How do I go about finding an honest & ethical financial advisor?
"You want a fee-only advisor.  He charges like an architect or plumber: by the hour or some other ""flat fee"". That is his only compensation. He is not paid on commission at all.  He is not affiliated with any financial services company of any kind.   His office is Starbucks.  He does not have a well lit office like the commission broker down the street.  He does not want you to hand him your money - it stays in the brokerage account of your choice (within reason - some brokerage accounts are terrible and he'll tell you to get out of those).  He never asks for the password to your brokerage account.  Edit: The UK recently outlawed commission brokers.  These guys were competitive ""sales types"" who thrive on commissions, and probably went into other sales jobs.  So right now, everyone is clamoring for the few proper financial advisors available.  High demand is making them expensive.  It may not be cost-effective to hire an advisor; you may need to learn it yourself.  It's not that hard.  Ever hear of a plumber who works totally for free, and makes his money selling you wildly overpriced pipe?  That's what regular ""financial advisors"" are.   They sell products that are deliberately made unnecessarily complex. The purpose is first, to conceal sales commissions and high internal fees; and second to confuse you, so the financial world feels so daunting that you feel like you need their help just to navigate it.   They're trying to fry your brain so you'l just give up and trust them.   Products like whole life and variable annuities are only the poster children for how awful all of their financial products are.  These products exist to fleece the consumer without quite breaking the law.  Of course, everyone goes to see them because they have well lit offices in every town, and they're free and easy to deal with. Don't feel like you need to know everything about finance to invest.  You don't need to understand every complex financial product that the brokerage houses bave dreamed up: they are designed to conceal and confuse, as I discuss above, and you don't want them.  The core of it is fairly simple, and that's all you really need to know.   Look at any smaller university and how they manage their endowments. If whole life, annuities and those complex financial ""products"" actually worked, university endowments would be full of them.   But they're not!  Endowments are generally made of investments you can understand.  Partly because university boards are made of investment bankers who invented those products, and know what a ripoff they are.   Some people refuse to learn anything.  They are done with college and refuse to learn anything more.   I hope that's not you.   Because you should learn the workings of everything you're investing in.    If you don't understand it, don't buy itl  And a fee-only financial advisor won't ask you to.  1000 well-heeled, well-advised university endowments seek the most successful products on the market... And end up choosing products you can understand.  That's good news for you." If someone recommends a particular investment rather than a class of investments, assume they are getting a commission and walk away. If someone recommends whole life insurance as an investment vehicle, walk away. Find someone whose fiduciary responsibility is explicitly to you as their client. That legally obligated them to consider your best interests first. It doesn't guarantee they are good, but it's done protection against their being actively evil. The other answers are good, but not UK-specific. You need to look for an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA). These are regulated by the FCA and you pay them a time-based fee for their services, they do not take commission on the products they recommend to you.  The Government Money Advice Service page (hat tip to @AndyT in the comments on the question for the link) tells you how to go about finding one of these and what sort of questions to ask. Contrary to the note in the answer by @Harper, in the UK many IFAs do have perfectly nice offices, this is not a sign that should put you off.  Personal recommendations for IFAs are usually the best way to go but failing that there are directories of them and many will have an initial conversation with you for free to ensure you are aligned with each other. "I think the other answers raise good points.  But to your question, ""How do I find an honest financial adviser"" ask your friends and family.  See who they talk to and confide in.  Go meet that person, understand what they do and how they view things and if you gel, great.  Honesty and strong ethics exist in individuals regardless of laws. What is it you're trying to accomplish?  You just have some money you want to put aside?  You want to save for something?  You want to start a budget or savings plan?  Your first step may be talking to a tax person, not an investment adviser.  Sometimes the most significant returns are generated when you simply retain more of your earnings and tax people know how to accomplish that.  You're just graduating university, you're just going to get your first job.  You don't need to hunt for the right heavy hitter 30% gains generating financial adviser.  You need to establish your financial foundation.  Crawl, walk, then run. There are some basics (that transcend international borders).  If you don't know much about investing, most (if not all) retirement and individual brokerage type accounts will give you access to some kind of market index fund.  You don't need to multinationally diversify in to high fee funds because ""emerging markets are screaming right now.""  