Ensuring your wealth management firm or wealth adviser has the necessary regulatory license and the relevant qualifications and expertise should be amongst your highest priorities when choosing who to trust your finances with.
Who regulates wealth managers in the UK?
The Financial Conduct Authority is responsible for regulating wealth managers in the UK.
Wealth managers will have deep knowledge and, in some cases, access to every area of your finances within their role as your wealth provider. Even if you trust a wealth manager completely, you should ensure that the firm they represent a company or as an individual are listed on the FCA register.
As well as regulatory information the FCA register it will also provide personal and contact details of those in the business.
Wealth management certifications
You may also wish to ask your prospective wealth managers for details of any other certificates or qualifications they may have, for example, are they registered as a chartered wealth manager with recognised bodies like;
- Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment
- London Institute of Banking & Finance
- Chartered Banker Institute (CBI)
- CFA Society of the UK
As well as upholding investing and advisory best practices, chartered wealth managers will normally have a set of ethical and professional standards to uphold as part of a code of conduct and client management best practices.
It can be a good idea to familiarise yourself with things like complaints procedures, disciplinary handling and their code of conduct policies if you are choosing a chartered service.
Wealth management ombudsman
The UK Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is given the power to protect customers of wealth management firms by investigating complaints and allocating compensation if misconduct is found.
So if you have received poor advice, mismanagement, lack of risk disclosure, or unauthorized activities from a wealth manager regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) you can ask the Ombudsman for help.
You should first complain to the wealth manager, who will have a complaint procedure in place. If it is not resolved within eight weeks, can be referred to the FOS where you can claim up to £415,000 in compensation.
Richard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015. With a career spanning two decades as a broker, he brings extensive expertise and knowledge to the financial landscape.
Having worked as a broker at Investors Intelligence and a multi-asset derivatives broker at MF Global (Man Financial), Richard has acquired substantial experience in the industry. His career began as a private client stockbroker at Walker Crips and Phillip Securities (now King and Shaxson), following internships on the NYMEX oil trading floor in New York and London IPE in 2001 and 2000.
Richard’s contributions and expertise have been recognized by respected publications such as The Sunday Times, BusinessInsider, Yahoo Finance, BusinessNews.org.uk, Master Investor, Wealth Briefing, iNews, and The FT, among many others.
Under Richard’s leadership, the Good Money Guide has evolved into a valuable destination for comprehensive information and expert guidance, specialising in trading, investment, and currency exchange. His commitment to delivering high-quality insights has solidified the Good Money Guide’s standing as a well-respected resource for both customers and industry colleagues.
You can contact Richard at richard@goodmoneyguide.com
