A privately held company or close corporation is a business company owned either by non-governmental organizations or by a relatively small number of shareholders or company members which does not offer or trade its company stock (shares) to the general public on the stock market exchanges, but rather the company's stock is offered, owned and traded or exchanged privately. Less ambiguous terms for a privately held company are unquoted company and unlisted company.

Though less visible than their publicly traded counterparts, private companies have a major importance in the world's economy. In 2008, the 441 largest private companies in the United States accounted for $1.8 trillion in revenues and employed 6.2 million people, according to Forbes. In 2005, the 339 companies on Forbes' survey of closely held U.S. businesses sold a trillion dollars' worth of goods and services and employed 4 million people. In 2004, the Forbes' count of privately held U.S. businesses with at least $1 billion in revenue was 305.

Koch Industries, Bechtel, Cargill, Chrysler, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Pilot Travel Centers, Ernst & Young, Publix, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Hearst Corporation, S. C. Johnson, and Mars are among the largest privately held companies in the United States. Credit Suisse International (United Kingdom), IKEA, Jaguar Cars, J C Bamford Excavators (JCB), Land Rover, LEGO, Bosch and Victorinox are some examples of Europe's largest privately held companies.

State ownership vs. private ownership

In the broadest sense, the term private corporation refers to any business not owned by the state. This usage is often found in former Communist countries to differentiate from former state-owned enterprises, but it may be used anywhere when contrasting to a state-owned company.

In the United States, the term privately held company is more often used to describe for-profit enterprises whose shares are not traded on the stock market.

Ownership of stock

In countries with public trading markets, a privately held business is generally taken to mean one whose ownership shares or interests are not publicly traded. Often, privately held companies are owned by the company founders and/or their families and heirs or by a small group of investors. Sometimes employees also hold shares of private companies. Most small businesses are privately held.

Subsidiaries and joint ventures of publicly traded companies (for example, General Motors' Saturn Corporation), unless shares in the subsidiary itself are traded directly, have characteristics of both privately held companies and publicly traded companies. Such companies are usually subject to the same reporting requirements as privately held companies, but their assets, liabilities and activities are also included in the reports of their parent companies, as required by the accountancy and securities industry rules relating to groups of companies.

Form of organization

Private companies may be called corporations, limited companies, limited liability companies, unlimited companies, or other names, depending on where and how they are organized. In the United States, but not generally in the United Kingdom, the term is also extended to partnerships, sole proprietorships or business trusts. Each of these categories may have additional requirements and restrictions that may impact reporting requirements, income tax liabilities, governmental obligations, employee relations, marketing opportunities, and other business decisions.

In many countries, there are forms of organization which are restricted to and are commonly used by private companies, for example the private company limited by shares in the United Kingdom (abbreviated ''Ltd'') or private unlimited company and the proprietary limited company (abbreviated ''Pty Ltd'') or unlimited proprietary company (abbreviated ''Pty'') in Australia.

Reporting obligations and restrictions

Privately held companies generally have fewer or less comprehensive reporting requirements for transparency, via annual reports, etc. than do publicly traded companies. For example, in the United States, unlike in Europe, privately held companies are not generally required to publish their financial statements. By not being required to disclose details about their operations and financial outlook, private companies are not forced to disclose information that may potentially be valuable to competitors and can avoid the immediate erosion of customer and stakeholder confidence in the event of financial duress. Further, with limited reporting requirements and shareholder expectations, private firms are afforded a greater operational flexibility by being able to focus on long term growth rather than quarterly earnings. In addition, private company executives may steer their ships without shareholder approval, allowing them to take significant action without haste. In Australia, Part 2E of the Corporations Act 2001 requires that publicly traded companies file certain documents relating to their annual general meeting with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, while there is no similar requirement for privately held companies.

Privately held companies also sometimes have restrictions on how many shareholders they may have. For example, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, section 12(g), limits a privately held company, generally, to fewer than 500 shareholders, and the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940, requires registration of investment companies that have more than 100 holders. In Australia, section 113 of the Corporations Act 2001 limits a privately held company to fifty non-employee shareholders.

Privately owned enterprise

A privately owned enterprise refers to a commercial enterprise that is owned by private investors, shareholders or owners (usually collectively, but they can be owned by a single individual), and is in contrast to state institutions, such as publicly owned enterprises and government agencies. Private enterprises comprise the private sector of an economy. An economic system that contains a large private sector where privately run businesses are the backbone of the economy is referred to as capitalism. This contrasts with socialism, where industry is owned by the state or by all of the community in common. The act of taking assets into the private sector is referred to as privatization. The goal of private enterprise differs from other institutions, the major difference being private businesses exist solely to generate profit for the owners or shareholders.

A privately owned enterprise is one form that private property may take.

Types of privately owned business

Sole proprietorship: A sole proprietorship is a business owned by one person. The owner may operate on his or her own or may employ others. The owner of the business has total and unlimited personal liability of the debts incurred by the business. This form is usually relegated to small businesses.

Partnership: A partnership is a form of business in which two or more people operate for the common goal of making profit. Each partner has total and unlimited personal liability of the debts incurred by the partnership. There are three typical classifications of partnerships: general partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships.

Corporation: A business corporation is a for-profit, limited liability or unlimited liability entity that has a separate legal personality from its members. A corporation is owned by multiple shareholders and is overseen by a board of directors, which hires the business's managerial staff. Corporate models have also been applied to the state sector in the form of Government-owned corporations. A corporation may be privately held (that is, close - that is, held by a few people) or publicly traded.

Privately owned businesses are typically divided into two subcategories: privately held companies and publicly traded companies. Publicly traded firms list their shares on the stock market, allowing for more diversified ownership as anyone who purchases their stock becomes a partial owner and is able to receive a portion of its profit. Despite the term "public" in its name, a publicly listed company does not entail public ownership because it is not owned by the whole society. It just means that shares of the company are for sale to anyone in the general public who wishes to purchase them. Publicly listed corporations may be partially owned by peacemakers.

Criticism

Criticism of private business has come from many perspectives, most notably socialist perspectives. Criticism of private property and privately owned business is usually accompanied by criticism of the capitalist system entirely. Socialists often argue that within a capitalist system, economic activity is uncoordinated and serves the interest of a small business class as opposed to society as a whole. This results in stifled advancement and an 'anarchy of production'. Marxists criticize private business, along with capitalism, as being a form of exploitation that serves to extract the surplus value from the workforce and distribute it to passive owners (the capitalist class) in the form of profit. Because of this exploitation, the workers do not receive the full product of their labor and are forced, by the conditions imposed upon them by capitalism, to sell their labor to business owners in order to make a living. Socialists typically argue for public ownership of the means of production, with Marxian socialists advocating more direct collective worker-ownership of business enterprises with democratic worker management. Other critics of private property include technocrats, some forms of economic nationalism, anarchists and proponents of economic democracy, who believe power and economic decision-making should be spread among as many people as opposed to being concentrated into the hands of a few.

India

In India, the term private limited (abbreviated: Pvt. Ltd.) is used after a name of a company which is privately held unlike public companies which use the word limited only.

See also

Private company limited by shares (private limited company)

Private equity

Public company

Unlimited company

References

External links

Forbes.com: America's Largest Private Companies

Category:Types of business entity

af:Privaatmaatskappy es:Empresa privada fa:شرکت سهامی خاص fr:Société privée lt:Nuosavo kapitalo bendrovė nah:Ichtac olōltzintli ja:公開会社でない株式会社 pt:Empresa privada ro:Companie privată ru:Частная компания uk:Приватна компанія zh:私人公司

Coordinates	53°59′2″N18°51′38″N
name	Patrick Dixon
birth date	1957
birth place	London
occupation	Futurist
spouse	Sheila
children	Four }}

Dr Patrick Dixon is an author and business consultant, often described as a futurist. In 2005 he was ranked as one of the 20 most influential business thinkers alive according to the ''Thinkers 50'' (a private survey printed in ''The Times''). He is Chairman of the trends forecasting company Global Change Ltd, founder of the international AIDS agency ACET, and Chairman of the ACET International Alliance.

