There can be many reasons for firing your financial adviser.
Here are 5 reasons to fire your financial adviser we believe should act as a good catalyst for changing to another firm or individual.
1 – They don’t communicate
How often do you hear from your financial adviser? A good adviser should be in touch on a regular basis, using a variety of methods including email, telephone and face-to-face contact.
If you don’t hear from your financial adviser on at least an annual basis (at a personal level, such as a scheduled phone call or a face-to-face meeting), this might indicate it is time for a change.
During the 2007/08 global financial crisis, we started working with a number of new clients who had fired their existing financial adviser because they no longer heard from them.
When equity markets started falling and there was a general sense of nervousness about financial matters, some financial advisers pulled the curtains shut and unplugged their telephones.
If you discover your financial adviser only wants to talk when the markets are rising, this might indicate they are uncomfortable having important conversations when you need their services the most.
Fire them and find a better adviser.
2 – They don’t take their professional development seriously
Since 31st December 2012, all financial advisers in the UK have needed to hold a professional financial planning qualification at QCF Level 4.
This was the new minimum requirement after years where the educational requirement for financial advisers was equivalent to a GCSE.
Of course the new minimum standard is only a minimum, and most investors will want their financial adviser to be qualified to a higher professional standard.
If your financial adviser just scraped through the new Diploma requirements, or has shown no intentions of progressing to more testing professional qualifications such as Chartered Financial Planner or Certified Financial Planner, it might be time to say goodbye and replace them with a more suitably qualified adviser.
3 – They don’t have a clear succession plan
The average age of a financial adviser in the UK is somewhere in the mid to late 50s.
Who is going to look after your financial affairs when they retire, either by choice or through poor health?
If you’ve not already asked your financial adviser about their succession plan, now is a good time to pose the question.
If your financial adviser does not have a clear succession plan, now might be a good time to replace them with a younger adviser or an adviser who has the next generation of financial advisers already in place within their firm.
And if your financial adviser has a succession plan which involves ‘selling’ you as a client to another firm, make a swift dash towards the exit before this takes place and find a new financial adviser who values your ongoing relationship.
4 – They are constantly trying to sell you products
If your financial adviser views you as a sales opportunity, it’s time to fire them and find another.
Financial advice has come a long way over the past decade, with Financial Planning and charging fees for advice, rather than receiving a commission for selling products, now standard practice.
Some financial advisers remain trapped in an old sales environment, where the replacement of commission with ‘adviser charging’ at the end of 2012 has done little to deter their product flogging ways.
If a new product gets mentioned each time you meet with your financial adviser, fire them and find a new adviser who understands that Financial Planning is about much more the product solutions.
5 – They make questionable investment recommendations
Was your financial adviser in the minority who sold unsuitable, high risk, unregulated investments to retail customers?
Some of those financial advisers who sold the likes of Arch cru, Keydata and other questionable investment schemes are still in business, having moved to new firms and dumping their previous liabilities on the industry compensation scheme, the FSCS.
If your financial adviser has made highly questionable investment recommendations in the past, fire them and replace them with a more competent adviser who is capable of carrying out due diligence and protecting you from dangerous investments.
These are five of the most common reasons we come across for people firing their financial adviser and finding a replacement.
What other reasons are there for firing your financial adviser? Use the comments section below to add your thoughts.
Photo credit