Retiring after 40 years an adviser: Richard Beal discusses his career and true independent advice

Richard Beal, 65, started working in finance aged 25 with Prudential and spent seven years as one of Barclays bank's top performing advisers in the early 2000s. During the last 13 years of his career he worked for IFA LighthouseCarrwood, part of the Lighthouse group, which was acquired by advice giant Quilter in June last year.  After giving independent advice for the past two decades, Beal admits he found the takeover problematic - Quilter is a restricted firm. "If I wasn't retiring I probably wouldn't have stayed with Quilter," he says. "That isn't the reason I retired - it has b...