Consumer Trust in Independent Financial Advisers Increases

Just when the UK public needs to have confidence in financial services, a combination of global economic events, changes in tax and regulatory policy, negative media coverage and the actions of certain institutions have removed much of the trust previously held in our largest financial services institutions.
However, unlike all other parts of the sector, the public’s trust and confidence in Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) goes from strength to strength. Research findings from respected, impartial, organisations on the issue of consumer trust also confirm that consumers show higher level of trust towards independent advisers than they do tied advisers.
"Restoring Trust in Financial Services: Build on that which works”, sets out the latest research. Key findings of the paper include:
• IFAs are consistently the most trusted of all financial services institutions both in terms of low level trust (the extent to which an organisation can be relied on to do what it says it will do) as well as high level trust (the extent to which the organisation is concerned about the interests of its customers).
• This trust in IFAs has increased over the past 5 years, despite the economic turmoil and challenges of recent times.
• However, the same cannot be said for other financial services institutions who have seen their levels of trust not only remain low, but in some cases decline even further.
Montfort International plc, recently voted 3rd in the Money-Marketing “IFA of the year 2009” awards, welcomes the research’s confirmation of what its clients have been reporting. An increasing number of people from all socio-economic groups are turning to IFAs like Montfort for advice to guide them through these difficult times, and these numbers are set to increase should the conditions continue or worsen.

Australian QROPS may cause problems for migrants

UK emigrants who have moved their superannuation to what they thought was a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS) Australian superannuation scheme may have unwittingly made payments that contravened the UK rules and given their members a tax burden.
The UK HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) recognize there will be teething problems in the initial stages of new regulation, but any honeymoon period could be short lived. HMRC expects schemes to own up and not wait to be found out if they have made unauthorised payments, as the UK Tax Compliance department is already onto it.
“Various Australian advisers are quite rightly telling people it’s possible to move their money into an Australian “complying fund” but the potential problems begin when they state that the member can elect for the scheme to pay any tax liabilities on growth post arrival. Some Australian pension schemes have inadvertently broken fundamental regulations.
Further instances have come to light where schemes have incorrectly advised that members can, after the first reportable lump sum, take out the lot. Rules appear to have been broken in many cases. Schemes and advisers need to take prompt advice to ensure they correct the situation as soon as possible. We are already acting as a go-between” reports Geraint Davies, Managing Director of UK financial advisory firm Montfort International plc.