Think about what it is you want to achieve whether it is building up a nest egg, saving for a house or building up retirement funds.

Research an IFA by exploring their fees, qualifications, references, investment approach, and their attitude to risk.

Always check that your adviser has the appropriate qualifications and experience. Preferably seek out an adviser by way of professional or personal recommendation.

Take into account your own objectives too; do you need a full service option including financial planning or do you need light touch advice or even just an annual sense check.

By matching these two, you should get a better feel of the IFA that will best meet your requirements.

The answer to both of these must be yes.

If they are independent, they will be unbiased towards any investment fund, bank or mortgage provider and only offer you solutions that meet your requirements and not theirs.

If they are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, you know that they have had to comply with rigorous guidelines and certifications for both individuals and their  business as well as undertaking to treat all customers fairly.  Further details of the FCA guidelines for financial advisers can be found here: Financial Advisers | FCA

To keep it simple, use fee only advisers. They will charge a % of assets invested for services or an hourly rate which is all agreed in advance.

You need to know all your costs. These include your adviser fees, your  fund and platform fees and any brokerage costs. Any excess fees can make a massive difference as to how your funds will grow.

Transparency is key if you are going establish a good working relationship with your IFA.

Asset allocation is an investment strategy that aims to balance risk and reward by apportioning a portfolio’s assets according to an individual’s goals, risk tolerance, and investment horizon.

The three main asset classes – equities, fixed-income, and cash and equivalents – have different levels of risk and return, so each will behave differently over time.

Your portfolio structure should be spread through all asset classes, different geographies, and sectors. Invested both in the UK and overseas and should not be focused in one area.

A benchmark is a standard against which the performance of an investment plan can be measured. It should be set in line with your financial goals and your attitude to risk rather than tracking an index such as the S&P500 or the FTSE100.

RobMac does not handle client funds and only uses secure custodian services.

All of these services will be available to you online via a secure password protected account.

It may be that you already have an established investment philosophy which you can advise your IFA of.

If not, you need to work with your IFA to establish what that investment philosophy should be. Their understanding of your investment objectives and your financial position will help develop that.

Once established, a good adviser will help you stick to that investment philosophy despite any potential adverse or positive market conditions which often go through fluctuating cycles.

Your IFA should be a steady hand, aware of market trends and always gives you sound guidance based based on core principles that are tried and tested over the medium to long term.