If you require financial planning advice, you will doubtless be confused by the myriad of advisory services on offer. On top of this, just how well qualified is the adviser you are likely to be presented with?
In this article we shall look in depth at the qualifications advisers can hold and will also benchmark them against the Ofqual’s National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) levels giving you an idea of how they compare with these standards.
Trusting an adviser is essential if you are to have a successful ongoing working relationship with one. Whilst there are many other facets that make up an adviser's overall abilities, knowing that they are sufficiently qualified to deal with your situation will enable you to start building that trust from the word go.
TYPES OF ADVISERS
In terms of the types of advice that can be provided, there are three main categories.
Independent financial advisers (IFAs) are able to offer advice by researching the whole market and recommending the most suitable products or services from it. IFAs act on your behalf. They are required to offer you the option of paying them a fee instead of being remunerated by commission payments from product providers.
Tied advisers can only advise on the products and services of a single provider or marketing group.
Finally there are multi tied advisers that are allowed to recommend the products of a limited selection of providers.
Advisers from all three categories are subject to regulation by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Amongst other requirements, the FSA states that all advisers must achieve a benchmark "appropriate" qualification if they are to be signed off as competent. We will now discuss what the current minimum requirements are and also consider what options are available for advisers to progress.
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