What qualifications should a financial adviser hold?

Are you thinking of speaking to an independent financial adviser? Do you know what you are looking for, or how to compare one against another?

Cost, regulation and service all matter enormously. So do the qualifications your adviser actually holds — and that is the one most people never think to ask about.

The thing that concerns us

Under the rules, someone without the relevant qualifications is permitted to give you regulated financial advice, provided that advice is checked afterwards by somebody else who does hold them.

In essence, the person sitting opposite you may hold no qualification at all in the subject they are advising you about. Would you be comfortable with that?

It is entirely legal. It is also not what most people picture when they book an appointment with a financial adviser.

What we suggest you do

One thing. Ask them what qualifications they hold and compare the answer against our plain-English explanation of what the letters mean. Any adviser worth their fee will be glad to tell you.

Our guide is here: understanding an adviser’s title.

Qualifications are not the whole story

Reaching the top qualifications is an arduous journey and it matters. But knowledge of the industry and technical awareness matter too and they are not the same thing.

Titles change over the years and qualifications get downgraded, which is why continuing to study over the long term matters as much as any single certificate. An adviser who has guided clients through several market falls has something a recent exam pass does not.

We think the combination is what counts — and having both under one roof is what makes a small family firm work.