Hi Sue

I am in no position to give you investment advice but I do have a few observations for you.

I have found Anglo Irish to be very efficient and their rates are very competitive. At present I have an account offering a fixed rate of 5.25% for one year which seems pretty reasonable when you look at a lot of the other High Street names. If the forecasts are to be believed rates still have some way to fall so a possibility would be to fix an amount of capital for a year until the situation has settled down and you can see a bit more clearly where things are going.

Secondly, I wouldn't be so quick to place your trust and your money in the hands of a Financial Advisor. At present I am in dispute with my former advisor whom I have referred to the FSA after receiving disastrous advice. It appears to me that all of these so-called experts have only one thing in common: they are in business to make money, safeguarding your interests comes a poor second. Do your own research, no one has your interests at heart like you do!

All the best.

Bunty

Hi

Thanks for that but that is about all i can get out of the FSA or similar websites. I don't necessarily want an IFA near to me (albeit it would be handy for a face to face meeting) but that tells me nothing about the IFA's reputation etc anymore than the one IFA that i did see. I want to be able to see reviews on any IFA's before parting with my money.

There must be a review system/rating system/current list of top IFA companies or IFA's somewhere.

Cheers

Sue

Hi -- Don't know about the top Ten as such, but you can put your postcode into the impartial site below to find details of IFA's that are within distance of you, look-out for the free consultation voucher in the drop down lists, that you download... it can entitle you to your first consultation.

http://www.unbiased.co.uk/

Hi

Back in October i inherited some money of which i have about £40k remaining and still have it sitting in Natwest earning next to nothing! I have had financial meetings with Nationwide, HSBC, Natwest etc and have had a meeting with my late Dad's independent financial adviser (Lighthouse Carrwood part of the Lighthouse Group) - however apart from their own publicity i can't find any other reviews about them. They are on the FSA register.

I feel all the schemes i have looked at have their pluses and minuses. I feel i am in the sea and around me are pieces of driftwood any of which may be suitable to 'save' me but really i want a good old reliable and solid boat and crew to rescue and 'save' me! Hope you like that metaphor!

In essence I have:

1) £10k i want to put in a easy access/higher interest account as possible without any penalty points. I am thinking of Anglo-Irish bank - is their interest rate likely to drop with what's going on with bank interest rates? Where can i check for up to the minute information (or is the data on this website updated daily?)

2) and £30k to invest in a 'longer term/medium risk/ mixture of UK and foreign investments and a range of different types of investment, capital growth type arrangement' and have been searching everywhere for an independent financial adviser. Is there a top ten list of IFA's anywhere? I have looked at the IFA website (wasn't very useful) and on the web - not a list in sight! Who are the top ten IFA's? or where can i look to find some good reputable IFA's?

Hope someone can assist asap as i want my money to start working for me.

Cheers

Reiki Sue