Typically, over a few years the fees you pay in the more exotic asset classes will eat up the gains you've made compared to a very low fee market index fund. You can open free accounts at a number of financial institutions.  These free accounts at these banks all have a list of zero commission zero load funds, all have something resembling an index fund.  You can open your account for free, deposit your money for free, and buy shares in an index fund for free." Large and well-known companies are typically a good starting point. That doesn't mean that they are the best or even above average good, but at least they don't cheat you and run with your money. A core point is someone you pay, not the company whose investment he sell you. Although the latter seems cheaper on first glance, it isn't - if you pay him, his interest is to do good work for you; if they pay him, his interest is to sell you the product with the highest payment for him. That does not imply that they are all that way; it's just a risk. There are many good advisers that live from commissions, and still don't recommend you bad investments. Depending on the amounts, you could also read up a bit and open an account with a online investment company. It is discussable, but I think the cost for an adviser only starts to become worth it if you are deep into 5 digits of money. "If your financial needs aren't complex, and mostly limited to portfolio management, consider looking into the newish thing called robo-advisers (proper term is ""Automated investing services"").  The difference is that robo-advisers use software to manage portfolios on a large scale, generating big economy of scale and therefore offering a much cheaper services than personal advisor would - and unless your financial needs are extremely complex, the state of the art of scaled up portfolio management is at the point that a human advisor really doesn't give you any value-add (and - as other answers noted - human advisor can easily bring in downsides such as conflict of interest and lack of fiduciary responsibility).  disclaimer: I indirectly derive my living from a company which derives a very small part of their income from a robo-adviser, therefore there's a possible small conflict of interest in my answer" Most individuals do not need a personal financial advisor. If you are soon entering the world of work, your discretionary investments should be focused on index funds that you commit to over the long run. Indeed, the best advice I would give to anyone just starting out would be: For most average young workers, a financial advisor will just give you some version of the information above, but will change you for it. I would not recommend a financial advisor as a necessity until you have seriously complicated taxes. Your taxes will not be complicated. Save your money.
"No, I do not.  The advice is to take advice :-) but it is not required.  Several ""low cost"" SIPPs allow an ""Execution Only"" transfer from some pensions (generally not occupational or defined benefits schemes [where transfers are generally a bad idea anyway] but FAVCs such as mine are ok). Best Invest is one such, and the fees are indeed relatively low. As far as anyone knows, the government's plans for changes to rules on using pension funds would still apply even once I've transferred my pension pot and begun to withdraw funds (provided I don't commit myself to an annuity or other irrevocable investment). I am not a financial adviser, nor employed or otherwise connected with Best Invest, and I'm not endorsing their SIPP schemes, just giving them as an example of what can be done. [Added after I carried out my plan] I found the process very straightforward; I needed to apply for a pension fund with my new provider and fill in a transfer form, which set up the scheme and transferred the funds with no expense required.  Once the money arrived in my pension account I filled in another form to take the lump sum and set up regular withdrawals from the fund. I had my lump sum within a couple of months of initiating the transfer.  I'm very happy I did not take independent advice because it would have been very poor value for money.  During my researches I was approached eagerly by one firm promising to get me my money quick and claiming to be an independent financial advisor.  Luckily I mistrusted the service they offered." There are a number of mutual funds which claim to be 'ethical'. Note that your definition of 'ethical' may not match theirs. This should be made clear in the prospectus of whichever mutual fund you are looking at. You will likely pay for the privilege of investing this way, in higher expenses on the mutual fund. If I may suggest another option, you may want to consider investing in low-fee mutual funds or ETFs and donating some of the profit to offset the moral issues you see. Well i used to intern at a WM company finding clients- its not easy. There are prospecting tools like Larkspur and WealthEngine, but they are ridiculously expensive, around $400 a month. Most advisers find clients through references, so you're going to have to network with CPAs, law firms, and other advisers and get them to send you people (what can you offer in return?). There is also the path of cold calling or setting up a website but those inevitably run into FINRA problems. Thus, it tends to be a slow process that is built up over time. The best thing you can do is create a niche for yourself and cater to it- so for example you can specialize in the retirement planning for certain occupations or under certain conditions. However, bear in mind wealth advisory is turning into a zero sum industry and software is going to make it even more compressed in the future. My firm spent thousands of dollars on marketing and even then 3-5 new clients a year is good progress, but these were also large accounts.   