Moving advisor keeping platform

[cliffords]

I'm trying to do a bit of early research on this. I am a year or so into my personal pension with elevate however I am not finding my advisor very responsive. I like the elevate platform and the chosen Investments ,however I am thinking of changing to a different advisor. Has anyone had experience of doing this ? Googling all of the elevate FAQs doesn't appear to help much with this early research

[Edinburger]

cliffords said:

I'm trying to do a bit of early research on this. I am a year or so into my personal pension with elevate however I am not finding my advisor very responsive. I like the elevate platform and the chosen Investments ,however I am thinking of changing to a different advisor. Has anyone had experience of doing this ? Googling all of the elevate FAQs doesn't appear to help much with this early research

It's very easy to change your adviser.

Elevate will need a letter of authority (from you) to change the adviser on your account from the current one to whoever you choose. They make the change and your new adviser cna logon and view your assets, and he may recommend changes.

[PositronicRay]

cliffords said:

I'm trying to do a bit of early research on this. I am a year or so into my personal pension with elevate however I am not finding my advisor very responsive. I like the elevate platform and the chosen Investments ,however I am thinking of changing to a different advisor. Has anyone had experience of doing this ? Googling all of the elevate FAQs doesn't appear to help much with this early research

I found myself with succession on the elevate platform. All the funds were invested with Vanguard so I just transfered to Vanguard directly.

The Vanguard platform is just as good, cheaper and more flexible in terms of investing, withdrawals and swapping funds.

[Edinburger]

PositronicRay said:

cliffords said:

I'm trying to do a bit of early research on this. I am a year or so into my personal pension with elevate however I am not finding my advisor very responsive. I like the elevate platform and the chosen Investments ,however I am thinking of changing to a different advisor. Has anyone had experience of doing this ? Googling all of the elevate FAQs doesn't appear to help much with this early research

I found myself with succession on the elevate platform. All the funds were invested with Vanguard so I just transfered to Vanguard directly.

The Vanguard platform is just as good, cheaper and more flexible in terms of investing, withdrawals and swapping funds.

Vanguard have a good platform - if you like Vanguard funds and don't mind the lack of an app. It's well priced as are their funds.

[d50cyx]

Worth considering that Elevate likely won’t be around in a year or so, they should be migrated onto abrdn. Vanguard (and others) will be around for a while yet, and I believe they do now have an advised proposition?

[cliffords]

d50cyx said:

Worth considering that Elevate likely won’t be around in a year or so, they should be migrated onto abrdn. Vanguard (and others) will be around for a while yet, and I believe they do now have an advised proposition?

I may be calling it the wrong name it's already called abrdn elevate .
So I don't necessarily need an advisor who already use this platform then by the sounds of it.

In terms of the Vanguard content about half of it by the looks of things .

Thanks

[Simpo Two]

d50cyx said:

Vanguard (and others) will be around for a while yet, and I believe they do now have an advised proposition?

They recently withdrew it.

[cliffords]

I have done some more investigation. I have decided for sure to change my IFA. I have had a couple of discussions with two potential replacements both familiar with my platform. I would prefer to keep .
Does anyone have an IFA that is proactive. Do they all just prefer to meet once a year tell you what you want to hear and take the fees . I am talking to two IFA's right now that are giving me all the sell but do they really do regular contact, options and advice. Regular reviews?

In time I may take a different approach but right now I would prefer a real IFA. Do they exist .

[steve_n]

Understand the following, which is rarely well explained.

- Part of an adviser's role is to select suitable investments that include the right level/type of investment management based on your criteria/preferred level of involvement
- Advisers are not investment managers
- Ongoing advice is about financial planning not stock picking
- Once a year is sufficient for the aforementioned, unless something crops up that needs attention sooner
- Advisers will not be second guessing the market and telling you to switch into cash and back again because they can see what's coming

A good adviser will set such expectations.

[Enut]

cliffords said:

I have done some more investigation. I have decided for sure to change my IFA. I have had a couple of discussions with two potential replacements both familiar with my platform. I would prefer to keep .
Does anyone have an IFA that is proactive. Do they all just prefer to meet once a year tell you what you want to hear and take the fees . I am talking to two IFA's right now that are giving me all the sell but do they really do regular contact, options and advice. Regular reviews?

In time I may take a different approach but right now I would prefer a real IFA. Do they exist .

