Areas of Expertise
Some advisers focus on particular product areas, so you might want to look for one who is suitably qualified to advise you for your specific needs. All financial advisers are required by the FSA to hold the Financial Planning Certificate or the Certificate in Financial Planning before they are allowed to provide financial advice. Advisers with these benchmark qualifications are also obliged to keep up with relevant financial developments throughout their career, and in addition many opt to take advanced qualifications.
Qualifications
You can select a Financial Adviser based on their advanced qualifications across a range of products or across a particular product area. There is a wealth of advanced or incremental qualifications that advisers can achieve, some covering broad financial knowledge and some focusing on particular product areas, which may be of relevance to your needs. Information on a Financial Adviser’s qualifications is available on www.unbiased.co.uk which will help you with the selection process. This is a website run by Financial Adviser Promotion, an organisation that promotes the benefits of truly independent financial advice and holds details of around 9,000 Financial Adviser firms throughout the UK on its database. You can also find out what qualifications an adviser holds.
Finding a Financial Adviser
If you don’t already have a Financial Adviser, Partnership has a sister company Annuity Direct. They specialises in providing advice on annuities and retirement income. Annuity Direct can select the most appropriate product for you from the whole market (therefore they will recommend a product from a company other than Partnership if this is likely to be more suitable for you). Visit Annuity Direct’s website, or call them on freephone number 0500 50-65-75.
Alternatively, you can search online at www.unbiased.co.uk or call the freephone Hotline on 0800 085 3250, which will provide you with a list of Financial Advisers who most closely match your location and specific requirements.