I have conceded that it is time to come out. Yes I am a restricted adviser. I am a restricted adviser, and proud.
Although I have enjoyed the title IFA for more than 15 years the time has arrived, due to a number of factors, to give in and accept that as a sole trader I cannot meet the requirements to be an IFA, as I understand them to be set out by the FCA.
Another catalyst was coming out of a meeting at 10.30pm after listening to a rather boring chap talk about the merits of ETFs. I am not looking for a discussion on the merits or demerits of ETFs, but they simply do not fit with my client bank, and I do not think I would ever find myself investing in the area.
How does it benefit either me or my clients to be sitting in meetings, when I could be doing far more detailed reports and be in a fresher state of mind when I visit them?
Another piece in the jigsaw puzzle that led me to me my decision was the new pension freedoms and the required qualifications. I currently do not have the enhanced qualifications, along with many others out there, needed in order to transact all types of pension transfers. So while I am going through the exam process to gain them, can I call myself IFA? Again, every adviser will have a different answer and all will be right.
So am a second class citizen? Well, I do not feel like one where costs are concerned. My FCA fees still increased by 50 per cent this year, my professional indemnity insurance costs have not reduced, the Fos still decided to put on its mask and commit highway robbery on me.
Will my clients notice a change? Not at all; I have told most of them that I can no longer carry the title IFA and explained why. Not one has questioned it, not one has suggested that my advice will be different in any way.
I can now set the agenda and focus on the areas that meet my clients’ requirements. I can focus my CPD towards those areas that concern my clients. My statement of professional standing will actually be relevant to what I do and what I advise on. I might even start finding meetings a little more interesting.
Will it affect any future clients? I hope not. I am in no doubt that some out there will use the title IFA as a stick to gain clients and bash those of us who have chosen the restricted route. I support those practices that can truly call themselves “IFA”, that have all the required expertise within the office to transact any type of investment and I believe that they are to be respected.
I also believe that restricted advisers – who have a valid and comprehensive proposition – should also be respected in the same way.
I have always hated it when I have been referred to as “a one-man-band” but, sadly, I think the days of the sole trader IFA are over. I, for one, cannot carry on doing CPD for no reason; I simply can not afford the time or money.
I cannot afford the continued worry of the FCA turning up one day asking me to justify my IFA status, after a client has complained I did not fully explain the merits of ETFs.
Adrian Gill is a financial adviser at Adrian Gill Wealth Management
