There are many areas where a professional Independent Financial Adviser can help and add value for a client. We have set out a few below.
Good Listener
It is essential that an adviser understands your concerns and what your objectives are, those being short, medium and long term.
Without knowing you and what is important to you, it is not possible for an adviser to make suitable recommendations. As a result, the adviser will ask you a lot of questions. These will include questions about your income, expenses, assets, liabilities and objectives.
This approach will be repeated during regular client review meetings, as naturally, over time, things do change.
Help plan for your future
It can be challenging for financial advisers to plan for their clients future unless they have an idea about where they want to be in the future and how they will get there.
Therefore, a financial adviser will make you think about what the future might look like and consider your lifestyle and how much income you will need to fund that lifestyle.
The next stage is discovering and understanding your starting position and what you will need to save on a regular basis in order to get there.
Access a wide range of products or services.
Anyone can arrange a pension plan, savings vehicle or invest in funds or stocks and shares.
However, the advantage of an Independent Financial Adviser is that they have access to the entire marketplace. The adviser can discuss and demonstrate a very significant range of products and services that you may not consider.
The added value that the adviser can then achieve is to fine-tune the options available to best suit your needs and objectives.
Tailor a service to suit you
A financial adviser understands that everybody’s circumstances are different, and some clients will want to meet with their adviser more frequently than others. As an example, if you are approaching retirement, then more regular reviews may be required.
A review is an excellent way for both the adviser and the client to check the progress towards reaching your goals.
This is where further fine-tuning can take place in order to reflect on any changes in your objectives.
Make sure you are using relevant tax allowances.
There are many different types of tax and indeed tax breaks, which makes for a very confusing landscape.
A financial adviser will ensure you use your relevant tax allowances effectively so that you do not pay any unnecessary tax.
It should be remembered that tax planning isn’t just for the tax year-end, but is in fact an ongoing exercise.
They will ensure your investment in line with your current attitude towards risk
Everybody is different, with their attitude and approach towards risk can change as their circumstances change.
An example of this is that you may be willing to take more risks when you are younger, but you may wish to reduce your risk exposure as you get older.
A good adviser will discuss the risk with you and will then make recommendations that align with your current attitude towards investment risk and capacity for loss. This is a fundamental part of their advice work on your behalf.
This is an ongoing process and will be discussed again during reviews or other times if circumstances dictate. Where appropriate, the adviser may recommend that your invested capital is switched to a more suitable investment approach.
Discuss your thoughts and preferences around investment approaches
As part of the financial adviser’s recommendation process, they will discuss various investment approaches.
Such discussions will include over-arching approaches such as ‘ethical investing’ and Environmental, Social and Governance investing – ESG for short.
From this point, the adviser will then discuss and demonstrate various investment styles to ensure that you appreciate how your capital is to be invested. While also ensuring that it aligns with your preferences.
If you are looking for a financial adviser that meets all these requirements drop Andrew Bramley a message here.
