Authorised or Multi-Agency advisor

[Westie123]

Hello,

I am living in the Cork area and looking for a financial review. I have read a number of articles which say that you should use an authorized advisor only. Just wondering if a multi-agency advisor has a large list of companies that they deal with, is it really the same thing. I have looked through the Register of Investment Product Intermediaries (Central Bank) and some authorized advisors have only a few companies listed. I have a multi-agency advisor in mind but not sure if I can ask directly about them.
Thanks.

 

[Steven Barrett]

The Central Bank did away with multi-agency and authorised advisor last year. We're all Investment Intermediaries now. The difference was an authorised advisor can advise on the whole market and a multi agency advisor can only advise on those they have agencies with.

To be honest, it was all a load of rubbish. When I set up my company, I set up as a multi-agency advisor having previously worked in authorised advisor companies. All advisors give business to companies they have agencies with. If they don't have agencies with them, it's because (a) they don't rate their products or (b) they've never had any reason to deal with them before. If they have a good product, they'll get an agency with them. I have never heard an authorised advisor giving business to a company they don't have an agency with and most multi-agency advisors have agencies with all the major companies anyway.

What you want is an advisor who will work in your best interests and give you good advice.

Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie