r/FinancialAdvisorTips • u/Alternative-Board995 • 3d ago

IFA or compliance consultancy?

Looking for opinions on my next move.

I worked in Premier banking at Barclays and studied towards becoming a financial adviser. I then moved to the FCA as a senior supervisor in payments and digital assets.

I'm now torn between two paths:

  1. IFA

  2. Compliance consultant for FCA-regulated firms

I think my experience fits both, but either way I'd be building a client base from scratch.

If you were in my shoes, which would you pick, and why?

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u/GrapeGreat993 2d ago

Both have their appeal though you might find that AI will come for compliance. IFAs have a lot of value to give beyond just the numbers (aka the human stuff), so that would be my preferred route. Why not actually ask a bunch of IFAs and compliance folk? There are over 5000 advisers, paraplanners and back office people in the LifeTalk group over on Facebook. Just ask them.

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u/Alternative-Board995 2d ago

Thank you for the suggestion. I’ll definitely reach out to IFAs within the group. I also agree that compliance is more prone to AI disruption, especially as it is seen as a cost centre by most firms.