There are plenty of headlines about financial advisor’s and an awful lot of the press we receive is negative. So that is why I wanted to clear the air a bit and highlight some of the obvious differences between between using a Financial Advisor and going it direct. Obviously I have a slight bias towards Financial advice because that is the industry that I operate in but ill let you be the judge!!

                                                                                                                                                                  

Impartial Advice:

FA: Is in no means biased towards or against any particular insurer or product provider. With central bank regulations a FA must produce a ‘Reasons Why’ document outlining all the options available to the customer and the highlight exactly why the specific product/ service has been selected.

Dir: Direct operations can only offer their own products in turn advise is biased, as the customer is not offered a full market of products and services. Yes they must also provide a ‘Reasons Why’ statement however this reasons why statement will only outline why the specific product is the most suitable from their suite of products and services.

Pricing

FA: Will find the best price on the market for the most suitable product to best suit his/her customers needs. With the majority of product Producers price matching products it allows the FA to in turn select the most suitable Product Producer to suit the client.

Dir: Direct operations are in fact limited to the products they can provide and in turn limited to provide a single price for a specific product and in turn the product may not necessarily be offer by the best Product producer available in the market.

Market Knowledge

FA: With extensive market knowledge advisor’s are aware of the market trends and products available on the market, it is through this knowledge that the FA is able to access the Product Producer which provides the best quality service for the consumer.

Dir: Due to the direct nature of the service offered the direct outlet is restricted as it can only sell its own service and is bound by the products and services it has to offer in the market.