Where to find investment advice for your charity

If you’re investing or thinking of investing and need advice, we have the information you need to get started.

Information about investment advice

Whether you’re a seasoned charity investor, or new to the world of investments, you may need some guidance or recommendations to help you plan and manage your charity’s portfolio.

CAF Financial Solutions Limited does not provide financial advice, however we can give you information about organisations that can help.

The key questions - we've got you covered

What is investment advice?

There are two types of advice available – independent and restricted:

Independent advice – where advisers can offer advice on the full range of products and service providers available.
Restricted advice – where advisers offer advice on a limited selection of products and service providers.

All advisers have to be approved and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). For more information about investment advice, visit:

Charity Commission – CC14

Why should my charity seek advice?

If your charity is investing its funds, it’s vital that your trustees understand their responsibilities as outlined in the Charity Commission’s CC14 guidance. This may include seeking expert investment advice when considering investing your charity’s money or reviewing your current investments.

You could have experience on your Board or within the organisation, but often an external professional view might offer a more objective approach.

What makes a good adviser?

Choosing your professional investment adviser is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your charity. As well as putting your charity’s needs first, there are several things to consider when choosing an adviser:

  • Are they authorised and qualified to give investment advice?
  • Do they have a good reputation; confident and trustworthy?
  • Do they have a good support team?
  • Are they qualified – do they have experience with charity investing and responsible investing?
  • Is their communication good?
  • Do they have a clear strategy for your investments and take a holistic view?
  • Are they proactive?
  • Do they have experience in the charity market?

 

What questions should I consider?

Every charity’s needs and objectives are different, so we’ve put together some key points to cover when seeking advice:

New investors

  • How can we ensure that our investments meet our charity’s goals and mission?
  • Do they meet our financial objectives?
  • Are they within our acceptable level of risk?
  • Do they meet our ethical investment policy?
  • How long should we invest for?

Existing investors

  • How often should we review our investment portfolio?
  • Do our funds have a strategy to adapt to changes in the commercial and political world?
  • Do our investments still reflect our objectives eg overall performance, income and capital returns and risk?
  • How our fund manager is performing; are they communicating well, reporting thoroughly and complying with our investment policy?

Welcome to the Charities Aid Foundation

We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.

Personal giving From one-off donations to long-term giving, or designing your personal philanthropic strategy, we work together to help you realise your giving ambitions. Corporate giving You have the vision for making a difference. So do we. We help you plan how to give based on your goals. Services for charities Helping your charity or social enterprise become more resilient. Insights Discover the latest insights for donors and charitable organisations to help create a greater impact About us We are a leading charity, working at the centre of the giving world. We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work. Donate  
 
 
 

Personal giving

From one-off donations to long-term giving, or designing your personal philanthropic strategy, we work together to help you realise your giving ambitions.

DISCOVER OUR PERSONAL GIVING SOLUTIONS

Corporate giving

You have the vision for making a difference. So do we. We help you plan how to give based on your goals.

DISCOVER OUR CORPORATE GIVING SOLUTIONS

Services for charities

Helping your charity or social enterprise become more resilient.

DISCOVER HOW WE SUPPORT CHARITIES

Insights

Discover the latest insights for donors and charitable organisations to help create a greater impact

Explore

About us

We are a leading charity, working at the centre of the giving world. We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.

Find out more about CAF

Where can I get advice?

Here are some options to explore. Or for further investment information and resources you may want to visit our Investment Knowledge Centre. 

VouchedFor

VouchedFor is an independent service which rates over 10,000 advisers.

Search for an adviser in your area

Unbiased

Unbiased has more than 27,000 advisers offering impartial and unbiased advice.

Find an adviser near you

CAF Financial Solutions Limited (CFSL) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under registration number 189450. CFSL Registered office is 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4TA. Registered in England and Wales under number 2771873. CFSL is a subsidiary of Charities Aid Foundation (registered charity number 268369).

Investment involves risk. The value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up and an investor may get back less than the amount invested.  There is no guarantee about the level of capital or income returns that will be generated. Past performance is not a guide to future results.