Fairer Fees: We Are Entirely Fixed Fee
Why Fixed Fees?
For decades, the percentage-based fee model has dominated the financial advice industry.
However, this model was designed for a bygone era when financial advisers primarily managed investments.
Today, the role of advisers has evolved dramatically. We help clients navigate the complexities of tax planning, retirement strategies, estate considerations, and financial independence.
Percentage based fees simply aren’t appropriate any longer.
The Problems with Traditional % Based Fees
1. Conflicts of Interest
When advisers’ compensation is tied directly to portfolio size, their incentives do not align with those of their clients. For instance:
Advisers are incentivised to maximise invested assets, even when a client may be better off paying down debt or maintaining cash reserves.
Higher-risk investment strategies might be recommended to boost portfolio growth, even if they exceed a client’s risk tolerance.
Retirees might be steered away from annuities or other options that deplete the asset base despite these being in their best interest.
2. Unfair Pricing
The percentage-based model penalises those with larger portfolios. Someone with £2 million in assets might pay up to 4x the fees of someone with £500,000, for exactly the same service.
This creates a distorted pricing structure where:
Larger clients subsidise the advice provided to smaller clients.
Advisers are incentivised to prioritise larger clients to maximise revenue, so those with smaller portfolios are more likely to be neglected.
3. Lack of Transparency
Clients don’t know ahead of time how much they’re going to pay each year, and the fees are often deducted invisibly from portfolio assets. Many clients are unaware of how much they are paying or how those fees impact their long-term financial outcomes.
Fixed Fees: A Better Way
1. Transparent and Predictable Costs
Fixed fees are straightforward and transparent. You know exactly what you’ll pay and can budget accordingly.
This clarity ensures that you fully understand the value of the services you receive.
2. Aligned Incentives
With fixed fees, our compensation is independent of your portfolio size.
This allows us to focus solely on your best interests, whether that involves investing, spending, or paying down debt. We have no incentives other than what’s best for you.
3. Fairness Across Clients
Fixed fees ensure that everyone is charged based on the complexity and scope of their needs, not their wealth. This creates an equitable pricing structure where all clients receive the attention and care they deserve regardless of their portfolio size.
4. Cost Efficiency for You
With the traditional percentage-based model, someone with £2 million in investments might pay between £10,000 and £20,000 every year in advice fees (0.5% to 1.0%).
With a fixed-fee approach, your fees would be more like £4,000 to £8,000 a year, based on how complex your financial needs are (see for yourself with our comparison calculator below).
Our Fee Structure
Initial Advice Fees: £500 setup fee, plus £500 for each pension transfer and £250 for each ISA or General Investment Account transfer.
Ongoing Advice Fee: Annual fees start at £4,000 a year, increasing to £6,000 if one of the following applies and £8,000 if both apply:
You Are Approaching or in Retirement: if you’re within five years of retirement or already retired, you require more detailed cashflow modelling and income planning.
You Have Complex Investments: such as Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs), Enterprise Investment Schemes (EISs), Business Relief investments, onshore/offshore bonds, Family Investment Companies, or discretionary trust structures.
This tiered structure ensures that fees reflect the level of work involved in managing and optimising your financial plan.
What’s included?
Investment Planning: Advice on choosing and managing investments in ISAs, General Investment Accounts, and pensions.
Tax Planning: Recommendations on how best to structure your investments to reduce your tax bill.
Annual online check-ins: A yearly video call to review your financial plan, make updates, and ensure you’re staying on track.
Advice on Complex Investments (if required): Expert advice on more specialist investment structures such as VCTs, trusts, onshore/offshore bonds, and more.
Personalised Retirement Planning (if required): A step-by-step plan tailored to your retirement goals, covering:
How much you should save for retirement.
Calculating annual allowances and limits.
Determining when you can afford to retire.
Assessing your spending ability during retirement.
Personalised Estate Planning: Strategies to help you protect your wealth and pass down more of your estate to your chosen beneficiaries.
Comprehensive Cashflow Modelling (if required): In-depth financial forecasts, including:
Stress testing to prepare for unexpected scenarios.
Stochastic modelling to analyse a range of retirement outcomes.
Exploring FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) possibilities for younger clients.
Regular Meetings: Ongoing in-person or virtual meetings to review your plan, track progress, and make adjustments as your needs change.
And something good for the planet: as part of your fees, we plant a tree for you every year. Each tree removes just under 1 tonne of CO2 from the atmosphere. We’ll even let you select which kind of tree you’d like, and where you’d like it planted.
We also have a light-touch predominantly digital service for those with smaller portfolios- if you think this is a fit for you, please get in touch.
See How Much You’ll Save
A study by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that the average total costs for financial advice in the UK were around 1.90% per year. This includes both the ongoing advice fees (0.80%) and the costs of investing (1.10%), including platform fees, underlying fund charges and transaction costs.
With our fixed fee model, most clients will pay significantly less. Find out for yourself using our free fee comparison calculator: