Advice Process
From our first interaction to your ongoing financial reviews, we take special care to make this process as straightforward as possible.
Every client is unique, so how meetings are conducted depends on your individual situation. Dependent on the various stages, we may gather the information we require face to face or electronically.
How we charge for our services
Initial Fees:
1. For lump sum Investments or Transfers:
Our fee for this service is based on a percentage of the amount you invest and/or transfer.
These fees are applied as follows but are subject to a minimum of £500:
| Amount Invested and/or transfered | Percentage Charged |
|---|---|
| Up to £150,000 | 3% |
| £150,000 to £300,000 | 2.5% |
| £300,000 to £500,000 | 1.5% |
| £500,001 + | By negotiation |
3. For Regular Premium Investments
Our fee for implementing a regular saving or investment plan is based on the amount of time it takes. We will provide you with an estimate of how many hours we expect this to take and we will agree a fee based on our hourly rates, as follows:
There is however a minimum timescale of 3 hours for this service, which results in a minimum fee of £600.
For regular premium investments, you may be able to pay our implementation fee in instalments taken from the premiums. These instalments will reduce the amount left for investment and please note that in the case that the provider cannot accept this arrangement and you would be expected to settle the initial fee directly by cheque.
For example, if your monthly contribution is £480 and the total implementation fee is £800, based on 4 adviser hours, this could be collected by deducting £200 from each monthly contribution for the first 4 months. The full implementation fee of £800 will have been paid and therefore no further instalments would be due.
Should you cancel the regular contributions to the investment, the balance of any outstanding fee instalments will become due by direct payment.
Based on the above example should payments cease after month 2 (and £400 has been collected) the difference between this and the implementation fee of £800 would be charged i.e. £400.
2. Our fees for the Financial Review and Recommendation.
Our fee for this work is based on our hourly rates as follows:
We will estimate how many hours we expect this to take and agree on the fee with you before we begin this work on your behalf. For example, you ask us to review several of your existing pension plans, which we estimate will take four hours of adviser work. We agree a fee of £600, based on four hours’ work at £150 per hour and provide you with a written pension review report. Our minimum fee for Financial Review and Recommendation work is £400, based on two adviser hours. In certain circumstances, using one basis over another or a combination of the two may be preferable. Your adviser can explain these options further.
| Type of Advsier | Rate Per Hour |
|---|---|
| Chartered Financial Planner/Director | £250 |
| Qualified Independent Financial Adviser | £200 |
| Paraplanner | £150 |
| Administrator | £75 |
| Type of Advsier | Rate Per Hour |
|---|---|
| Chartered Financial Planner/Director | £250 |
| Qualified Independent Financial Adviser | £200 |
| Paraplanner | £150 |
| Administrator | £75 |
Choose how your fees are paid
You can choose how your fees are paid:
1. Facilitated from the investment – on receipt of the investment or transfer, the recommended investment provider can facilitate the payment of our fee by making a deduction from the amount invested. Fees paid from the investment will reduce the amount invested into the recommended plan.
2. Direct fee payment – you can pay the fee directly, for example by cheque. No initial fees will be collected via the recommended investment.
Where we receive the above fees, we may waive our Financial Review and Recommendation fee. For Example; further to agreeing to a Financial Review and Recommendation fee of 450, you subsequently ask us to arrange investments on your behalf totaling £100,000. Our Arrangement and Implementation fee would be £3,000 and as this exceeds the Financial Review and Recommendation fee, the £450 fee would be waived. Please note where advice is given on pension transfers there may be an additional fee depending on the complexity of the ceding pension scheme. This would be agreed with you before commencing this work.
Our Protection Services and Costs
Similar to our investment services above, we will provide you with a personal and financial review prior to making our recommendation(s) to you. Should you accept our recommendation(s) we will arrange the implementation of this/these for you. The reasons for our recommendations will also be provided to you in a written report. We do not charge a fee for our insurance and protection services as we will normally receive commission from the policy provider. You will not be subject to VAT for this service.
Ongoing Fees
Ongoing Annual Investment fee - If you invest money through us, we will begin charging an ongoing annual investment fee of up to 1% of the investment amount. The charge for this service will be in addition to our hourly advice charges for an investment proposal and financial planning services.
We provide four ongoing service levels Light, Core, Enhanced and Bespoke.
To cover the cost of the ongoing service, there is an ongoing adviser charge based on the amount invested. We have estimated the fees suitable for each On-going Service Level to ensure clients have clarity on how much they are paying and which services they should expect.
These fees are based on the following criteria:
The number of meetings we expect to hold
The number of policies managed
The level of complexity of the client affairs
The amount of money managed
At your initial meeting you will be asked to review these fees and agree the appropriate Ongoing Service Level and charge.
The amount you pay will fluctuate with the value of your investment; if your investment increases in value the amount you pay us will also increase and if your investment falls in value the amount you pay us will reduce.
The charges listed above can be deducted from your investments or paid directly by you. You should note that when paid through the investments it may reduce your personal tax thresholds and/or exemption levels. Where this happens, we will discuss it with you and confirm it in your personal recommendation report.
Should you decide to cancel our agreement to provide ongoing services you must provide written confirmation of your decision and we will cease payments for these services within 7 business days and after collection of any due proportion of any periodic charges.
Our ongoing service includes:
A choice of differing levels of support depending on your needs
A predetermined number of structured reviews per annum with your dedicated adviser
Assessment of your circumstances and any changes to your plans that are needed
Regular updates and information regarding your holdings
Online access to investments via our client management system
Administration support for existing policies
Regular financial updates
For more information on our advice process and fees, including review meetings, and how we are regulated, Click Here to view our Client Agreement and Service Proposition document or contact us!