A financial advisor is a professional who helps people navigate various financial issues. The advisors can help their clients find investments, prepare for retirement, plan their estates, buy insurance, and make good financial decisions. In the UK, the financial advisors are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is the main regulator in the finance industry. In this article, we will look at the process you need to follow to find a good financial advisor online in the UK.
Contents
Qualifications of a Financial Advisor
The Financial Conduct Authority has put in place rules and regulations that all financial advisors must have. You can find these rules and regulations here. In general, a financial advisor needs to be a person who is well-educated. In this regard, they must meet the fit and proper test, which is administered by the FCA. You can read more about this test here. In addition, the financial advisor needs to read the information contained in the FCA handbook, which can be found here.
There are many types of financial advisors who have different qualifications. For example, a legal financial advisor should have a background in law while an insurance advisor should have a background in the insurance industry. Most importantly, according to the FCA, financial advisors need to have professional courses. For example, accountants can do courses by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) while insurance professionals can do courses by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). In addition to this, there are fees that you need to pay to the FCA. These fees can be found here.
Why is the financial advisory business regulated? The answer is simple. Without regulations, unqualified advisors would give wrong advice to their clients. Also, most advisors would have a lot of conflict of interest. For example, investment advisors have been known to advice customers to invest in their clients’ businesses.
Where Financial Advisors Work
Financial advisors work in various places. There are financial advisors who work in banks. These people help their customers open bank accounts and when they are taking loans. Most of these advisors don’t have to meet the qualifications mentioned above. Instead, they use their organization’s certifications to offer the advisory services. There are financial advisors who work in insurance companies, investment organizations, law firms, and in their boutique firms. Some of the best-known financial advisors in the UK are Grant Thornton, Close Brothers Asset Management, Mazars Financial Planning, and Charles Stanley among others. You can find the top 100 financial advisors in the UK here.
Financial Advisor Cost UK
Financial advisor fees in the UK vary from advisor to advisor. Financial advisor cost can be hourly, monthly, yearly, ongoing fee, etc. Most financial advisors don’t charge for the first meeting. The average hourly financial advisor cost in the UK is about £150 an hour. Monthly or yearly fee can be a percentage of the money you are investing.
How to Find a UK Financial Advisor Online
The internet has changed how people do things today. It has also changed how people find financial advice and how they access financial services. Today, it is possible to find quality financial advice in the United Kingdom by just using the internet. The most basic method is to use the freely-available websites that guide people on finance. There are many private companies and organizations that offer this type of advice. Here are the ten best online platforms where you can free find financial advise in the UK:
- Money Saving Expert
- The Pensions Advisory Service
- Which?
- AgeUK
- Christians Against Poverty
- Debt Advice Foundation
- Business Debtline
- TaxAid
- TaxHelp for Older People
- Debt Advice Foundation
Another option for you to find a financial advisor online is to use a website called Unbiased. Unbiased is a financial services website that helps people find a financial advisor online in the UK.
How to Use Unbiased to Find a Financial Advisor
The first step of finding a financial advisor online using Unbiased is to visit the website. After this, you should select the type of advisor that you want. The options that are available are a financial advisor, mortgage advisor, an accountant, and a bookkeeper. After this, you will need to enter your location. Next, you should select whether you want the company to match you or whether you want to see a list and select an advisor for you. If you select the former, you will need to answer various questions. After you answer these questions, the company will match you with a qualified financial advisor in the UK. If you opt to be shown a list, the results will be shown to you. You can narrow down the results depending on the type of advice that you want.
Top Questions to Ask When Finding a Financial Advisor Online
Finding a good financial advisor is a challenging thing. It is more important if you are finding someone online. Therefore, according to the Financial Times, there are several questions you need to ask the advisor whether you are finding them online or in person. These questions are:
- What are the fees? You simply want to know their fees before you get started.
- How is the service delivered? Is it a face to face advise, telephone, or through the internet?
- What are your qualifications? Is the advisor or the company accredited by the Financial Conduct Authority?
- What is your experience? In short, how long has your company done this?
- What is your area of specialty? In short, are you an expert in the problem I am solving?
Summary
London is the financial capital of the world. As a result, the need for financial advice is always rising. In this article, we have looked at the work financial advisors do, their qualifications, how to find a financial advisor online, and the main questions to ask when hiring a financial advisor in the UK.
