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Independant Mortgage And Financial Advisers

146K views 54 replies 28 participants last post by  Darlofan 
#1 ·
For those of you who dont know my day job involves being an IFA and Mortgage Broker.I have been asked by the mods to provide some info on our services .

Our main forte is Mortgages ,whether it be Remortgaging,Pucrhasing or Buy To Let we can offer a wide range of products and advice to all DW members,with some prefferential products available .We are independant and have the ability to research the whole market place on your behalf

Over the next few weeks the mortgage market may well be of interest to most of the members on here ,so feel free to drop me a pm or call us on 0141 221 2112 for any advice you may require

ADK 0141 221 2112
 
#6 ·
Like David, I am also an independent mortgage broker, and although times are tough at the moment, there are still some good deals out there, don't beleive what you keep hearing on the news. On Thursday I think it was they had an interview with a first time buyer who had a 25% deposit, and wanted to borrow 3 times his income, but claimed he could not get a mortgage, this is absolute rubbish, nearly any lender would jump at this, if he could not get a mortgage there must be more to it, unfortunately people see this, and think it is gospel, and so do not try to remortgage/buy. For the last year the tone of tv programs has changed from "buy property, you can't lose" to "prices will/are plunging, its a mugs game!"

S500 yes most endowments will have been hit hard, but the damage has been done, if you cah in now, they will not be worth as much, also depending on the type of policy you may have what is known as a "market value adjustment" reducing the value even further from the statement value. Any contributions you are now making will obviously be buying units at massively reduced prices, so as the market improves, the recent units will provide a good return.
 
#8 ·
S500 yes most endowments will have been hit hard, but the damage has been done, if you cah in now, they will not be worth as much, also depending on the type of policy you may have what is known as a "market value adjustment" reducing the value even further from the statement value. Any contributions you are now making will obviously be buying units at massively reduced prices, so as the market improves, the recent units will provide a good return.
Think you are talking about two different products in one paragraph - UL & WP..

My Friends Provident WP endowment had one year to run in February 08 - I cashed it in - worked out the to save the last year's premiums, save one years interest on the sum from the mortgage was better than hoping that bonuses would improve - events have proven I made £3000+ doing this as FP have reduced bonuses again......in fact if I had paid in the one years extra premiums I would have received less money this year....
 
#9 ·
As we sold the house in 2007, and rented, best thing we did we now have a 60% deposit on our new house that has been reduced by £50k, by the bank as it was repossed. Got a flexi mortgage with Virgin One. Now buying, get this, our old house. Canny or what??
 
#11 · (Edited)
just to stick my 'ore' in here (unsure if this has been said already and sorry if it has), the with-profits endowment will not always be low just because we are having a low spell now, they employ an MVR/MVA to keep people in the fund (as most know) so that they can maintain the smoothing approach which smooths out the returns over the plans lifetime. Furthermore the main emphasis is on the final bonus (again as most know) and this is virtually impossible to predict before the plans end (hence why there are so many firms offering to purchase them).....most WP plans will have a very different final bonus, ie if you took your plan out in say Feb 1988, then someone taking the same plan in March 1988 will most likely not have the same final Bonus (it could be light years difference depending on which company your with).

All of this doesnt make your task easier, with-profits arent liked because of their lack of transparency, where one fund like Pru has given great final bonus's (easier to manipulate), you will notice it gives lower regular bonus's (cannot be withdrawn once applied)in general to compensate when compared against other funds, there are several ways of looking at this and various investment houses will document and plot their approach, neither being definitively correct.

end result - your call, i just would base any decision considering all the facts rather than just the current market conds and predicted values personally

to answer a query above UL and WP or to throw a curve ball....a unit linked with profit which most (maybe all) are nowadays

hope this helps but like i said, if its been said already i apologise
 
#12 ·
I think many people do not understand what With Profits is. It is not an asset allocation but a smoothing mechanism. Take 2 Companies for example - Prudential and say Scottish Mutual....(now owned by Abbey / Santander). If you have your money in the Pru you have an actively managed asset allocation - whereas if you are in the Scot Mut you are now holding primarily Fixed Interest. It is imperative you understand where the company you invest with is allocating before you make any decisions. A good IFA will be able to give you this advice.

But remember no two companies are the same - even though they go under the banner with profits.
 
