Why would you use an IFA for choosing a pension fund

Question

I've been trying to sort out a pension fund and been talking to an advisor from st. james place, who whilst admittedly not exactly an IFA does seem to know his stuff.

But their fees are relatively high. So I don't really understand what the benefit is of going via an advisor vs just picking a multi manager fund such as this:

http://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-discounts,-prices--and--factsheets/search-results/h/hl-multi-manager-income-and-growth-trust-accumulation/charts

The funds that SJPP run surely are just multi manager funds. So if the fees are higher what is the benefit? ( Also historic performance of the HL fund is better than SJPP's) (yes yes, history not guide to future..)

Answer 1

Why would anyone listen to someone else's advice? Because they believe that the person advising them knows better than they do. It's as simple as that.

The fact that you're doing any research at all - indeed, the fact that you know about a site on the internet where personal finance questions get asked and answered - puts you way ahead of the average member of the population when it comes to pensions.

If you think you know better than the SJP adviser (and I don't mean that aggressively, just as a matter of fact), then by all means do your own thing. But remember about unknown unknowns - you don't know everything the adviser might say, depending on your circumstances and changes to them over time...