The IFA is dead, long live the IFA

The web has certainly done its bit to kill off the IFA and I'm as skeptical as anyone about the money you pay them for the service they offer. I must be one of the few people who still has a relationship with an IFA for certain investment products including my pension. My pension is not going to set me up in a style to which I'd like to become accustomed just yet so I guess I'm just expecting the guy to do a periodic review of investment funds and keep me informed of any funds that are about to go down the pan.

I recently changed my pension payment arrangements which the IFA happily helped with but the pension provider completely screwed up - letters from the same department that contradicted each other, cancellation of new direct debits - that sort of thing. I told my IFA that I wasn't happy about the mess up but in the end I didn't lose out financially and didn't really have much to do personally to get the problems fixed. I left that with him.

Today I recevied a letter from the pension provider offering me £100 compensation so long as I didn't take the matter of 'poor customer service' to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The IFA had complained on my behalf and a 2 page letter explaining what went wrong had been the reply. I wonder how far I would have got with a complaint if I had not been working through an IFA? I probably wouldn't have had the time, and certainly wouldn't have had the impact of one of the UK's largest IFA organisations.

I won't say the value I see in IFAs has increased but I hope that when the time comes to draw down the pension, the amount I receive will be greater than the amount I would have got if I'd tried to manage my investment personally. Trouble is, I'll never know.

Wonder if I should reject the compensation and hold out for £500. What do y'think?