Financial Advice

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darylblake

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#207804 14-Jan-2017 13:06

So I am seeking recommendations for financial advisers. It's not actually for me, but it is for some family members. I really think they need to talk to someone and I believe they are quite willing to do so. I don't want to give the advice, but I believe some of the options they are looking at are not that Good. Any suggestions as to who I can get them to talk to?

eracode

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#1703172 14-Jan-2017 13:40

The answer may depend on what type of advice they need - investment, mortgage, budgeting....?

Assuming it's investment advice, they could do worse than start by talking to their bank. All the major banks have qualified investment advisors and suitable products and services (depending on your rellies' requirements).

However if they have recently won Lotto, a more up-scale adviser might be appropriate.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

ANglEAUT

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#1703215 14-Jan-2017 15:12

It alsohelp to know which area you are talking about Not everybody has a national presence.

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

dejadeadnz

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#1703251 14-Jan-2017 17:41

eracode:

Assuming it's investment advice, they could do worse than start by talking to their bank. All the major banks have qualified investment advisors and suitable products and services (depending on your rellies' requirements).

Sorry but people can do a lot better than talking to a bank's investment advisors. This is because they will inevitably recommend their bank's own products. This is coming from someone worked for or with a big five bank for quite a period and generally thinking that it was a responsible entity.

None of the above is to say that the advice will necessarily be bad but if someone would like to have truly unbiased advice, they'd be far better off going to a financial advisor who charges for his/her time and clearly guarantees that they accept no incentives to recommend any products. Heck, there are some advisors who only provide advice and do not get involved in structuring clients' investments. Have a look on this page on Mary Holm's website for further details. Quite a lot of companies also pay for initial financial advice sessions for their employees -- I know, for example, that Vector and a couple of the electricity retailers do this. People should check to see if this option is available to them.

dafman

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#1703264 14-Jan-2017 18:58

There are some very good financial advisers, and then there are the rogues.

My thoughts.

Never, ever ... ever ...

1. invest all your money into a single investment. Any adviser that recommends this is incompetent or a rogue.

2. Give money to an investment adviser to manage on your behalf. Ensure that all your investments are being invested directly in your name with the investment entity.

3. invest in a financial company that you have never heard of, no matter how much the adviser talks them up. If still tempted, get second independent advice before doing so.

And in relation to the three points above, Google 'Ross Asset Management New Zealand'

dejadeadnz

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#1703265 14-Jan-2017 19:05

dafman:

Never, ever ... ever ...

2. Give money to an investment adviser to manage on your behalf. Ensure that all your investments are being invested directly in your name with the investment entity.

Almost all reputable financial advisors will hold clients' funds in the interim period before these are invested in the client's name in a recognised trust fund and their conduct with client monies will be subject to the supervision of a reputable independent trustee also.

eracode

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#1703371 15-Jan-2017 09:23

dejadeadnz:

eracode:

Assuming it's investment advice, they could do worse than start by talking to their bank. All the major banks have qualified investment advisors and suitable products and services (depending on your rellies' requirements).

Sorry but people can do a lot better than talking to a bank's investment advisors. This is because they will inevitably recommend their bank's own products. This is coming from someone worked for or with a big five bank for quite a period and generally thinking that it was a responsible entity.

None of the above is to say that the advice will necessarily be bad but if someone would like to have truly unbiased advice, they'd be far better off going to a financial advisor who charges for his/her time and clearly guarantees that they accept no incentives to recommend any products. Heck, there are some advisors who only provide advice and do not get involved in structuring clients' investments. Have a look on this page on Mary Holm's website for further details. Quite a lot of companies also pay for initial financial advice sessions for their employees -- I know, for example, that Vector and a couple of the electricity retailers do this. People should check to see if this option is available to them.

I said that they could do worse than talking to their bank - as a starting point - not that the bank was necessarily the best place to deal with. We don't know anything about the OP's rellies' circumstances or requirements and need to know more before we can talk about the best organization (or best type of organization) for them to talk to. For example, some adviser firms will only talk to people who have, say, $500,000 or more to invest.

Any Authorised Financial Adviser working for a bank is required by law to provide the client with the best-fit-for-purpose investment products based on an assessment of the client's goals, objectives, circumstances and so on. This requires research into financial products and they certainly can't just be a conduit for selling the bank's own products. That might have been the case in the past but not since the advent of The Financial Advisers Act 2008.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

darylblake

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#1703943 16-Jan-2017 09:30

Sorry I should have been a bit more specific. We are Auckland based.

These people are in late 50's early 60's and only have a small number of working years left. So yes, its for retirement strategies.

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eracode

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#1703967 16-Jan-2017 10:19

Do they have a lump sum to invest now - or more like starting from scratch? Or existing investments?

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

ubergeeknz

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#1703972 16-Jan-2017 10:28

Might be worth checking out Sureplan Financial. We signed up with them and they've put together a very good plan for us which we are working through towards investing for our retirement. Very professional crowd and certainly seem to have their clients best interests at heart.

dafman

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#1704096 16-Jan-2017 13:33

dejadeadnz:

dafman:

Never, ever ... ever ...

2. Give money to an investment adviser to manage on your behalf. Ensure that all your investments are being invested directly in your name with the investment entity.

Almost all reputable financial advisors will hold clients' funds in the interim period before these are invested in the client's name in a recognised trust fund and their conduct with client monies will be subject to the supervision of a reputable independent trustee also.

I should have been more specific- yes, recognised trust funds as an interim holding pre the investment being made.

And, yes, trust accounts should be subject to supervision via a trustee.

It's important to ask these questions and seek independent confirmation that they have appropriate arrangements in place - particularly if you are dealing with a small advisor firm that is not part of a recognised national brand.

ObidiahSlope

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#1704146 16-Jan-2017 14:54

For those of you who want to take a do it yourself approach to investing I recommend this book;

A Random Walk Down Wall Street.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Random_Walk_Down_Wall_Street

Obsequious hypocrite