IFAs will normally provide a standard level of service as detailed in their ongoing servicing agreement, this is what the FCA prefers. Usually that involves a regular review meeting, which is normally annual, although that certainly isn't just to tell clients what they 'want to hear'. And yes they charge a fee for that service. If you want review meetings more often then some IFAs will have a service level to deal with that, or be able to provide a bespoke client agreement to cater for your exact requirements.
Some may do regular newsletters etc.
What exactly do you mean by regular contact, options and advice? What, exactly, do you mean by a 'real IFA'?

[Enut]

steve_n said:

Understand the following, which is rarely well explained.

- Part of an adviser's role is to select suitable investments that include the right level/type of investment management based on your criteria/preferred level of involvement
- Advisers are not investment managers
- Ongoing advice is about financial planning not stock picking
- Once a year is sufficient for the aforementioned, unless something crops up that needs attention sooner
- Advisers will not be second guessing the market and telling you to switch into cash and back again because they can see what's coming

A good adviser will set such expectations.

Yup, agree with all that.

[DoubleSix]

steve_n said:

Understand the following, which is rarely well explained.

- Part of an adviser's role is to select suitable investments that include the right level/type of investment management based on your criteria/preferred level of involvement
- Advisers are not investment managers
- Ongoing advice is about financial planning not stock picking
- Once a year is sufficient for the aforementioned, unless something crops up that needs attention sooner
- Advisers will not be second guessing the market and telling you to switch into cash and back again because they can see what's coming

A good adviser will set such expectations.

Amen.

Sounds like OP simply doesn’t understand the role of an IFA.

[steve_n]

Hardly the OP's fault as advisers don't explain it properly themselves.

[cliffords]

Seems some of you are getting a bit tetchy .I understand the role of the IFA , I am able to understand the service as set out in the engagement letter.I am not receiving the service described in the terms and conditions. I have discussed with my advisor, I have given suitable opportunity for remedy. It has not been forthcoming. I will change my advisor. I was purely seeking views as to my experienced lack of proactively and was it common place . I am satisfied with the resilience and performance of the chosen funds and that of the platform provider.
Are those of you getting tetchy advisors being defensive or clients who have experienced less than optimal service ?

[steve_n]

Neither, just setting expectations. You seemed to be expecting an adviser to spend more time on you when in reality they won't and cannot viably do so.

[DoubleSix]

cliffords said:

Seems some of you are getting a bit tetchy .I understand the role of the IFA , I am able to understand the service as set out in the engagement letter.I am not receiving the service described in the terms and conditions. I have discussed with my advisor, I have given suitable opportunity for remedy. It has not been forthcoming. I will change my advisor. I was purely seeking views as to my experienced lack of proactively and was it common place . I am satisfied with the resilience and performance of the chosen funds and that of the platform provider.
Are those of you getting tetchy advisors being defensive or clients who have experienced less than optimal service ?

You still haven’t set out what it is you want that you are not receiving from your adviser (or advisor as you put it…).

[cliffords]

DoubleSix said:

cliffords said:

Seems some of you are getting a bit tetchy .I understand the role of the IFA , I am able to understand the service as set out in the engagement letter.I am not receiving the service described in the terms and conditions. I have discussed with my advisor, I have given suitable opportunity for remedy. It has not been forthcoming. I will change my advisor. I was purely seeking views as to my experienced lack of proactively and was it common place . I am satisfied with the resilience and performance of the chosen funds and that of the platform provider.
Are those of you getting tetchy advisors being defensive or clients who have experienced less than optimal service ?

You still haven’t set out what it is you want that you are not receiving from your adviser (or advisor as you put it…).

It's ok I have to my current IFA and the potential ones. Thanks for your useful input .

[DoubleSix]

Lucky them!

[steve_n]

Indeed.

[Simpo Two]

I've never known a pro-active advisor. It's not how they work. They take a brief, make a plan, get the money invested and take the fee. If the OP is happy with the funds and the platform he may as well not have one, and keep the fee invested.

I had one who proudly claimed that he 'monitored' everything daily, but as we went through the tech bubble and crash of 99-00 with him just 'monitoring' and doing nothing, I wondered why he bothered. He didn't even call and say 'Your fund has doubled, at least take your CG allowance'. And they have no incentive to do so. They want you to invest, not sell - and their fee is safe while you take the risk.