What is your background? "I know your ""pain"".  But don't worry about investing the money right now -- leave it uninvested in the short term.  You have other stuff you need to school up on.  Investment will come, and it's not that hard.  In the short term, focus on taxes.  Do some ""mock"" run-throughs of your expected end-of-year taxes (use last year's forms if this year's aren't available yet).  Must you pay estimated tax periodically throughout the year?  The tax authorities charge hefty penalties for ""forgetting"" to do it or ""not knowing you have to"".  Keep an eye out for any other government gotchas.   Do not overlook this!  This is the best investment you could possibly make.  Max out your government sanctioned retirement funds - in the US we have employer plans like 401K or Keogh, and personal plans like the IRA.  This is fairly straightforward.  Avoid any ""products"" the financial advisors want to sell you, like annuities.  Also if you have the Roth type IRA, learn the difference between that and a normal one.  There are some tricks you can do if you expect to have an ""off"" year in the future.  Charitable giving is worth considering at high income levels.  Do not donate directly to charities.  Instead, use a Donor Advised Fund.  It is a charity of its own, which accepts your tax deductible donation, and holds it.  You take the tax deduction that year.  Then later, when the spirit moves, tell your DAF to donate to the charity of your choice.   This eliminates most of the headaches associated with giving.  You don't get on the soft-hearted sucker lists, because you tell the DAF not to disclose your address, phone or email.  You don't need the charity's acknowledgement letter for your taxes, since your donation was actually to the DAF. It shuts down scams and non-charities, since the DAF confirms their nonprofit status and sends the check to their official address only. (This also bypasses those evil for-profit ""fundraising companies"".) It's a lot simpler than they want you to know.  So-called ""financial advisors"" are actually salesmen working on commission.  They urge you to invest, because that's what they sell.  They sell financial products you can't understand because they are intentionally unduly complex, specifically to confuse you.  They are trying to psych you into believing all investments are too complex to understand, so you'll give up and ""just trust them"".  Simple investments exist.  They actually perform better since they aren't burdened down with overhead and internal complexity.  Follow this rule: If you don't understand a financial product, don't buy it.   But seriously, do commit and take the time to learn investment.  You are the best friend your money will have - or its worst enemy.  The only way to protect your money from inflation or financial salesmen is to understand investment yourself. You can have a successful understanding of how to invest from 1 or 2 books. (Certainly not everything; those ingenious salesmen keep making the financial world more complicated, but you don't need any of that junk.)   For instance how do you allocate domestic stocks, foreign stocks, bonds, etc. in an IRA if you're under 40?  Well... how do smaller universities invest their endowments? They all want the same thing you do.  If you look into it, you'll find they all invest about the same.  And that's quite similar to the asset mix Suze Orman recommends for young people's IRAs.  See? Not that complicated.  Then take the time to learn why. It isn't stupid easy, but it is learnable.   For someone in your tier of income, I recommend Suze Orman's books.  I know that some people don't like her, but that segues into a big problem you'll run into:  People have very strong feelings about money.  Intense, irrational emotions.  People get it from their parents or they get sucked into the ""trust trap"" I mentioned with so-called financial advisors.  They bet their whole savings on whatever they're doing, and their ego is very involved.  When they push you toward their salesman or his variable annuity, they want you to agree they invested well.  So you kinda have to keep your head low, not listen too much to friends/family, and do your research for yourself.  John Bogle's book on mutual funds is a must-read for picking mutual funds and allocating assets.  Certain financial advisors are OK.  They are ""fee only"" advisors.  They deal with all their customers on a fee-only basis, and are not connected to a company which sells financial products.  They will be happy for you to keep your money in your account at your discount brokerage, and do your own trading on asset types (not brands) they recommend.  They don't need your password.  Here's what not to do: A good friend strongly recommended his financial advisor.  In the interview, I said I wanted a fee-only advisor, and he agreed to charge me $2000 flat rate.  Later, I figured out he normally works on commissions, because he was selling me the exact same products he'd sell to a commission (free advice) customer, and they were terrible products of course.  I fired him fast." "I know I replied in another section of this tread as well, but are you looking at MS/Smith Barney, trowe advisory planning, or directly within their mutual fund equity research? The reason I ask is because often there is a misunderstanding between Financial Advisory (FA) work and working directly within a fund doing equity research (Equity Analyst).  People often think FA's do a lot of research, and they do, but you'll effectively blackball yourself from **ever** entering research because there's a ""sales-person"" stigma attached to being an FA." Start at Investopedia. Get basic clarification on all financial terms and in some cases in detail. But get a book. One recommendation would be Hull. It is a basic book, but quite informative. Likewise you can get loads of material targeted at programmers. Wilmott's Forum is a fine place to find coders as well as finance guys. I recommend that people think for themselves and get a multitude of counselors.  The more you understand about what drives the prices of various assets, the better. Getting to good advice for a particular person depends on the financial picture for that person.  For example, if they have a lot of consumer debt, then they probably would be better off paying off the debt before investing, as earning 5% (say) in the stock market year over year will be eaten up by the 18%+ they may be paying on their credit cards. Here's a starter list of the types of information that would be better to have in order to get fair investment advice. I second all of this. It’s worth noting that not all estates require wealth advice. Unless it’s in the millions of dollars and you have no prior experience, I wouldn’t waste time with wealth advisors.   ML is a broker dealer, not a fiduciary. If your investment returns are the main variable you use to determine if your advisor is doing a good job you are using his or her services incorrectly  Also, if you are using a good advisor, he or she needs to know how your investments are doing, not you.  However, my thoughts are based on the idea that you can't go it alone.  If you are not among the people concerned about the market, waiting for the market to go down 'so you can find a better buying opportunity', or making one of many other novice mistakes, I'm not speaking directly to you with my comments. "Excellent question.  I'm not aware of one. I was going to say ""go visit some personal finance blogs"" but then I remembered that I write on one, and that I often get a commission if I talk about online accounts, so unless something is really bad I'm not going to post on it because I want to make money, not chase it away. This isn't to say that I'm biased by commissions, but among a bunch of online banks paying pretty much the same (crappy) interest rate and giving pretty much the same (often not crappy) service, I'm going to give air time to the ones that pay the best commissions.  That, and some of the affiliate programs would kick me out if I trashed them on my blog. This also would taint any site, blog or not, that does not explicitly say that they do not have affiliate relationships with the banks they review. I suppose if you read enough blogs you can figure out the bad ones by their absence, but that takes a lot of time.  Seems like you'd do all right by doing a ""--bank name-- sucks"" Google search to dig up the dirt. That, or call up / e-mail / post on their forum any questions you have about their services before sending them your money.  If they're up front, they'll answer you." It's quite alright, it's been over a decade since he passed so I'm not particularly sensitive about it any more.  I'll have a look at investopedia, but what I'm mainly interested in is private equity. I wanted to ask directly about that, but I feel that I need a frame of reference to understand what's going on. As in, I doubt I'd be able to really get private equity without first having an understanding of public trading.  Is this subreddit really that reputable? I've learned to not really trust reddit, for the most part. Is there some kind of curation here? The Fools have a range of advice from common-sense to speculative, aimed at different audiences (one hopes). As always, don't take anyone's word for it; think it through and decide whether the risk/reward ratio is really in your favor and how much you can afford to risk. They're good on the basics, but the more advanced they get, the more risk there is that they've got it wrong. That last is true of any advisor unless they have information that the rest of us don't. You can learn some things from their explanations of their reasoning without necessarily taking their conclusions as gospel. One can never be too cautious when when choosing a financial adviser. For example, has the company your adviser claims to represent ever been sanctioned by the local financial authorities? Does your adviser reside in the country in which he purports to operate? Have you thoroughly researched his background?  It is also important to bear in mind what venues a company uses for advertising - if the company resorts to advertising by spamming, then their overall business practices are likely unethical and this could lead to trouble down the line.  Finally, one should also research how the company's clientele has been built up. Was it through word of mouth or was the client data acquired by other means? If you already have 500k in a Schwab brokerage account, go see your Schwab financial consultant. They will assign you one, no charge, and in my experience they're sharp people. Sure, you can get a second opinion (or even report back here, maybe in chat?), but they will get you started in the right direction. I'd expect them to recommend a lot of index funds, just a bit of bonds or blended funds, all weighted heavily toward equities. If you're young and expect the income stream to continue, you can be fairly aggressive. Ask about the fees the entire way and you'll be fine. "Look at the Calvert Funds. They have a variety of ""socially responsible"" funds with published selection standards. Beware of mixing personal politics with business."