Ensure your adviser is well qualified to advise you

FINANCE can be complicated and the public is entitled to expect professionalism and expertise from advisers, just as they do from architects and solicitors in their respective fields.

Do not be afraid to ask an adviser what qualifications and relevant experience they hold.

"It is only with qualifications that we can be compared to other professionals," says independent financial adviser Ian Lambie of Edinburgh Risk Management, adding: "This is one way of confirming you have the required knowledge."

Check what training stage your adviser has reached as there is now a genuine career ladder. It starts with the basic certificate in financial planning and then moves on to the diploma and later an advanced diploma and chartered status.

"All IFAs should ideally aim to achieve chartered status with the CII diploma in financial planning or the Institute of Financial Services certified financial planner qualification as the minimum requirement for an experienced IFA," says Alistair Blyth of Edinburgh-based AB1 Financial Planning.

Blyth was one of the first IFAs in the UK to be awarded chartered financial planner status. He adds that experience is highly relevant but "this should be backed up with an up-to-date high-level qualification which demonstrates a complete understanding of the complexity of some of the current issues which clients face."

Many advisers are still clinging to the most basic qualifications, including a generic mortgage qualification. "If an adviser is not qualified to at least advanced financial planning level of the CII or associate level of the Institute of Financial Planning by now, you have to ask why not?" says Iain Wishart of Wishart Wealth Management in Edinburgh.

Make sure your adviser has expertise in the financial area concerned as it could be complicated in areas such as tax or pensions advice. Many advisers offered by banks and building societies are not independent and can only offer a limited range of financial products. This is the 'tied' range that has been negotiated by their employer.

There is currently a review of financial services under way. By 2010, only those who are certified or chartered financial planners will be able to call themselves independent. If such rules were enforced tomorrow, only around 1,700 advisers out of 21,000 IFAs would meet the new higher standards.

With some 50 different qualifications offered by eight awarding bodies - all verified with the appropriate awarding body - it is hardly surprising that the public can be confused. To help identify a person with the right qualification, look at unbiased.co.uk, a newly developed website.

This has been created by IFA Promotion and is a simple two-tier ranking. The qualifications are presented in a coherent and easy to understand manner. The split is level A (Scottish higher equivalent, broadly QCA level 3) and level B (degree component equivalent, broadly QCA level 4/5).

Like choosing any professional, opt for an adviser with the right blend of experience and qualifications. If they come with a recommendation from a friend or relative, that is a bonus.