Remuneration Options

Fee Based Advice

We are more than happy to work on a fee basis. Our adviser fees range from £170-£250 per hour, depending on the level of advice required, and we will agree with you the appropriate rate for the type of work we are carrying out on your behalf. For administrative work we charge £60 per hour. Usually we will agree an initial ‘upper ceiling’ for our fees, typically £1,000. If and when this has been reached will advise you and seek your further instructions. An individual fee agreement will be provided and fee accounts are payable within 30 days of submission. Where we work solely on a fee basis any commissions that might be payable by a product provider would be refunded to enhance the terms of any product recommended.

Fee Offset

For some clients it is more appropriate for us to work on a combination of both fees and commission. This is particularly relevant where advice is being sought that may result in unknown or low levels of commission compared to our time input. We will keep a notional fee account open, in the same way as described above, also with an initial upper ceiling, but we will offset any commissions receivable against these fees. We will advise you of the level of fees incurred and commissions receivable as soon as we can. If the commissions received are less than the accrued fees we will submit a fee account, but only for the balance. Any surplus commissions, however, are 'carried forward' to cover ongoing services, reviews and subsequent advice.

Commission

Historically, this is the principal way in which advisers have been remunerated. If you buy a ‘financial product’ we will normally receive commission, brokerage or introductory fees from the product provider. Although you pay us nothing up front, or on an ongoing basis, this does not mean our service is free. You still pay us, albeit indirectly through the product charges. These pay for the product provider’s own costs as well as any commission, brokerage or introductory fees. These charges may reduce the amount left for investment, reduce the investment performance or add to the premiums being charged. If you were to try and buy direct the product charges may be the same as buying through an adviser, although they could be lower or even higher. We will tell you how much commission we will receive before you agree to proceed with a ‘purchase’ or you can ask us for this information earlier. The level of commission can vary considerably with the type of product. But, for any given product type there is often little to differentiate one provider from another. For many people the thought of having to pay a fee, or the sheer fact that they would struggle to find the money, is enough to put them off seeking advice and in many cases the commission route is the only real option.