprised) to learn that each of the Financial Planners at Informed Choice is qualified to this high standard.

Along with Nick, Mary, Andrew and Philip, I hold the Chartered Financial Planner status from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). As a business, we are a firm of Chartered Financial Planners, which is the corporate Chartered status.

Along with Shelley and Andrew, I’m a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professional; this is an internationally recognised professional designation with an emphasis on Financial Planning skills.

So that’s filter number two satisfied. Is your financial adviser a Chartered Financial Planner or Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professional? Or both?

Monetary fees

Paul’s third and final filter for the best chance of getting good financial advice is to pay in pounds, not a percentage of your money.

Our fee structure here at Informed Choice is based on a monetary fee for advice, not a percentage. We also charge a monetary amount (not a percentage) for the implementation of our recommendations.

Does your financial adviser charge a monetary amount for their services, or do they charge you a percentage of your money for upfront advice?

These are three important filters for smart consumers to apply when selecting a good financial adviser.

Of course there are plenty of other factors to consider, but applying these three filters will put you in a strong position to identify a good financial adviser who can deliver the best advice to help you achieve your financial goals.