I am writing in response to the story about VouchedFor’s (VF) awards to the most popular financial advisers.
To put this in perspective, these are the favourites from firms that choose to be listed. We choose not to be listed.
We joined shortly after VF’s launch, at their request. We made that decision to de-list from VF because the focus in those pre-Retail Distribution Review days on fee-only advisers – which we were and are – attracted clients with unrealistic expectations. That is, they expected we would rebate commission of £3,000 and charge them a fee of £60.
Also, prospective clients were finding our own website through recommendations from existing clients, or as a result of my media work, and then clicking through to us via VouchedFor. This meant that we were paying for leads we would have got anyway.
In the time we were members, we never earned a single penny from it. I do not claim we are the nation’s favourite, but we are certainly favoured by enough people to have a very good business without VouchedFor.
Neil Liversidge
Managing director
West Riding Personal Financial Solutions
Castleford
West Yorkshire