#13 ·
ah, they are all asset allocation funds internally, they simply smooth the returns so that you dont get 20% one year and -10% another by keeping returns back and issuing regular/final bonus's.... theres a few degrees of management so in effect its like any other fund but the returns that the consumer sees are dictated by the fund manager/committee/board. Scot mut may be fixed interests but these need active management otherwise the fund would slowly move across into cash when the FI's come to an end, with fixed interests the value lifts and falls depending on a number of factors (which i wont bore you with)....

with regards to new invests, an IFA can only go on basic info such as agency ratings, fund strength and quartile/decile performance amongst a few other things.... there are several x-ray tools on the market but nothing conclusive.... still better than an average person could do though - picking funds is a hard thing to do as your calling markets/assets etc, with profits throws in several other pawns which is why most IFA's hate them

hope this helps
 
#15 ·
ah, they are all asset allocation funds internally, they simply smooth the returns so that you dont get 20% one year and -10% another by keeping returns back and issuing regular/final bonus's.... theres a few degrees of management so in effect its like any other fund but the returns that the consumer sees are dictated by the fund manager/committee/board. Scot mut may be fixed interests but these need active management otherwise the fund would slowly move across into cash when the FI's come to an end, with fixed interests the value lifts and falls depending on a number of factors (which i wont bore you with)....

with regards to new invests, an IFA can only go on basic info such as agency ratings, fund strength and quartile/decile performance amongst a few other things.... there are several x-ray tools on the market but nothing conclusive.... still better than an average person could do though - picking funds is a hard thing to do as your calling markets/assets etc, with profits throws in several other pawns which is why most IFA's hate them

hope this helps
I think you missed what I was trying to say - it is imperative that the IFA knows what the asset allocation of each WP fund is - so that he can make call on asset allocation regarding the whole portfolio.

Agency ratings are pretty feeble criteria to use for decision making - look how they have got so much wrong recently - AND wft is their motive when .they ask the company to pay for its own rating....madness. Past performance is no guide to future performance. If any IFA uses these two criteria for their judgement - they are waiting to be hung out to dry.

He has to first match the asset allocation required to meet a set objective married to the clients attitude to risk. Most IFAs have no idea ...so it is imperative that the investor uses one who specialises in this field.
 
#14 ·
Parish,

If you only have 2 years to run, I would suggest contacting the provider (the insurance company, not the seller) and ask them what final bonus's similar funds are producing at the moment, unfortunately WP funds being so "non transparent" in terms of values are difficult to give advice on, but generally if the are producing decent bonus's now you could reasonably assume a similar bonus in 2 years time, if you surrender now, you will lose this bonus, so take this into account when deciding what to do.
 
#18 ·
Thanks for that :thumb:

Thing is though that the value of the plan seems to be plumetting now.

It's with Scottish Widows and matures Jan 2011. The target is £26,100. We pay in £75 per month (some of which is Life Cover and Living Cover).

value at 22/10/2006 - £13,310
value at 21/10/2007 - £15,117
value at 11/03/2008 - £14,043 (dunno why they started sending statements in Mar. rather than Oct.)

God only knows what it's worth now. The one that matures next month (with Phoenix, originally with Sun Alliance) had a target of £21,000 and is paying out less than £16,000.

So from where I'm standing, we may as well stand in the middle of town every month and give £75 to some random person and given what's been said above by yourself and others how the hell can I possibly make any informed decision about this?
 
#16 ·
I have been doing valeting part time for a car salesman on a part-time basis. A few months ago, he approached me regarding the possibility of working for him full-time, not just doing valeting, but doing a bit of everything really. I have decided after 3 months to take him up on his offer, but now he has put the ball in my court again regarding money. Basically he wants me to consider what money I would need to live on, etc. and he will try to put together a package to meet my needs. At present Im 21 and live at home with my parents, but in the next 1-2 years I want to move into my own place. Basically I would like to know what costs I need to consider when having my own place, so that I can decide how much money I will need. Does anyone know of a checklist I could go through, or is it really something I should go and speak to a Financial Advisor about?
 
#19 ·
@1animal1, Crockers, et.al. All the info you've posted is pretty incomprehensible to me which just goes to prove that the Low Cost Endowments that were all the rage in the '80s and early '90s were the worst thing people could have invested in and millions are now paying the price.

Of course, the FSA is worse than useless as they are working in the interests of the companies, not the customers. The policies were mis-sold and they don't cease to have been mis-sold just because some arbitrary period of time has passed since some arbitrary date.

I know it's a cliché but I'm a lot older and a lot wiser now and if I'd known then what I know now.....
 
#20 ·
Parish, hindsight is wonderful thing mate, obviously back then advice was given on the back of a postage stamp..... there are still things being sold today that will end up the 'endowment complaint ' of the future.....

also dont be fooled, the FSA seem to be working in the interests of the banks, stats i saw recently said that 97% of complaints came from bank advisers and 3% from IFA's... yet lots of whats planned works in the banks favour... good show!!

good luck with whatever you do with the endowment/s, isnt an easy decision
 
#21 ·
Parish, hindsight is wonderful thing mate, obviously back then advice was given on the back of a postage stamp.....
Exactly - there was no regulation. We were told that it would pay the mortgage off and the reason for the projected £14k cash surplus (on a £21k policy) was as a buffer against rates falling - we might not get all, or some, of the £14k, but the mortgage would be covered. And that's not just from memory, I have a sheet of notes here that we made at the time.

there are still things being sold today that will end up the 'endowment complaint ' of the future.....
Doesn't surprise me as it's happened more than once before. Not only the endowments but personal pensions, critical illness cover......

also dont be fooled, the FSA seem to be working in the interests of the banks, stats i saw recently said that 97% of complaints came from bank advisers and 3% from IFA's... yet lots of whats planned works in the banks favour... good show!!
I'm not fooled. The FSA certainly isn't acting in our - the customers' - interests. The other problem is that they are reactive rather than pro-active - very good at bolting stable doors fter the horse has bolted - which is why, as you say, there will be more of the same problems in the future.

good luck with whatever you do with the endowment/s, isnt an easy decision
Well, I called my friend who arranged my mortgage. Turns out he's an IFA - should have realized that since he did my mortgage :wall: - and turns out that the policy that I detailed :)p) above is a Unit Trust thingy (Scottish Widows Managed Investment) not a WP. His advice was to stick with it as it will rise and fall on a daily basis with the markets so, provided things improve, it will recover quickly plus because we are now buying units at a lower price, so more units, it should recover and then some more whereas with a WP there is a lag due to the smoothing so 2 years is probably not long enough for it to recover.

He said pretty much what has been said above ^^ but explained it in a way I could understand.
 
#22 ·
yup sorry about that, very easy to go off on a tangent with the WP subject, its taken me years to fully understand, experience from seeing actively how WP funds are run etc....

As you've said if its a Unit trust it will be a more direct view of performance that you will get, so when its closer the time you will be able to plan your exit if times are particularly high.

all aside im glad you got it sorted
 
#23 ·
As you've said if its a Unit trust it will be a more direct view of performance that you will get, so when its closer the time you will be able to plan your exit if times are particularly high.

all aside im glad you got it sorted
I've found the fund on the FT website - http://funds.ft.com/funds/scottishwidows/exlloydstsbinsurance/BHMIN - am I correct in thinking that the grey line on the graph - Fund Compositie Benchmark - is the average performance of that type of fund and therefore the SW fund is performing above average?
 
#24 · (Edited)
in essence yes.... to be fair i normally use this site for its simplicity http://www.friendsprovident.co.uk/c...ageId=ifa/SitePageSimple:performancecharting# along with Citywire or Morningstar. I have had a quick look and cant seem to find your fund both under UT and OEIC guise, may be closed to new business?

It isnt clear what sector it is being benchmarked against - if i were you id look up the fund factsheet and check the quartile performance for now/historic to see what it has done over 1,3,5 and 10yrs as current benchmark figs are skewed on a lot of funds. Some funds went into banks before they 'went' belly up as an example, a few very good funds have been consumed this way and have gone from consistant performers to fallen hero's which isnt really indicative of their merits
 
#28 ·
haha na im a broker now mate far safer, got fed up with the repetitive teaching aspect of the job, my attention span is tiny :D..... where i am im dealing with corporate sales to IFA's. I have to ask.... as you seem very astute, you in the business?

regards to the above, yup i agree again but what i said about the top ten, i find that this is what the IFA's use, the ones that dont know how to differenciate the funds..... regardless my money wont be going into the 'chuff's'......:D
 
#32 ·
is there any others on here that are feeling like it's time to sell up and rent? I'm 23 I live with my fiancee of 21 and we're finding it so difficult to pay all the bills we're now in and out of our overdraft. but now I'm starting to question whether buying our first house together was a good idea. Don't get me wrong I love my house but I could get something twice as big for almost half the price I'm paying for my mortgage. We're seriously looking at renting due to lots of reasons, but is there anything that should keep me paying my mortgage other than owning my own house?
 
#37 ·
I have many questions, but to be honest, dont feel comfortable putting up figures/numbers for everyone too see.

Anyone with abit of knowledge when it comes to these things feel kind enough to give me abit of an idiots guide/some advice.

I've done a fair bit of reading about interest rates/fixed vs tracker/arrangement fee's/LTV etc, but i'm when i'm left looking at 10 mortgage products i'm still not sure I fully understand/appreciate the differences/risks.


(I.E My own mortgage advisor has suggested one product (a tracker with northern rock), but with the interest baserate as it is, surely a tracker is a bad idea and I would be much better off going with a 2 year fixed deal? *Our situation will change dramitically in 2 years so will be looking to remortgage/move to a new property)
 
#38 ·
People can give you the run about with this that and the next thing....

I always go for a 2 year fixed deal... nice simple and if/when the rates start to rise, I will be protected for a time frame...

Just depends on how long that time frame is! :p

I have too much going on in my life to worry about if the mortgage rates will be the same this month as the next.....just another reason for the fixed term...

I am looking into the possibility of a "double dip" at the moment - i.e. another market crash and further issues for the UK and EU economy....

I feel there are some uncertain times still ahead of us all....

:thumb:

Oh, and I am not a IFA, btw ;)
 
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