Finding a good financial adviser is hard for a simple reason: the people least equipped to judge advice are the people who need it. You cannot assess a pension recommendation until you understand pensions. So we do the checking first, and introduce you to one firm we would be content to send our own family to.
The four steps
You tell us what you need
A few minutes on our enquiry form. What you want help with, roughly where you stand financially, and when you would like to speak to someone. Ranges are fine, nobody needs your account numbers.
We vet the market
Every firm in our network has already been checked against our four-point standard: FCA authorisation and permissions, professional qualifications, track record and complaints history, and clarity of fees. We keep checking, not just once.
We match by hand
A person reads your enquiry and chooses one firm, the right specialism, the right size, the right approach for your circumstances. A defined-benefit transfer question does not go to a general adviser. A £3m estate does not go to a one-person firm that would rather it did not.
You decide, freely
The adviser contacts you and the first meeting is normally free. Nothing obliges you to proceed. Nothing is charged to you either way.
How a free service pays for itself
When a service is free, ask who is paying. In our case: the adviser firms are. They pay us to receive well-matched introductions, because a well-matched enquiry is worth far more to them than an advertisement. We are transparent about this because it is the first question a sensible person asks, and because the alternative, pretending we run on goodwill, would be the exact opposite of the trust the service is built on.
What our fee does not do
A firm cannot pay us to be matched more often, to appear above others, or to be sent enquiries it is not suited to. Our fee does not come out of your pocket, and it does not change the advice you receive or the fees the adviser charges you. If it ever did, the service would be worthless, to you, and therefore to them.
You will pay the adviser for their advice, in the ordinary way. Most charge an initial fee for a plan and an ongoing fee to look after it, typically around 0.5% to 1% a year, or a fixed amount. That is a conversation to have with them, in writing, before you commit. Our guides on fees and costs explain exactly what to ask.
What we do not do
We are not
- A comparison table that ranks whoever pays most
- A lead-generation panel that sells your number to six firms
- A financial adviser, we give information, never personal advice
- A directory you have to sift through yourself
We are
- An introducer that checks firms before it recommends them
- A single, hand-made match, made by a person
- Free to you, always, whether or not you proceed
- Paid by advisers, and open about it
What happens to your information
Your enquiry goes to one adviser firm, and only after you have ticked the consent box. We do not sell your details, and we never pass them to anyone for their own marketing. You can ask us at any point which firm we intend to introduce you to, and you can ask us to delete everything we hold. The detail is in our privacy policy.
Before you speak to anyone
You do not have to arrive knowing what you need. But an hour spent reading is an hour that makes the first meeting far more useful, and it makes it much harder for anyone to sell you something. Our Knowledge library is free and has nothing to sell you. Start with choosing an adviser if you are not sure what to ask.
In short
- Tell us what you need. We vet, we match by hand, you decide.
- One adviser, not a panel. Free to you, always.
- Advisers pay us, and cannot pay for preference.
- Your details go to one firm, with your consent, and nowhere else.