Welcome to the world of Financial Advisers who are, in the current economic times, suffering from image loss. There are so many sad stories about unscrupulous IFA’s that seem hell bent on getting themselves rich rather than their clients. However, I believe this to be a case of the bad eggs getting more press than the good ones. There are hundreds of FA’s out there that have your best interests at heart and it’s rather unfair to have them all tarred with the same brush.

Rules and regulations exist in law for the control of Financial Advisers and how they give their recommendations and how they go about their business. The idea is to find the right one. A friend or relative is NOT the way to go either. Also, remember, that ‘advice’ is just that, ‘advice’. You still have to practise due diligence yourself to make sure that you are comfortable with the advice that is given to you.

Customer Service means maintaining a close association with the client by the company. I would expect my adviser to be calling me if there are changing trends happening globally that may affect my investments. I don’t mind them calling me for a game of golf either. But seriously, businesses tend to get too focused on internal matters rather than spending some quality time with long-standing and new clients. Hey, it’s our money. We need reassurance that it’s all going along nicely. I don’t want to read in the newspapers that my money has gone down the gurgler due to some inattention by my Financial Advisers.

Here’re a few recommendations we can give you, based on the feedback we have had from our readers and our own look at their websites.

http://www.petrusfinancial.co.uk/ has a smooth website and a reasonable operating record. No skeletons in the cupboard with past performance. They offer their services to individuals, families and trusts.

http://www.eldonfinancial.co.uk/ tells you just how much their services cost. Nothing in this world is free, and financial advice falls into the ‘cost’ bracket. I do remember my father telling me his advice was free, though J.

http://www.fishfin.co.uk/ adds a bit of comedy to its website, and that’s good. We all like a laugh, except when we lose squillions of pounds I guess! They have some positive client feedback and a website that is easy to navigate and looks kind of cool.

http://wingatefp.com/ has a super website, easy to navigate and with lots of info.  They have included some interesting blogs and they even went to the nth degree by relating some stories about the not-so-good dealings of some suspect Financial Advisers. Self-deprecation is sort of cathartic, isn’t it?

http://www.thebeaufortgroup.co.uk/ was hard to fault in the website design. They had lots of smart and nice things to say as well. The navigation bar on the left was great ad they have a newsletter called ‘Windy’ that the staff write themselves.

Hopefully, these recommended websites can help you make an informed decision on where to go for Financial Advice. Ultimately, though, the final decision rests with you and how comfortable you feel with a company and the individual with whom you are dealing.