Am I expecting too much from my investments??

[DatGirlBellamy]

I've been wondering whether I'm expecting too much, or whether I need to rethink my financial adviser.
He's been looking after my investments for a few years and is very cautious. I appreciate that he's trying to protect my money, but last year my overall return was only about £11k, and it feels like my investments are just ticking along rather than helping me get closer to the life I'd like in the future.
He tends to stick with more traditional investments and doesn't seem very interested in newer products or different strategies. Maybe that's sensible, but I can't help feeling I'm missing opportunities.
Has anyone else reached a point where they questioned whether their adviser was too conservative? How did you decide whether to stay put or look elsewhere? Or is this just what investing is like these days?

If he steers you to cryto he’s not a legitimate financial advisor as it’s incredibly risky and not FCA protected. I suggest you start educating yourself on which funds your money is held with. Fidelity are a very good investment platform and you don’t need an advisor.

Crypto is very risky and you won’t get a regulated IFA to invest in that. 6% on a cautious risk is good

So people have already mentioned some things - redo your risk assessment level.
Check your fees & costs & compare them
Your annual return is what's important so if its £11k over 2 years your % is lower & do you reinvest or take as income?
However you also have to consider where it's invested is it ISA, SIPP or GIA
Is any in fixed term investments if so when at what rates
That's just to start with

Have your own pocket money where you invest/dabble in high risk products if you like. But keep most of your capital in a safe place.

We have a varied portfolio but none in crypto so far as I know…!

Bit bemused why my somewhat anodyne reply has been hidden! Was it the mention of the C**to word?!

Crypto! No financial adviser would go near that. People boast about all sorts of things! They can easily lose everything!

Mine is too! How bizarre! I mentioned C word too! Has MN got an intelligence bypass today?

Have a chat to him about your risk level, but I would first say how important is this money to you, as in- can you afford to lose it?

That is the reality with entering more risky investments, yes you can make a fortune but
you can also wake up one day and find it has all gone. Investments can recover but they don’t always, no guarantees.

You need to ask yourself if you’d rather get a safe 6% on 162k or increase the risk and accept that 162k could become £1.6mil or £162

They get flagged and manually moderated. I think it's fair given how rife spam/scams in the C-word area are. My post took a few minutes but it did get approved.

Don't confuse risk with volatility...

6% is poor and only just above what you'd get with cash sitting in a savings account.

I've just invested in the Vangard all world (VWRP) which averages 10% each year. All world is slightly safer than the Vanguard S&P at the moment as it is less US heavy.

vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investments/vanguard-ftse-all-world-ucits-etf-usd-accumulating

Whether 6% is a decent return really depends on your situation, age, what you've told your advisor about risk tolerance etc. 6% gain on something very low risk is a completely different prospect from the same return on something high risk- you need to think in terms of risk-adjusted return rather than simply the headline figure. Can you say a bit more about what your advisor has said about what you're invested in and how this meets your needs? Certainly if you are happy with risk and don't anticipate needing to access your investments for 5+ years, you could have done much better than 6% in a global tracker or similar, but that of course comes with volatility.

I would query whether an advisor is really necessary in your situation. If you have a long investment timeline and are happy with some volatility, it's fairly easy to run your investments yourself and save the fees.

£11,000 on £162,000 is about 6.79%, not in line with recent stock market returns, but not too shabby.

Do not follow the crowd into risky financial decisions that you do not understand OP. You will probably regret it.

That's not a great return - I've made about 9% just doing it myself via Freetrade and T212. Most of mine is actually in cash / Treasury Bonds because I'm trying to buy a house, and there it's been at 3.7% (approx) interest. I'd do it yourself and educate yourself on what funds to invest in.

Similar to PP would ask can you just “do it yourself” for that amount depending on the costs they are charging you - fairly easy to chuck into global ETF at low cost

You are right thats pretty low returns honestly. I would consider another advisor and tell them what level of risk you are comfortable with.

I got 22.5 percent return last year on investment from a mix of Nvidia, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, ASML, Tesla, Amazon and Samsung.

If that's all income rather than capital gain, it's very good in a cautiois strategy. I've done better if you include capital gains too.

And crypto is to be avoided unless you are very experienced
No FCA approved would touch it
Most people have lost the majority of their gains in the last 12 months

Its hidden as I mentioned C word
But basically i said you would need to be very experienced to become involved in 5hat & n9 FCA advisor would

Good article on trackers today in the Graun:
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/jun/29/how-tracker-funds-beat-searching-for-shares

It is high risk and they could have also lost the lot. I think its going to depend on your level of risk.
We have an account thats earned reasonably well, think around 12% and then we put a small amount in high risk and thats currently gained 92% in 6 months but there was also a point where this had all but gone to 0 gain so its worth anything like this, being money you are prepared to lose.
A good middle ground is medium risk. But honestly for 6% you are better pulling it out and doing it yourself.

What have you invested in? And how much is your financial advisor taking in costs? Investing in a global index fund should get you better returns than that on average and absolutely no need to pay a financial advisor unless you have a very complex set up.

A well invested portfolio will make good returns over time. Financial advice is not just about investment though. It’s about looking at your whole financial situation, pensions and tax liabilities.

You would have made more in a global equities tracker and fees would have been less.