Would you feel comfortable if your Doctor was paid and employed by a large pharmaceutical company? If not, chances are you probably wouldn’t feel comfortable if your Financial Adviser was affiliated with, or paid and employed by a bank or investment company.

In choosing a wealth professional to guide and manage your financial future, it is of the utmost importance that your financial planner is working in your best interest and your best interest alone.

However, not all can claim to do this. In Australia 85% of financial planners are affiliated or licensed through large banks, funds management, superannuation or life insurance companies.

The problem is that these sorts of financial institutions are actively involved in creating and managing investment products, such as managed investment funds, superannuation funds and life insurance, and the goal of these types of products is to absorb as much investor funds as possible. In doing so the financial institution earns more money.

So when these same companies employ financial advisers, an inherent conflict of interest is created in that those financial advisers are encouraged to invest client monies in the investment funds that are also owned by the financial institutions. In this sense financial advisers can often become little more than managed fund marketing agents for the investment companies they work for.

This can create problems for the client because if the most appropriate advice means investing their money elsewhere, the financial institution employing that financial adviser simply won’t allow him or her to make that recommendation.

A privately owned and licensed financial planning company such as Ark Total Wealth means that your financial planners business is not owned by a large product providing financial institution, and that the approved list of strategies and investment products they can offer you is tailored solely around your needs and what is appropriate for you, and not those of a large investment company.

This means your financial adviser is working for you and you alone.