Tap into expertise and experience – Use an investment adviser
In all important undertakings, good planning is time well spent. Investment planning is no different, and the decision to use an investment adviser is likely, in retrospect, to have been the best decision of our financial life.
However, choosing the right type of investment adviser is also crucial, and will dictate the scope of the investment advice you receive. Only with the right type of investment planning can you create investment portfolios based on all the many options available in the market, with no limitations on the products at your disposal.
Why use an investment adviser?
The first question many savers and investors seek to answer is: “Why do I need an investment adviser when I can do my own research?”
In fact, recent research has indicated that an alarming number of people make the most important investment decisions of their life based on uninformed, homespun truths heard around the dinner table, from relatives and friends, at home.
Contact a Principle First investment adviser now with an online investment enquiry
The internet has brought a whole new range of risks and dangers to the task of finding dependable investment advice.
With regard to insurances on the internet, for example, the Association of British Insurers has warned of the dangers of making buying decisions, without the guidance of an investment adviser. In this age of quickfire online insurance quotations, gained through price comparison websites, insurance companies have little knowledge of the person applying for a quote, and can sometimes base premium prices on assumptions that later prove incorrect. This can undermine the validity of a later claim, for both life and critical illness insurance cover. The customer, meanwhile, may buy a policy without fully understanding what he or she is buying. In an industry where a correct application is essential, and the rules lie deep in the ’small print’, the ABI has emphasised that the importance of seeking good investment advice from a qualified investment adviser cannot be over-estimated.
The same is true for all aspects of investment planning - mortgages, funds investments, and pensions, the products that have their place in all good, balanced investment portfolios.
Are all investment advisers the same?
No. There are several types of investment advisers, and understanding the differences is a decisive element of your investment planning, as it will dictate the scope and quality of investment advice that you receive.
If you speak to an investment adviser in a bank or building society, they are known as tied advisers, because they are limited or ‘tied’ to their own company, and their investment advice and your investment planning can then feature only the products of that one provider.
There are also investment advisers who are separate from the high street lenders, but have agencies for several product providers – the so-called ‘multi-agent advisers’. Again, with their investment advice, your investment planning will be based only on the limited number of products and providers they represent.
The advantage of an independent investment adviser
Only an independent investment adviser is truly free to select from all the available product options on the market and build your investment planning around those products that are exactly right for you. This is known as the ‘whole of market’ approach, available only from those who have no ties, and is an invaluable aspect of independent investment advice.
When seeking a mortgage, for example, the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) has shown that an independent investment adviser will save you, on average, almost £1,000 per year on your mortgage*.
Furthermore, while independent investment advisers can build your investment portfolios with many thousands of products at their fingertips, AMI also indicated that the average tied adviser has a product range of only 20.
At Principle First we are independent investment advisers. Contact us with an investment enquiry online or call freephone 0800 678 5929 now.
*AMI report ‘The Value of Mortgage Advice’
