Membership

SIFA(Solicitors Independent Financial Advice) is an independent membership organisation providing a wide range of support services to financial advisers who work in and with the professions.To qualify to join, financial advice firms must be independent; directly authorised by the FSA; fee-based (includes commission offset but not commission option); with at least one adviser qualified at least to Diploma standard; and with a clean regulatory record.

SIFA membership, providing the following benefits
  • The Members' area of www.sifa.co.uk, containing compliance, marketing material and support services
  • Comprehensive Members' Compliance Manual, with all necessary TCF and other precedents, regularly up-dated.
  • Free twice-yearly local member group meetings with FSA/SRA compliance up-dates & business development
  • Telephone and e-mail helplines, including the pensions help desk.
  • Fortnightly "Cockerill's Law" members' bulletins.
  • SIFA DataBank web site, containing product data, comparison tables and preferential terms.
  • Discounts on Synaptics tools, Analytics and PlanLab systems, Selectapension, Platforum due diligence reports, PI cover and printing.
  • Product and market bulletins "What's new on DataBank", "Market Eclectica" and "Top Fund picks".
  • 8 Client newsletters per year, in Word for personalising or cannibalising.
  • SIFA handbooks: Trustinvest; Financial Solutions for Estate Planning; Working with Personal Injury Lawyers; Working with Matrimonial Lawyers, The Later Life Handbook; Marketing to Solicitors. One free handbook per adviser paid for (additional copies £10 each; non-members £25 each)
  • Trade association representation with FSA and Solicitors’ Regulation Authority.
The cost of SIFA membership is £150 pm inc VAT + £25 pm inc VAT for each of up to 4 advisers (minimum 1 adviser).

SIFA's optional compliance monitoring service provides on-site visits by SIFA’s Compliance Director Ian Cockerill, followed by comprehensive commentaries and file review reports and costs £1,500 + travel for a single visit OR £4,000 + travel for 4 visits p.a. OR £2,750 + travel for 1 visit + 3 on-line virtual visits p.a.

SIFA Professional membership, providing all the SIFA membership benefits, plus the following:
  • One day per year of the time of a SIFA Director for business up-date meetings or solicitor meetings or seminars (additional meetings or seminars supported by a SIFA Director are charged at £850 [inc travel and VAT] per day).
  • Law Society CPD accreditation for members' own approved events (subject to £25 Law Society charge)
  • Free copies of SIFA handbooks for distribution at solicitor seminars supported by SIFA.
  • Entry in the Law Society endorsed Directory of Professional Financial Advisers, which is carried on the solicitor-facing site www.sifa-centre.info and accessible via the Law Society web site www.lawsociety.org.uk
  • Coded click-through to firms' own Directory page from members' sites using the SIFA Centre logo.
  • Access to the SIFA Professional protected area of the SIFA web site for precedents, slides, marketing material, local Law Society listings, and arrangements for events.
  • Hard copy marketing material available free of charge either for an initial supply or unlimited
  • Free telephone and e-mail advice to solicitor connections on compliance and organisational issues.
  • Complimentary copies of The Solicitors’ Manual for Financial Services, the financial services ‘bible’ for solicitors.
  • Licence to use the SIFA Professional logo and (for solicitors) the Solicitors Independent Financial Advice logo.
  • Monthly Law Society CPD accredited webcasts to which members can invite solicitors (cost £25 pm inc VAT).
  • Access to the SIFAPORT cloud-based web service for exchanging client data with solicitors.
    • Supporting advertising in the Law Society Gazette and regular articles in the legal press.
  • Personalised marketing material with Law Society endorsement logo.
The cost of SIFA and SIFA Professional membership (minimum 1 adviser) combined is £270 pm inc VAT + £25 pm inc VAT for each adviser listed in the SIFA Directory (a single adviser can be listed in respect of more than one office).

NOTE: Membership is for a minimum period of 12 months and subject to three months’ notice thereafter.

The SIFA/ DWF joint venture documentation kit, containing on disc and in hard copy precedents for AR and directly authorised and multiple JV shareholder agreements; one-to one and multiple JV Articles of Association; management agreement; and client referral and internal training documents and costs £750 (VAT exempt) for SIFA members and SIFA Professional members and solicitors, and £1,500 for others.
Membership Application Form