Streetlife

Hi Mayec,

We are a group of chartered financial advisers based in Balham and we would be more than happy to help. We take a holistic, tailored approach to your financial planning and our goal is to educate as well as give good advice. Please feel free to give us a call on 020 8673 0220 or send me an email at ctaylor@aqua-solutions.co.uk.

Many thanks,

Chris

We've done everything with Chadney Bulgin (www.chadneybulgin.co.uk) who are fantastic. They're based in Hamsphire but cover London too (obviously). Very comprehensive service, and very nice people.

Mayec,

I too am a financial planner/adviser based in Earlsfield. I run my practice through St. James's Place, who were voted Wealth Manager of the Year in 2010 by readers of the Telegraph for the third time. I would be delighted to have a conversation and talk through your aims and options. This would not commit you to anything. Have a look at http://www.bobclitherow.co.uk and give me a ring or drop me an e-mail.

Rgds,

Bob

I got my mortgage for aqua in Balham - they were really friendly and efficient. Hope that helps. Good luck!

Rosie and I used Bob - to sort out our wills, my pensions and investment planning All good - I recommend Bob without reservation

Dear Mayec The best financial adviser (FA) you will ever have is yourself. As far as I can see, FAs make their money by commission through the various investment vehicles they recommend for you. This does not mean that FAs will try to get you into the vehicle that provides them with the best commission, just that they're unlikely to suggest investments that do not pay them (FAs). You can approach many fund houses directly and negotiate a better price than through a FA. You can invest overseas in vehicles that FAs in the UK have no incentive to suggest. I have invested in Singapore and Australia directly in those stockmarkets through overseas brokers after doing my own research. Gold has been a wonderful investment over the last ten years. Not only has no FA I know of ever suggested gold over the last ten years but they have all told me why gold is a bad idea. I'm glad I bought gold 8 years ago. No one will look after your money like yourself. I'm sure the FAs replying on this page are honourable men, it's just that I think their options are limited. Mayec, learn to earn. Educate yourself and you will do much better than giving over your money to another. Once you have made some decisions, you may want to consider using Hargreaves Lansdowne for unit trusts, ISAs, SIPS, etc, and the ShareCentre if you are simply buying UK stocks. With the Internet, it is quite easy to invest overseas, so don't feel that what is on offer in the UK is your only option. Hope this helps.

Bless you, Roger! Thank you! Hari, while I totally agree with much of what you say, I am not sure you are entirely right on other bits. The major issue here is risk and Mayec's willingness and ability to lose some or all of his money. Investing can easily get to a point where you might just as well be putting money on the 2:30 at Haydock. Understanding these risks is essential for the investor, so Hari is right when he says the best adviser you have is yourself. Education and information is key. Apart from what I do for clients, I invest on my own account. I would be happy to to talk through the experience (good and bad!). Bob

Thanks to everyone for their advice. Accounts of first hand experiences, like Hari's, (or like Bob's, if you would like to tell us more about it, I would be very grateful), are extremely useful and informative.

Hari, funnily enough, when I read your message, I was already cosindering doing it all myself. This switch was caused by a negative first contact with a bank's so-called "financial adviser" (who was rather a sales-person, whose "advise" I immediately realized was far from thorough or helpful), but more so because after looking at examples of independent advisor's fees, I realized that the sum already offset my investment more than my own informed beginner's mistakes are likely to.

I have been doing some research and reading, and already feel much more confident about what to do as first steps, and how to keep growing and learning. It doesn't mean that I completely downplay the services of an adviser, as I can see their usefulness when dealing with large sums and complicated financial situations or portfolios. That is why, for the future, I will keep in mind the adviser's that have replied or been recommended. But I feel that my present situation is simple enough, and my finances are in a healthy stable shape, that an advisor would be overkill.

Dear Mayec, Really happy to read that you are taking charge of your own investing. All investing systems are set up so someone has to lose, i.e. if you make a profit it is because you sold to someone at a higher price than you paid, and somewhere along the line, someone cannot do this. Brokers (because they make you 'broker'?) take a cut, managers take a fee whether they do well or not, banks make big profits on interest differentials, etc. so it is a less-than-zero sum game. And to top it all, governments, through willful financial mismanagement, force you to risk your money in investing since they will not / cannot curb inflation, so money in the bank is declining all the time. Even so-called 'complicated' things such as property conveyancing and probate I have carried out myself or avoided by careful preparation. Best of luck and good investing!