Unbiased.co.uk

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Unbiased Limited

Type	Not for profit
Industry	Finance & Investment
Founded	1989
Headquarters	London, UK
Key people	Tony Langham, (Chairman), Karen Barrett (Chief Executive), Fran Knight (Head of Marketing), Clare Kissane (Director, Administration & Finance), Chris Carter (Head of Business Development)
Revenue	Not for profit
Website	www.unbiased.co.uk

Unbiased.co.uk is a professional advice search site which provides financial, mortgage, legal and accounting information, run by an independent non-profit body. It was founded as IFA Promotion Limited in 1989 by 19 financial product providers, to raise the profile of independent financial advice and promote the sale of financial products to consumers via independent financial advisers (IFAs).

Unbiased.co.uk has the largest professional services database in the financial industry in the United Kingdom. Its search has been described by The Times as the "only database in the UK which lists truly independent financial advisers". ^[1]

History

1989 to 2000

Unbiased.co.uk originated as a consumer hotline in 1989 to help consumers find an independent financial adviser (IFA). It was amongst the first organisations to promote IFAs to consumers and created a badge of ‘independence’ (or roundel) for IFAs to show they offer the highest quality of financial advice. Unbiased.co.uk registered the blue roundel logo device as a trademark in 1995.

2000 to 2011

Unbiased.co.uk added online search capabilities to the organisation in 2000. A postcode-driven search called ‘find an IFA’ matches a user with a registered adviser. Searches can additionally be filtered by professional areas of specialty, gender, preferred method of payment and qualifications. The site has links to advisers’ profiles on LinkedIn and Twitter. Unbiased.co.uk’s ‘find an IFA’ search also runs on various partner websites including CashQuestions, the Financial Times, the Guardian, Interactive Investor International, Investors Chronicle, Is4profit, Moneymagpie, Money Observer, Moneywise, MSN, Myfinances.co.uk, Mymoneydiva.com, the Telegraph, The Sun, This is Money, The Times and Whatinvestment.co.uk.

Unbiased.co.uk is also supported by product providers including:

Alliance Trust, Aviva, AXA Wealth, Bright Grey, Canada Life, Clerical Medical, Hearthstone Investments, Legal and General, Lockton, MetLife, NS&I, Opinium Research, Prudential, Royal London 360°, Schroders, Scottish Life, Scottish Widows, Standard Life, TaxCalc, Zurich

In 2008, unbiased.co.uk expanded its service by launching a local whole of market mortgage adviser search. As a result, there was “a 25% jump in the number of people contacting advisers for help with a mortgage” as the numbers of people using the search rose from 36,000 to 45,000 between January and June 2009[17]. In 2009 unbiased.co.uk added a local solicitor search to its website.

In 2011, the operating company behind unbiased.co.uk changed from IFA Promotion to Unbiased Ltd.

2011 to Present

In June 2011, unbiased.co.uk launched an accountant search with all the existing capabilities of the financial adviser, mortgage and solicitor search.

The unbiased.co.uk website was re-launched in 2011 with a new hub full of tools, calculators and information to help users manage their financial and legal matters.

Unbiased.co.uk was founded to help consumers find an independent financial adviser. It started as a consumer hotline in 1989 and changing to the online search in 2000. Unbiased.co.uk was amongst the first organisations to promote IFAs to consumers and created badge of ‘independence’ (or roundel) for IFAs to prove they were giving the highest quality of financial advice. Unbiased.co.uk registered the blue roundel logo device as a trademark in 1995.

The ‘find an IFA’ search also runs on various partner websites such as CashQuestions,^[2] the Financial Times,^[3] the Guardian,^[4] Interactive Investor International, Investors Chronicle,^[5] Is4profit,^[6] Moneymagpie,^[7] Money Observer,^[8] Moneywise,^[9] MSN,^[10] Myfinances.co.uk,^[11] Mymoneydiva.com,^[12] Pension Management,^[13] the Telegraph,^[14] The Sun (United Kingdom),^[15] This is Money,^[16] The Times and Whatinvestment.co.uk.

Unbiased.co.uk expanded its service in 2008 by launching a local whole of market mortgage adviser search, and again in 2009 with a local solicitor search. It was revealed that there was “a 25% jump in the number of people contacting advisers for help with a mortgage” as the numbers of people using the search rose from 36,000 to 45,000 between January and June 2009.^[17]

In June 2011, unbiased.co.uk launched an accountant search. Like the existing unbiased.co.uk searches, the free and confidential, postcode-driven service matches users with the nearest appropriate registered accountant, allowing them to search for a range of criteria, such as area of specialism, gender of adviser and preferred method of payment. Potential customers can also further research advisers by visiting their websites and viewing their profiles on LinkedIn and Twitter if listed by the adviser. Unbiased.co.uk the website was relaunched to create a hub full of tools, calculators and information to help people manage their money and legal matters.

Sponsor Companies

Chief Executives of Unbiased.co.uk

Karen Barrett: 12 October 2009 – Present
David Elms: 22 May 2000 - 12 October 2009
Ann-Marie Martyn: October 1997 - 22 May 2000
Robert Browne-Clayton: 18 April 1995 - October 1997
Joanne Hindle: July 1989 - 18 April 1995

Chairmen of Unbiased.co.uk

Tony Langham: 1 October 2011 – Present
David Graham: 14 April 2003 – 30 September 2011
Roy Nicolson: 4 November 2002 - 14 April 2003
Kevin McBrien: 1 July 2001 - 4 November 2002
Douglas Claisse: March 1996 - 30 June 2001
Peter Glover: July 1989 - March 1996

Operations

Unbiased.co.uk assigns a level to all qualifications and designations on the website, based on an analysis undertaken by UK NARIC, a national DfES agency which provides guidance on levels of international qualifications (academic, vocational and professional). The qualifications are split into two levels (A & B). Level A qualifications are equivalent to A level standard. Level B qualifications are deemed to be at least equivalent to components of a degree.

Unbiased.co.uk is also listed on various trade bodies, such as AIFA, the AIC, the IMA and Reita. Relevant UK government and regulatory bodies also refer consumers to this service and it is featured on websites such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, Directgov, Consumer Direct, Department of Work and Pensions, Financial Services Authority, Financial Ombudsman Service, Financial Services Compensation Scheme, Pensions Advisory Service, Pensions Ombudsman, Pensions Regulator and the Pensions Service.

References

External links

unbiased.co.uk website
Types of IFA Qualification

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