250k to invest - where should I put it?

Please make sure she seeks advice were she may choose to pay for the advice rather than the advisor earning commission. And the Banks ?? Just look at the mess they have made of their own business. Why oh why would or should anybody think they will look after the customer money any better.
 
Hi Shilling glad we got to the bottom of that.
I have had that experience with lots of clients who previously trusted the bank despite lots of evidence similar to what you have provided i.e the bank tries to flog them one of their products irrespective of suitability or there being much better third party alternative. Good luck with your search
kind regards Vincent Digby
 
North Star said:
Hi Shilling glad we got to the bottom of that.
I have had that experience with lots of clients who previously trusted the bank despite lots of evidence similar to what you have provided i.e the bank tries to flog them one of their products irrespective of suitability or there being much better third party alternative. Good luck with your search
kind regards Vincent Digby
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Out of interest what percentage of a financial advisor's income comes from the financial providers and how much from individual's paying a fee for totally independent advise?

I would guess it is heavily skewed to the former.

So called independent financial advisors are not that independent when they get a huge return for selling high fee products from providers that apparently to the client they have no links to. I bet a lot of clients would be shocked if they learnt about the full fees that are earned by FAs, long after the so called independent product is sold.

This is my problem with financial advisors (whether independent or working for a bank) that they have far too many vested interests in what they can earn from the financial providers. Its a huge scam.

I also have a problem with financial advisors thinking they are being conservative by selling you yesterday's investments. i.e. the things that have risen greatly already. They seem to love past performance as it can cover their ass should the asset tank down (which is often the case for things that have risen greatly in the past).

My pension advisor in 2006 said too be in 80% commercial property at 27yo. He never once mentioned the extremely low yields applicable at the time which mean't that commercial property was hugely overvalued and about to crash. I am glad I didn't take that advise.

How many financial advisors would recommend 10% in gold at the moment? Very few no doubt. Or a decent allocation to the future growth markets of Asia & Brazil? Few again no doubt. Stick to the 60/40 equity/bond split and you should be ok...hmmm...

The best financial advisor is yourself. The professionals rarely know much more than a well read individual who reads from a number of independent and contrarian sources.
 
shilling said:
A relative has 250k to invest. She is a retired pensioner and has received professional advice in relation to investing the funds as follows:

Option 1 - Invest in an Evergreen Fund (no return guaranteed) with BOI or bank the money on deposit.
Option 2 - to invest some of the value in an Energy Fund and some in a Hydro Fund and place the remainder on deposit.

Any further advice/suggestion appreciated
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I believe North Star (Vincent Digby) is an independent financial advisor. I have met Vincent and I think you would be in good hands with him, perhaps you should email him separately.

Rory
 
Ringledman- there are two sides to that story. As an Authorised Adviser I run a fee based advice service. The initial research/fact find/ market review is always fee based. When it come to transactions I offer clients the option of a) fee based proposal or b) transparent commission related terms.
I would prefer to have a fee only based model but clients seem to dislike direct payment for products even when its in their best interests. I have to offer the client the choice, because thats what the clients want.
If people across the country demanded a fee based service I would be delighted but what people say and what they actually do is sometimes different.

As to expertise or lack therof: I can only state my own credentials of 20 years fromt line Capital Markets experience. There are other well qualified experienced advisers out there who will work in the clients best interests and whose quality I can vouch for.
Unfortunately there is no real mechanism to help individuals find these advisers. The AA, MAI or tied agent means little to the general populace.
As far as I know there is no listing for fee only financial advisers. Please correct me if I am mistaken. Perhaps AAM may have a potential role here?
For anyone reading this is there a demand to have a list of fee based Authorised Advisers available on AAM?
If there is perhaps we can raise it with Brendan or other moderators.
Regards Vincent Digby
 
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