We provide a public service through the Registry of Fee-Only Advisers™ and we seek to help four groups: -
the public to organise their affairs better;
IFAs and product developers by providing a professional and impartial view of the effectiveness of their product designs;
the media by providing them with an alternative and non-aligned view of solutions for common financial problems;
and fee-only advisers in improving public awareness of their services.
Why use a fee-only adviser
Another use of ´financial scenarios´
What to do about Protected Rights
Use Impaired Life Annuities if you can
Since the Department of Trade and Industry wrote a report on 'Consumer Detriment in Uncompetitive Markets' in 1991 there has been a general awareness that financial services are not subject to enough competitive pressure. Fee-Only firms provide that pressure, and should do more to express their view. We believe that a healthy financial service market will operate best by including both commission-remunerated broker-advisers ('IFAs') and fee-only advisers. The latter group's public service is to vet and comment impartially, thus providing the competitive pressure that is lacking, and the former group to promote products that are good value to members of the public who want a 'packaged' solution. We believe that this will result in benefit to the public, to IFAs, and to Fee-Only advisers.
We believe that it is more than acceptable that IFAs and Fee-Only advisers should refer clients to each other, where they feel that the client would be better served. Experience from the USA indicates the existence of a market for fee-only advice at 10% of households earning more than the national average. But the impact of the Fee-Only groupings has been to promote awareness of no-load financial products which the public can buy directly, demonstrating that their reach is further than the households they service directly.
Fee-Only advisers are always seeking improved analyses. In the recent ten years, there has been significant work undertaken in monte carlo financial modelling, money profiling and a continuous working of optimal portfolio design in the face of lowering growth rates, the effect of future government budget deficits, terrorism on standard deviations assumptions for asset allocation, and disaster analysis for environmental breakdowns. The impact of this work is to affect the general view of whether particular products are still 'good' to be sold - and this view will not be provided by Government organisations; IFAs or their trade bodies; or the marketing departments of financial institutions. As our American colleagues say, fee-only advisers should 'step up to the plate' because nobody else will.
Media and press members who would like a comment or briefing should contact Rob Warren on +44 870 922 0421 in the first instance, for an introduction to a suitable fee-only adviser in practice.
The non-aligned line on everything to do with money.
Applications to use the fee-only approved logo can be made by emailing our office.