Dixon was included in the ''Independent on Sunday'''s 2010 "Happy List", with reference to ACET and his other work tackling the stigma of AIDS.

Medical career

Patrick Dixon studied Medical Sciences at King's College, Cambridge and continued medical training at Charing Cross Hospital, London. In 1978, while a medical student, he founded the IT startup Medicom, selling medical software solutions in the UK and the Middle East, based on early personal computers. After qualifying as a physician he cared for people dying of cancer at St Joseph's Hospice and then as part of the Community Care Team based at University College Hospital, London, while also continuing IT consulting part-time.

In 1988 he launched the AIDS charity ACET, following publication of his first book ''The Truth about AIDS'', which warned of an unfolding catastrophe that has since hit many nations in sub-Saharan Africa. ACET grew rapidly, providing home care services across London and other parts of the UK, as well as a national sex education programme in schools, reaching more than 450,000 students.

Dixon no longer practices as a physician, but remains actively involved as Chairman of the ACET International Alliance. This is now a network of independent national AIDS care and prevention programmes, sharing the same name and values, active in 23 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Trends analysis, business consulting and writing

Patrick Dixon now advises large corporations in many different industries on trends, strategy, risk management and opportunities for innovation, giving keynotes to thousands of business leaders at corporate events each year.

Since the 1990s Dixon has written 15 books covering a wide range of issues and macro-trends including social media, multichannel marketing, consumer shifts, demographics, rise of emerging economies, health care, biotechnology, social issues, sustainability, politics and business ethics.

''Futurewise'', first published in 1998, uses the word FUTURE as a mnemonic standing for "Six Faces of the Future" which will impact every large business: Fast, Urban, Tribal, Universal, Radical and Ethical. Dixon is optimistic about the capacity of human innovation to solve complex challenges:

This millennium will witness the greatest challenges to human survival that we have ever seen, and many of them will face us in the early years of the first century. It will also provide us with science and technology beyond our greatest imaginings, and the greatest shift in values for over 50 years. ''Futurewise'', page xi

''Building a Better Business'', published in 2005, describes a new approach to leadership, management, marketing, teams, brands, customer relations, innovation, strategy, corporate governance and values. The book applies lessons from volunteering and non-profit organisations in motivating and inspiring large numbers of people to achieve great things. In it, Dixon argues that all successful leadership derives from an appeal to a common desire for a better future—for customers, workers, shareholders and communities. He attacks the "dangerous" obsession with shareholder value in many global corporations:

"Our society has come to see that a strategy to build shareholder value without a clear mission based on robust ethical values, is a complete nonsense. In fact it has proved one of the fastest ways of destroying an entire global business."

''Sustainagility'', published in 2010 and co-authored by Johan Gorecki, describes green technology and innovations across a wide range of industries, which Dixon believes will help to transform and protect the world.

Personal life

Dr Dixon is married to Sheila, with four grown up children including the pop artist Paul Dixon (David's Lyre), and lives in London where the family is active in local church and community life.

Works

Patrick Dixon publishes video messages on his web TV site. He claims over 10 million viewers, and YouTube shows over 3 million video views on his channel there.

Books

''The Thinkers 50'' noted Dixon's relaxed attitude to his own intellectual capital, in that he makes much of it available without charge. Books marked * are published free online at the Global Change books page.

