Fees and Commissions

We offer either a fee based service to our clients or the more traditional commission option.

Both have their places in the delivery of financial advice to our clients. No IFAs work for nothing and we have a service requirement to be upfront with the client in describing the costs of our services

Commissions

You  may feel that this is the most appropriate option for you. Our Key Facts About the Cost of our Services compares our maximum commissions with the industry average ( a most peculiar FSA requirement!). We aim to be competitive and generally agree the most appropriate commission rate with our clients before commencing any work.

Although the commission route involves no direct expenditure by the client, they do ultimately pay for it in product charges. The other disadvantage of the commission route is that IFAs only get paid for arranging a particular policy or mortgage. If there is only a nominal commission (or indeed no commission) on a product or there is no need for a product to be recommended, the commission route is unprofitable for us and we would normally agree a fee for the work to be carried out.

IFAs have in the past taken the rough with the smooth and accepted this position on the basis that unprofitable work is subsidised by others. We do not feel that this is necessarily equitable or fair in some cases.

Fees

Fees are a transparent way of paying for our services and we are happy to work on this basis. We work from a fixed price menu of options and give a fairly firm estimate of the costs of any work that we are to carry out on your behalf. See our charges here

Offsetting Fees

We can operate a commission offset arrangement for fee based clients which generally reduces or eliminates the fee payable. Clearly, if we have agreed a fee with the client and then receive commission we need to account for the commission to the client since we are not entitled to keep it. It is up to the client to decide if the product is enhanced or the fee offset by commission received.