Question and Answer page

What is an Independent Financial Adviser?

A. A qualified financial services professional who is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and is legally bound to recommend the most suitable financial products for your individual circumstances. 'Independent' status allows your adviser to search the thousands of products on the market to find the best one for your circumstances at the time without being biased towards any particular company or product.

All the services that we offer are totally independent. We work on your behalf, not that of any investment or insurance company. To back this up, we explain the research findings with you before you decide to transact any business with us. You will also be offered the opportunity to pay for our services by paying us a fee, in which case the fee will be the only payment the firm receives for the work.

Are you paid by commission or fees?

A. We can be paid by commission or fees.

•Fee based - a fee is agreed with you in advance. This may be a one-off charge or an hourly rate. If you purchase any financial policies you’ll be given the option to buy the product at ‘wholesale’ price and we will not receive any commission from the company. This is only available on the fee based option.

•Commission based - the company you purchase a product from pays commission to our company. The amount received will always be declared to you in advance. We’ll also explain the research that we’ve done to give you complete confidence that there is no commission bias in any of our recommendations.

Alternatively, you can choose a combination of both.

How much will the financial advice cost?

A. When working on a fee basis, we charge £185 per hour for the adviser's time. Fees are discussed with you at the initial meeting and we normally agree a fixed fee with clients for all the work as opposed to having a clock running and accumulating an unknown bill.

Alternatively, you may have the option to pay for our time by way of commission from the product provider, offset against the fee. This is often used by clients when they know they’ll be purchasing a financial policy such as income protection or life assurance.

How do I know I can trust the financial advice I receive?

A. We are strictly regulated by the Financial Services Authority. The regulations also ongoing training to keep them up to date and prove that they are up to date with changes in the industry and competent to give advice. We continue to study and progress our knowledge that ultimately benefits clients.

What happens when I meet with you?

A. We are legally bound to recommend the most suitable course of action for our clients. Therefore, it is important for us to know about you. A detailed discussion will enable us to produce a plan that will explain your current circumstances and provide you with any recommendations for your future.

Also bear in mind that your circumstances and financial requirements will change over the years so it’s important to change your plans accordingly. Regular financial reviews may be the best way to ensure your planning remains on track and appropriate for your circumstances at the time.

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Midlands Investment Agency is authorised by the Financial Services Authority to conduct investment business under the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000.

Midlands Investment Agency is entered on the FSA register and our registration number is 114408 |