Expatriate financial advisor

[HTC]

I am a British citizen currently living in Thailand. I am married with 1 child.

 

I will soon be made redundant, receiving a lump sum payment and the opportunity to liquidate a private company pension.

 

I am looking for some financial advice.

 

As part of my search for an advisor, I would be grateful if other forum users have any recommendations of individuals or companies that I could use.

 

Many thanks.

[geoffbezoz]

My advice to you would be find a financial consultant in the UK. In Thailand they tend to be unregulated "cow-boys" in the main so I understand.

[GeorgeCross]

can't tell you what to do but can tell you what not to do:

 

stay away from anyone offering advice in a bar and DO NOT click on any ads you see on the internet offering advice you'll end on every boiler room list from here to Manila

 

maybe contact someone from your own country - make sure they adhere to this:

"A fiduciary financial advisor is an investment professional who is licensed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or state regulators. Fiduciary advisors are important for clients because they are legally required to put clients' interests ahead of their own"

 

 

[wordchild]

The UK would  be a better place to focus your search, the financial advice industry has been cleaned up to some degree there.

The offshore industry, (including within Thailand)  is riddled with crooks and dishonest practice at its  worst and excessive (sometimes hidden charges) even at the best. 

Personally , for investment advice, i would use a (UK) stockbroking firm rather than an IFA; ethical standards tend to be higher and the quality of investment advice you would get is likely to be way higher. 

It sounds like your personal tax position would be fairly uncomplicated ie non UK resident, so no dividend or capital gains tax in the UK from your investments. You maybe still UK domiciled however and you would be subject to tax on any liquidation of your pension scheme. In any event you should certainly consider getting independent advice on all  this. A decent (UK)  accountant would be a better option (for the tax advice)  rather than using an IFA. 

Edited June 19, 2019 by wordchild

[ExpatJ]

Yes agree with what others have said. do NOT use any financial adviser in Thailand, especially a foreign/farang one. I would suggest opening an online stock/fund t account in UK- Charles schwab, etrade etc. , read the many articles they on on their sites about investing, and then buy low fee funds, stocks through those websites. Also dont use big banks investment prodiucts as they will charge very high fees (HSBC recently tried to seel me a investment fund which would have cost me 5% of my investment in upfront and one year fee !!!

Edited June 20, 2019 by ExpatJ

[mstevens]

Don't want to repeat what others have said but will do so for the purpose of emphasis - DO use a financial advisor in your own country and absolutely DO NOT use one in Thailand. Many of the so-called financial advisors operating in Thailand put their own interests first, and not yours / the client!

[wordchild]

Just thinking a little more about your situation; you say that you are being made redundant and also have the "opportunity" to liquidate a private pension (which may or may not be the right thing to do) . you dont say if the pension is with the same employer as the one that you are being made redundant from,  but your (former) employer or the pension scheme would seem to be the obvious place to start in terms of looking for financial advice.

It is likely that your employer, or your pension scheme, will have access to people who can give you advice around your situation;  in fact i believe your pension scheme has an obligation to do this, under UK law, if you request it. They will likely be able to refer you to an independent financial adviser who can take you through your options and the implications of each. There will be a charge for this advice but it is unlikely to be significant and may well be part subsidized by your employer.

Also, depending on the nature of your pension scheme (eg defined benefit or money purchase) there may need to be some sort of negotiation with the scheme on the terms of any exit and you will certainly need advice around this,    

[Oxx]

On 6/19/2019 at 3:07 PM, HTC said:

the opportunity to liquidate a private company pension

 

That's unlikely to be correct.  Only very small pensions can be cashed in.  More likely you have the option to cash in 25% tax free and move the remaining 75% to a pension provider of your choice.

 

BTW, are you aware of https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/ ?

Edited June 21, 2019 by Oxx