''The Truth about AIDS'' - Kingsway / ACET Int. All. 1987, 1989, 1994, new edition 2004 *

''AIDS and Young People'' - Kingsway 1989

''AIDS and You'' - Kingsway / ACET Int. All. 1990, 2004 *

''The Genetic Revolution'' - Kingsway 1993, 1995 *

''The Rising Price of Love'' - Kingsway 1994 *

''Signs of Revival'' - Kingsway 1994, 1995

''Out of the Ghetto'' - Word 1995

''The Truth about Westminster'' - Kingsway 1995 *

''The Truth about Drugs'' - Hodder 1996 *

''Cyberchurch'' - Kingsway 1996

''Futurewise'' - Harper Collins 1998, 2001, Profile Books 2003, reprinted 2004, 2005, 4th edition 2007

''Island of Bolay'' - Harper Collins 2000 - thriller

''Building a Better Business'' - Profile Books 2005

''Sustainagility'' - Kogan Page 2010

Selected articles

Wake up to stronger tribes and a longer life - Financial Times

Death of National Stock Exchanges

Why market research doesn't work when predicting the future

Lessons for corporates from non-profits

Drug testing in the workplace

The death of shareholder value

The office can really get under your skin (injectable chips)

Auditing trends

Designer babies

Future of human cloning

References

External links

http://pdixon.blogspot.com - blog comment on recent events

http://youtube.com/pjvdixon - over 200 short videos and full-length presentations by Dr Patrick Dixon on global trends

www.nextwaveonline.com - A TV interview with Dr Patrick Dixon

Category:British non-fiction writers Category:Futurologists Category:British business theorists Category:British businesspeople Category:Business speakers Category:English writers Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Category:1957 births Category:Living people

pt:Patrick Dixon

A financial adviser or financial advisor, is a professional who renders financial services to individuals, businesses and governments. This can involve investment advice, which may include pension planning, and/or advice on life insurance and other insurances such as income protection insurance, critical illness insurance etc., and/or advice on mortgages.

Ideally, the financial advisor helps the client maintain the desired balance of investment income, capital gains, and acceptable level of risk by using proper asset allocation. Financial advisers use stock, bonds, mutual funds, real estate investment trusts (REITs), options, futures, notes, and insurance products to meet the needs of their clients. Many financial advisers receive a commission payment for the various financial products that they broker, although "fee-based" planning is becoming increasingly popular in the financial services industry.

A further distinction should be made between "fee-based" and "fee-only" advisers. Fee-based advisers often charge asset based fees but may also collect commissions. Fee-only advisers do not collect commissions or referral fees paid by other product or service providers.

Some investment advisors only charge a fee based on the assets managed for the client. Typically they charge about 1.0 to 1.5% per year to make the investment decisions for the client. They do not collect commissions.

Financial Adviser is also the name of a weekly trade newspaper for independent financial advisers in the UK. Owned by The Financial Times, its editorial offices are in London.

Role

The main purpose of a financial adviser is to assist clients in the planning and arrangement of their financial affairs, such as savings, retirement provisions, tax treatment and wills. To ensure ethical practices, financial advisers must understand a client's financial situation as well as their need for financial stability. Finance can be complicated and any adviser has responsibilities ethically to see that a client's risk is minimized, and monetarily, that money is maximized within the established risk boundaries.

Retirement planning

One of the major services that financial advisers offer is retirement planning. A financial adviser should have knowledge of budgeting, forecasting, taxation, asset allocation, and financial tools and products to establish realistic goals and the strategy by which to reach them. In the United States, this will include the use of several investment tools such as 401(k)/403(b) Roth account(s), Individual Retirement Accounts/Roth IRAs, mutual funds, stocks, bonds and CDs.

The financial adviser determines what percentage of the available income is necessary—taking into account tax liabilities, expected inflation, and projected return on investment—to meet a minimum balance by the client's target age of retirement. This is a fairly straightforward calculation, and many automated tools do this. The financial adviser's greatest contribution is asset allocation: determining how to maximize the return on investment while satisfying the client's risk tolerance.

