Which? has found huge variations in fees charged by independent financial advisers. What’s a fair rate for financial advice?

If you asked a financial adviser to make a £5,000 payment into a stakeholder pension for you (a low cost pension you can set up directly) you’d expect to pay for their time, but how much should you pay? £50? £30) or £2,500? Which? found all three prices quoted and wants financial advisers to be clearer about how much they charge. So why do fees vary and how do you know you’re being charged a fair rate?

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Many investment products pay financial advisers an ongoing commission, but you can get it rebated.

Reviewed 1st January 2012

Do you pay trail or renewal commission on your investment plans or pension? The answer is almost certainly ‘yes’, but you may not be aware of it. The rules around trail commission will be toughened up in 2013 when new regulations are introduced for financial advisers. But – under the current system – millions of us are paying ongoing commissions to financial advisers and may be getting little or nothing in return. But you can get some of your trail commission paid back.

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BBC’s Panorama programme exposed bad investment advice in some high street banks. What should the banks do?

Reviewed 1st January 2012
Recently BBC Panorama looked at the investment advice that our high street banks were giving out. The programme criticised advice offered by several of the high street banks as part of its undercover filming. One of the experts who took part in the programme is Louise Oliver (pictured), an independent financial adviser with Taylor Oliver, based in Chesterfield. She told me what she thinks the banks need to do differently.

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