Q&A

I have a small with-profits policy with Standard Life that matures on May 24th. When I contacted the company to inquire if it can be extended to take advantage of any future demutualisation, I was told that this would not be possible. Having been a customer for about 20 years, this seems to me to be rather shoddy.

What is my position? This is my only chance of a windfall.

Ms M.D., e-mail

I can see why you might feel put out about the timing but that is just a coincidence. Any mutual group looking to proceed down the path of demutualisation has to set parameters - when will it happen, who is in, who is not.

Inevitably, there will be a small group of people who are close to the boundary for inclusion but not close enough and that is evidently your case.

Standard Life would maintain that you have benefited from being a member of a mutual and that the return on your policy should reflect this.

Sadly, there seems little you can do apart from putting it down to bad luck.

I think you are being harsh in considering your treatment at the hands of Standard Life shoddy in this respect. When you took out the policy, you had no expectation of a windfall and that would not have coloured your choice of provider.

The only guaranteed way of boosting your investment is to use the funds you receive from your Standard Life policy to boost your contributions to a Special Savings Incentive Account, if you have one, to the maximum.

Financial advice

Could you please advise me on where to go to find a trustworthy independent financial adviser?

I contacted a very well-known company a few weeks ago, which was on a list sent out by the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (Ifsra).

When I spoke to someone there, he told me he would call me the following Monday to make an appointment. On the Tuesday, I called him and we set up an appointment.

After our meeting, he told me he would come back with a package the following Monday. That was two weeks ago.

I'm not a millionaire but have some money which I would like to invest wisely. As I am clearly not an expert in this field, who can I trust?

Ms J.F., Dublin

It matters not a whit whether you are a millionaire or an individual with only a few bob to invest, any financial institution should be fulfilling commitments it makes. After all, the salesperson - and that's what a financial adviser is - decided when he could complete the task and, on two occasions, failed to do so.

The truly depressing fact is that it your story is not unique. The experience tends to be that the smaller the proposed investment and the less financially sophisticated the customer, the more likely they are to be dissatisfied with the service they receive.

Of course, one sure way of concentrating the minds of the advisers would be to make them fee-based. Fee-based advisers are paid for delivery; if they do not come back to you, they get no fee. However, such an approach is rare in Irish financial services.

Too many customers are too mean to pay for advice and the commissions-based system suits the financial services industry. They come across to the punter as friendly purveyors of "free" advice and then pocket commissions.

The only suggestion I have is to rely on word of mouth. Advisers who have served people you know in a fair and responsible manner are more likely to meet your requirements than a name plucked from a very broad list.

I would also report this company and individual to Ifsra. They are clearly not supplying the service that their "authorised adviser" rating requires of them.

Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, 10-16 D'Olier Street, Dublin 2 or by e-mail to dcoyle@irish-times.ie. This column is not intended to replace professional advice. No personal correspondence will be entered into.