How we are paid
On receiving your enquiry we invite you to come to our office (or if this is not possible at your place of work or home) for a preliminary meeting, with no obligation on either side. The purpose of this meeting is firstly to establish whether we are able to assist with your needs and help you meet your objectives, and secondly to discuss how we would be paid for our counsel and services once you have instructed us to proceed.
No fees are charged for the first meeting unless you subsequently decide you wish to appoint us. Of course at that early stage we do not know if we can be of assistance to you and you will not necessarily know whether we are the right type of adviser for you – however, no specific advice can be given until such time as we have been appointed. Should you decide to appoint us there is no charge in respect of the first half an hour of the original meeting, but the remaining time is then brought into account with ongoing work undertaken.
We work wholly on a fee basis, either at our standard hourly rate or for a fixed fee for an agreed plan of work. At all times, we will ensure that you are fully aware of any costs involved, before a commitment is made. Fees will usually be based on time spent and evaluated at a rate per hour calculated to recover our costs. Fees attract an additional VAT charge. (see Legal Information)
Where we move on to implement the financial plan by arranging, for instance, a life policy or pension plan, we may be entitled to be paid commission by the provider, usually an insurance company or an investment house for the successful placing of business. We will always tell you about any potential commission levied on any product before a transaction is executed.
Commission is the cost associated with the marketing and distribution of a provider's product and is effectively payable by the client.
Historically, commissions have been used to meet the cost of the advice given by the consultant or firm providing the advice, although some products do not have a commission element built in, thereby possibly indicating some bias towards commission loaded products.
As a wholly fee based adviser, we believe that the commission is effectively yours to dispose of as you see fit, which might be reinvested into the product as extra unit allocation, or used to meet the cost of our advice. We believe that, where financial products are involved, this approach ensures that you always receive “impartial” financial advice and allows you the choice as to how we are paid.
How Do We Get Paid? - in summary
Wholly by fees agreed with you at outset - Initial commissions rebated as required
Strategic Financial Planning Fee - Indication given at outset
Research & Implementation Fee - Hourly rate (typically around 1% plus VAT)
Ongoing Review or Retainer Fee - up to 1% pa plus VAT of AUM (Assets Under Management) - depending on programme selected
What Do The Fees Cover?
- The Generic Wealth Management Solutions Programme (Generic Financial Management plc intellectual capital) - The Financial Plan
- Accurate Implementation (Professional Responsibility)
- Risk Management
- Investment Research and Asset Allocation
- Legislative Analysis
- Opportunities and Threats Assessment
- Ongoing Strategic Planning Advice
- Technology and Rebalancing
- The Financial Bulletin Service
- Specialist Staff/Expertise