Investing

Financial advisers may help their clients invest for both long and short term goals. It is the financial adviser's duty to determine the clients' goals and risk tolerance and then to recommend appropriate investments. Generally, a long time horizon allows for the advisor to recommend more volatile investments with potentially greater risks and rewards. Such investments include direct investment in stocks or through collective investment products such as mutual funds and unit investment trusts/unit trusts.

If the client has shorter term goals, the adviser should recommend less volatile investments with shorter time spans. Such investments could include cash deposits, certificates of deposit, and short term bonds. While these types of investment generally have lower returns there is less volatility and there is less likelihood of losing principal capital. Although short-term investments can guard against loss of capital, their value can be eroded by inflation over longer periods of time.

Compensation

Fee-only

As defined by the review materials for the Certified Financial Planner exam and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, fee-only financial advisors, such as an investment advisor, are compensated solely by the client, typically achieved through a combination of hourly fees (including retainers), financial planning fees, and asset management fees. Neither advisors nor affiliates may receive commissions, rebates, awards, finder’s fees, bonuses or other forms of compensation from others as a result of a client’s implementation of the individual’s planning recommendations. The fee-only model of compensation reduces the potential for conflicts of interest between the advisor and the client in that the advisor is not beholden to insurance companies, particular investments, and other financial companies.

A clear distinction should be made between brokers, who often refer to themselves as "fee-based" (receiving both fees and commissions) and "fee-only" (someone who never receives compensation or incentives from a third party.)

A fee-only advisor may reduce conflicts of interest such as:

advising a client to buy products and make investments when holding cash and other liquid assets may have been a more suitable recommendation at that time.

an incentive to generate commissions through the unnecessary buying and/or selling of securities (also known as churning).

an incentive to convert non-cash assets such as real estate and collectibles to cash and securities so that the advisor can generate a commission.

an incentive to make recommendations that pay higher sales commissions to the advisor when a less expensive alternative may have been available.

Commission-based

Many financial advisers receive a commission payment for the various financial products that they broker, although "fee-based" planning is becoming increasingly popular in the financial services industry.

Online-only

A new class of services that deliver guidance regarding financial planning are emerging, offering low cost financial advice through the sponsorship of HR department of employers. Companies like HelloWallet are offering low cost financial advice through the employer. These services are also delivered to the poor through donation of HelloWallet as well as philanthropic organizations.

History

Much of today's model for what a financial advisor is stemmed from IDS Financial Services, which later became known as American Express Financial Corporation (AEFC) after the company was sold by Alleghany Corporation, and later became Ameriprise. At IDS, a young rep named James Tausz was a top-ranked broker and served as the basis of inspiration for the company's model of "Financial Planning for a Fee," which IDS VP Vint Lewis popularized by training thousands of IDS stock brokers. Today, the concept of a "Financial Advisor" is widely popular. Before the IDS model, almost all stock brokers worked on commissions only.

Qualifications

United States

There are three types of licenses for individual professionals who typically hold themselves out as Financial advisors: Investment Advisor Representative, Registered Representative (also known as a "Stock Broker"), Insurance Producer. The practice of investment advice, the sale of investment securities and the sale of insurance products are regulated and therefore an individual must pass an exam, affiliate with a firm and register with one or more states before conducting business. A Financial advisor may hold any combination of these licenses depending on the nature of their financial practice. Similar to the term Financial advisor, the terms wealth manager, financial consultant and financial planner do not refer to a specific license or designation. These terms are typically select by individuals to help describe the nature of their financial practice.

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation, the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), The Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC), Registered Financial Consultant (RFC) and the Masters of Science in Financial Services (MSFS) are all advanced specializations that require elaborate course work to obtain. These professional designations are issued by organizations such as the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, and the College for Financial Planning.

In the United States, a firm registers as an investment advisor with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) or a state, depending on the amount of assets that receive continuous and regular supervisory or management services (Assets Under Management, or "AUM"). For a firm to register with the SEC, it must have over $25 million of AUM at the time of registration or within 120 days of the effective date of the registration. If a firm has less than $25 million of AUM and doesn’t anticipate having $25 million or more within 120 days of the effective date of the registration, then it must register with the individual state(s) as an investment advisor. If a firm has $30 million or more of AUM, then it must register with the SEC. Firms with more than $25 million and less than $30 million of AUM can be registered with either the state or SEC. The SEC’s definition of AUM is outlined in the Form ADV Part 1 and should be thoroughly reviewed and consulted prior to beginning the registration process.

Certain multi-state advisors may also register with the SEC, as well as certain Internet based advisors. If an advisor does not qualify for registration with the SEC, the adviser must register with the states where it maintains an office, as well as each state where its clients are located. There are de minimus exemptions in most states, typically exempting from registration those advisors with less than 6 clients, but the exemption varies from state to state.

Common examples of investment advisors include pension fund managers, mutual fund managers, trust fund managers and also individuals, partnerships, or corporations that have registered under the Act, and those who fall within certain exemptions. Stock brokers (known as "registered representatives" under U.S. federal law and licensed in the various states) are not necessarily (and normally are not) Registered Investment Advisors.

In general, under U.S. law, investment advisors owe their clients an ongoing fiduciary duty to provide full and complete disclosure of all fees, conflicts of interest, and if so authorized, to exercise discretion in selecting investments with only their clients' best interests in mind.

In many cases, a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) is a corporation or partnership while the person actually providing the advice is an investment advisor representative (IAR) of the advisor organization. Investment advisor representatives and individuals registered as investment advisors are sometimes certified as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) practitioner by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. or a Chartered Financial Analyst(CFA) holding a charter from the CFA Institute after they have passed the appropriate examinations, have agreed to abide by a code of ethics, and have maintained the required continuing education credits. The CFP and CFA credentials are not, however, required for registration as a Registered Investment Advisor.

The registration process to become an investment advisor is becoming increasingly complex, with examination requirements, books and record retention and increased state regulation of smaller investment advisors.

Regulation

In the United States, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regulates and oversees the activities of more than 5,050 brokerage firms, approximately 172,050 branch offices and more than 663,050 registered securities representatives. A financial adviser or stock broker should be licensed to provide any consultation on investment in securities. Typical licenses needed to promote the sale of stocks are the: Series 7 (General Securities exam), Series 63 (State Securities exam), and Series 65 or 66 Uniform Investment Adviser Law Exam. Generally, any adviser who charges a fee for investment advice would need to also have the Series 65 or 66 license. Thus, anyone can call themselves a financial planner (although care must be taken not to be confused with a Certified Financial Planner), but they would still need FINRA licenses to provide advice for a fee or be registered as an investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the USA. Anyone in the business of providing financial advice can call themselves a Financial Advisor. There currently isn't any regulation on the use of this title. To charge a fee for advice, one must pass the FINRA Series 65 test—The Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination. To be a "Registered Investment Adviser" (RIA) or "Investment Adviser Representative" (IAR), one must pass the FINRA Series 65 exam or both of the FINRA Series 7 and Series 66 exams. Many brokerage firms still claim an exemption for their employees who sell fee based products and services.

Canada

The financial advisor role in Canada is varied. Most financial advisors carry either a life insurance license or a securities license. The life insurance license is obtained through successful completion of the life license qualification program, except in Quebec, where licensing is completed through l'autorite des marchiers financiers. There are three distinct securities licenses available. Completion of the Canadian Securities Course allows the sale of most types of securities, including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. More advanced licensing is required for the sale of derivatives and commodities. Completion of a mutual funds course allows the advisor to sell mutual funds only, excluding certain types of very specialized funds. The third possible license is the exempt securities license.

In all cases, licensing requires the support of a dealer or insurer. It is also mandatory for advisors to carry Errors and Omissions Insurance. Technically, the term financial advisor refers to a securities licensed individual who provides investment advice to retail clients. However, there is little regulatory control exercised over use of the term, and, as such, many insurance brokers, insurance agents, securities brokers, and others identify themselves as financial advisors.

Many financial advisors in Canada are also financial planners. While there are numerous financial planning designations, the most common is the Certified Financial Planner designation. There is no regulation, outside of Quebec, of the term "Financial Planner".

United Kingdom

There are three main bodies awarding qualifications for financial advisers in the UK. The main one is the Chartered Insurance Institute, which offers professional financial services qualifications all the way from beginner to degree levels. The IFS School of Finance offers alternative courses/qualifications in certain specialist areas such as mortgages and equity release. The Institute of Financial Planning offers the Certified Financial Planner.

In the United Kingdom investment advice is given either by a financial advisor or a stock broker.

Financial advisors need to pass an exam and receive a Certificate in Financial Planning (previously the Financial Planning Certificate) or the Certificate for Financial Advisers, and also authorised by the Financial Services Authority, a UK government qango that must be satisfied the advisor is a “fit and proper person” before they may practice.

Financial advisors are either tied, multi-tied, independent, or fee-only.

As the classifications suggest, tied advisors can only recommend 'financial products' marketed by the company they represent. Typically that company employs them but in some cases they work for that organisation under a type of self-employed contract that usually precludes other paid work.

Multi-tied agents perform a similar role, except they represent a number of different companies. This is sometimes referred to as the panel system. Tied and multi-tied advisors are nearly always rewarded via commission, though in some cases (and if the advisor is employed rather than self employed) commission may be expressed in notional terms to justify a salary.

An Independent Financial Adviser must offer advice on all 'financial products' on the market (which carry commission) and, in addition, must offer clients the choice of paying a fee for advice about a product or products, rather than being remunerated commission from the financial institution that is promoting the product.

A Fee-only financial adviser designs bespoke solutions, and often by investing directly removes marketing commissions and charges from the costs that clients would otherwise pay. Fee-only advisory firms tend to accept a professional duty of care.

In the UK there has been much debate in the media about the effectiveness of financial advisors, especially in situations where there is perceived bias toward 'financial products' that carry commission.

''Best advice'' is a concept which was never more than a heading in the FSA / PIA / NASDIM regulations (and is now withdrawn in favour of the 'appropriate' standard) and which refers to the general obligation under Contract Law (Agency) that a broker has to find the correct 'financial product' to match a client 'need'. A tied or multi-tied advisor must recommend the most appropriate financial product within their company, even if a more appropriate product is available in the market place. An Independent Financial Adviser must recommend an appropriate financial product in the market place, even if a better solution is available outside the universe of commission-paying 'financial products'.

In the UK many believe impartial advice can be obtained only by consulting an independent financial advisor. Others believe it can only be obtained by consulting an advisor that never accepts commission.

Republic of Ireland

The QFA ("qualified financial adviser") designation is awarded to those who pass the Professional Diploma in Financial Advice and agree to comply with the ongoing "continuous professional development" (CPD) requirements. It is the recognised benchmark designation for financial advisers working in retail financial services. The qualification, and attaching CPD programme, meets the "minimum competency requirements" (MCR) specified by the Financial Regulator, for advising on and selling five categories of retail financial products:

Savings, investments and pensions,

Housing loans and associated insurances,

Consumer credit and associated insurances,

Shares, bonds and other investment instruments, and,

Life assurance protection policies.

New Zealand

The National Certificate in Financial Services [Financial Advice] [Level 5] is currently being introduced in New Zealand. All Individuates and registered legal entities providing financial services must be registered as a RFSP( Registered Financial Service Provider ) Their Directors, retail and sales staff are required to gain the national certificate.

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) in conjunction with industry groups via the ETITO administers a qualifications frame work for the qualification. Registrations and examinations are conducted by the ETITO. All Financial Advisers are required to register with the ETITO by March 31, 2011

The Qualifications Framework consists of a core set of competencies sets, A B C followed by 2 electives covering specialist areas such as Insurance and Residential Property Lending. Certain NZQA approved qualifications such as an Accountancy degree may exempt student from competency set A NZQA approved training in the certificate is offered by the New Zealand Open Polytechnic as well as several other accredited organizations

See also

Collective investment schemes

Socially responsible investing

References

External links

10 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Financial Planner

AAFM American Academy of Financial Management

IAIA International Association of Investment Advisers

AIFA Association of Independent Financial Advisers - UK Trade body

FSA website Financial Services Authority (UK)

IAA Investment Adviser Association

NAIFA National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors

SEC IA Search SEC Database of US Registered Investment Advisers

SECLaw.com Financial Advisor Legal Information Center

€FPA €uropean Financial Planning Association

Category:Finance Category:Investment Category:People in finance

ca:Assessor financer de:Finanzberater es:Asesor financiero fr:Conseiller en gestion de patrimoine lt:Finansų patarėjas no:Økonomisk rådgiver

Coordinates	53°59′2″N18°51′38″N
name	Mary Alice
birthname	Mary Alice Smith
birth date	December 03, 1941
birth place	Indianola, Mississippi, U.S.
occupation	Actress
yearsactive	1974–present }}

Mary Alice (born December 3, 1941) is an American actress.

Alice was born Mary Alice Smith in Indianola, Mississippi, the daughter of Ozelar (née Jurnakin) and Sam Smith. In 1987 she received a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her work in ''Fences''. She also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1993 for ''I'll Fly Away'' (1991–1993). She replaced Gloria Foster in the film ''The Matrix Revolutions'' and video game ''Enter The Matrix'' as the Oracle, after Foster died in 2001.

Filmography

''The Education of Sonny Carson'' (1974)

''The Sty of the Blind Pig'' (1974)

''Sanford and Son'' (1974–1975)

''Good Times'' (1975)

''Just an Old Sweet Song'' (1976)

''Sparkle'' (1976)

''Lawman Without a Gun'' (1979)

''All My Children'' (1980)

''The Color of Friendship'' (1981)

''The Brass Ring'' (1983)

''Beat Street'' (1984)

''Concealed Enemies'' (1984)

''Teachers'' (1984)

''Charlotte Forten's Mission: Experiment in Freedom'' (1985)

''A Different World'' (1987)

''The Women of Brewster Place'' (1989)

''Awakenings'' (1990)

''The Bonfire of the Vanities'' (1990)

''To Sleep with Anger'' (1990)

''I'll Fly Away'' (1991)

''Malcolm X'' (1992)

''A Perfect World'' (1993)

''Laurel Avenue'' (1993)

''Life with Mikey'' (1993)

''The Mother'' (1994)

''The Inkwell'' (1994)

''The Vernon Johns Story'' (1994)

''Heading Home'' (1995)

''Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder'' (1995)

''Bed of Roses'' (1996)

''Down in the Delta'' (1998)

''Catfish in Black Bean Sauce'' (1999)

''The Wishing Tree'' (1999)

''The Photographer'' (2000)

''The Last Brickmaker in America'' (2001)

''Sunshine State'' (2002)

''The Life'' (2002)

''Enter the Matrix'' (2003)

''The Matrix Revolutions'' (2003)

''What I Want My Words to Do to You: Voices From Inside a Women's Maximum Security Prison'' (2003)

''The Burly Man Chronicles'' (2004)

''The Matrix Recalibrated'' (2004)

''The Matrix Online'' (2005)

''Narrator Crime Scene USA'' (2000–2009)

References

External links

TonyAwards.com Interview with Mary Alice

Category:African American actors Category:American film actors Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:Drama Desk Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Tony Award winners Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:People from Sunflower County, Mississippi

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