Our core belief is doing the Right Thing for the Right Person at the Right Price and Ed has been working on this principle, and on fees agreed with his clients, for over 20 years. There are different ways in which fees can be calculated and collected but the main thing is that each client needs to get value for money, and as a business we need to make a profit.
When we first begin to work with a client we aim to produce a Scope of Work specifying what will be done and what will be delivered at the end of the process, and agree a fixed fee for that work. Whether that fee is paid by you or from an investment or other financial product is your choice.
If you prefer, we can work on a time basis, charging by the hour, and in this instance we will provide an estimate of the likely cost. However, this will be an estimate and not a minimum/maximum and the final cost will depend on a number of factors. If we are likely to exceed our estimate then we will let you know as soon as possible. Where time is spent unnecessarily because third parties, such as pension companies, cause problems we will always aim to recover that extra cost from the third party.
Our hourly rates are currently £300 per hour for advisory work, £175 per hour for paraplanning work (generally work conducted by an advisor to meet regulatory requirements that could be done by a non-advisory qualified individual) and £75 per hour for administration support work. Hourly rates will be reviewed each year in March and may increase from April, normally in line with inflation.
Whichever option you choose, we charge on a time basis for implementing any recommendations made in the planning. As important as implementation is, it is inherently an administrative function and the true value lies in the advice not the investments or products that may result from the advice.
Our normal fee basis is to charge 0.75% of the investments and pensions on which we are advising, subject to a minimum fee of £1,500pa and a maximum fee of £9,000pa. Normally this will be collected either by monthly standing order or as a monthly payment from your portfolio.
The minimum and maximum fee figures will be reviewed in March each year and may increase from April, normally in line with inflation. However, you will be informed before any increase is implemented.
Ongoing advice services will then be provided as below and, where a service is not noted as covered by the annual fee a further fee will be agreed if this service is required
Bronze Service applies where charged portfolio values are between £200,001 and £400,000 at each review point and will cost between £1,500 and £3,000pa;
Silver Service applies where charged portfolio values are between £400,001 and £800,000 at each review point and will cost between £3,000 and £6,000 pa;
Gold Service applies where charged portfolio values are between £800,001 and £1,200,000 at each review point and will cost between £6,000 and £9,000pa
You have the option to work on a time cost basis instead of the percentage basis. In this case we will agree with you what services we will provide as standard during a year and provide an estimate of how much we believe this will cost. This will be subject to a minimum fee of £1,500pa, which will be taken by monthly standing order of £125pm. We will then bill you every six or twelve months, as agreed, for additional time spent and provide a full account of that time based on the hourly rates noted above.
* Services can be adjusted to meet your specific circumstances
Where we have provided a piece of one-off financial advice and there is no agreement to provide ongoing advice, we will charge for time spent on any further questions, revisions or requests. If the further work is sizeable enough we will agree a Scope of Work and fixed fee as before.