I know I can use the tied-in service at my bank, but I would like an independent of the whole market place.
I'm not really sure what I need at the moment (savings, investments, pensions, life assurance etc) but want to know what is out there and start planning for my future over here. Any ideas?
You have to read up quite a bit though to make sure you get cover with decent invalidity and death cover.
I think "independent" is the right word. There are not many around.
For example, some companies are very good with health insurance, but there life policies are not that great and vice versa.
I went round all the banks in Vevey to see about high interest long term savings accounts. The best one I found was UBS who are offering 4% (I think) but you can't withdraw any of your money until you retire.
Most life insurance products will give you 6% - 8% plus you have cover for death and invalidity, and you can usually withdraw your money after some time (for example 10 years / 15 years or whatever).
If you have a specific question, you can pm me.
Hope this helps
Not sure what you want but they can put together a decent portfolio based on your current and future situation (single, married, children, schooling, protection etc)
If you want their details let me know
Nick.
www.forthcapital.com They deal only with Expats and all business is conducted in English
I've seen a report on banks and larger investment managers called the "Fuchs" report - it covers Germany, Switzerland and Austria. See here: http://www.fuchsbriefe.de/reporte/re...lash=&tonline=
Cheers,
Nick
Unfortunately, there are a lot of independent advisors who are not independent at all and will try and push you more into one insurance than another as they receive a higher commission. All companies pay their "courtiers" differently - this is not new to anyone.
The company I work with decided to pay everyone the same amount for whichever insurance company the client decides to go with. We also work with all 94 companies, so I would say we're about as independent as it goes!
Is that investments as well ?
If you have a specific question, pm me
Something quite strange I've picked up on since being over here is that, the more "professionals" charge for a service, the more the customer thinks it's worth paying.
So, sometimes, even though someone will earn a commission from a contract, they charge aswell, and, surprisingly, the customer thinks he must be getting better advice as he's had to pay for it! It's rather strange...
This seems to go for all types of activity from financial advisors to gardners, painters, electricians and the like.
The other thing about commission is that, if we didn't earn commission from these companies then we'd have to charge people for our advice.
There is such a lack of information in Switzerland in general that I'd rather give it to people for free and get paid by a company if we sort something out together.
Seems fairer to me
Perhaps the client thinks that, by paying for the advice, the advisor is actually legally liable for his recommendations. Plus, according to advice from the UK FSA on how to choose an IFA, you're more likely to get independent advice if you pay a fee.
If you're paid commission from the investment companies, particularly if this is your only source of income (as in the case of the individuals working for the so-called advisory company I dealt with), it must be difficult if not impossible to give the client impartial advice as opposed to "talking up" the product and telling the client what he needs to hear in order to sign up.
What I tend to do is offer 2 or 3 possibilities for people (sometimes 4 even!) depending on where they live, age etc. In each case I'll explain what's good and what's less good with each company for the price, and then the person can decide for themselves.
What's the point in pushing a particular product or company onto somebody? Unfortunately, there are people who work in similar areas to me that do that. But, believe me, they come and go.... there's no way you can think long-term working like that.
I guess there's no way to prove my honesty to you and it seems like you've had a bad experience so I understand why you would be hesitant to work again with advisors. That's one of the downsides of my work.
Luckily, they've now brought in a "brevet fédérale" for my line of work. i.e. you have to take an exam etc. and are known to the authorities. Hopefully this will seive out some of the bad eggs.....
Jenny
P.S. the "oregon" link is very interesting. Couldn't agree more!
Yes, I've discovered that they come and go and move around from place to place. It stands to reason that people who operate like that can't stay in one place for too long if their income depends on the commission they're paid for the number of investment they can sell. There are only so many expats in one place, not all of whom can be successfully persuaded into signing up, and of those who do sign up, there will be a limit to the amount of money they can spend. Nor does it make sense to hang around and wait for the reaction of customers who finally come to realize that their investments are not appropriate.
http://www.vermoegenszentrum.ch/
or AWD
both of which are supposed to be independent