I might have to see an independent financial adviser.

I try (and probably fail) to write a blog aimed at independent financial advisers (IFAs) and obviously I am not one. I like reading the publication MoneyMarketing, which I think is excellent. So quite a few blogs relate to articles from the publication. I really like Brian Tora and Mark Dampier. Then, today I suddenly realised that I am going to have to see an IFA to get some investment ideas. For instance, what do you invest in at the moment? UK equities, even with dividends reinvested, have posted a loss over the past decade. This coincides with Gordon Brown's stewardship of the economy.
Do I invest in yet another pension? Would a modest investment bar me from means-tested benefits when I retire in 15 years time? Will pensioners get any benefits then?
If a company like Rio Tinto can see its share price fall from £70 to just under £20 and get imbroiled in a mighty row over Chinese investment (worrying the Australian government), then it looks like individual equities are out.
Investment funds are supposed to be safer with their diversification but suffer from their poor investment choices and high costs. For instance, UK investment funds were
unable to avoid the disintegration of the British banking sector.
What about buy-to-let, which seemed to answer pension needs at the time? If the UK residential property market is going to tank further in 2009, why buy a loss? Distressed buy-to-let investors would see me as a gullible buyer and would probably not lower the price. However, a real asset might be a long-term winner especially with the pound collapsing.
If I see an IFA, I will let you know how I got on.
www.searchifa.co.uk

FSA boss Turner fails to read from government script.

The Daily Telegraph has cited comments by Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which warn of possible stagflation. This could happen if the decline of sterling continued. I thought the drop in the pound was to help a renaissance in the economy. However, this happens rarely and food import prices should be shooting up soon. Discussing possible stagflation is definitely not in the government script. It would be a way of inflating away our debts but I think the pensioners in Spain would come back to Blighty to exact some terrible revenge on Gordon Brown et al.
Liam Halligan, former Channel Four economist correspondent, has been warning in the Sunday Telegraph, that we are not going to suffer deflation but increased inflation. He is pretty critical of the British government's policies to put it
mildly.
Back to the FSA, it does not seem to be resolving the spat between Standard Life and independent financial advisers (IFAs) over whether its pension sterling fund is a cash fund or not. Hargreaves Lansdown has asked the Scottish institution on behalf of its clients for the money to be returned. The pension sterling fund has taken a hit investing in mortgage-backed securities rather than cash as illustrated in some brochures.
www.searchifa.co.uk

British IFAs could face a bleak year in 2009.

UK independent financial advisers are pretty much unloved by the regulatory body FSA.
Comments on the retail distribution review focus on the appearance that the banks have had a pretty easy ride. However, IFAs have got to consider the here and now. 2009 could be a bleak year but there has been so much change in the financial landscape that clients would need more advice rather than less.
For instance, the popular investment house New Star has seen the creditor banks take control while some of its high flying funds have closed for redemptions. You do recommend now? M and G or Fidelity.
Can you recommend structured products? The collapse of Lehman Brothers as a counter-party has made supposedly low-risk products into very high risk ones to put it mildly. Supporters of structured products point to their defined return and
low cost.
The collapse of the Icelandic banks have put the spotlight on the deposit guarantee schemes in offshore territories and have made a lot of British councils look stupid.
There is an area of advice in offering recommendations on where to
put deposits.
www.searchifa.co.uk
Another area is pensions. The forthcoming introduction of a higher tax rate of 45 pct
will probably lead to an increase of pension contributions. SIPPs will continue to grow.
Finally, quite a few potential clients will be planning to leave the United Kingdom. They will need help in navigating the tax codes of countries such as Australia and the United States. The collapse of sterling against the euro might make moving to eurozone countries less attractive.

British IFA firms will be reviewing independence in 2009.

MoneyMarketing has cited a study by the consultancy firm Plimsoll, which considers that some British independent financial advisers (IFAs) will be reviewing their independence in 2009. Some 161 IFAs are heavily in debt while there will be pressure from the retirement of directors. Around 470 of 2,900 IFA directors will be over retirement age during 2009.
Some 834 companies are operating without debt and many have cash surpluses. One strategy will be for the strong IFAs to take over the weak ones.
www.searchifa.co.uk