How do we get paid for our services?

The Commission Myth!

Most high street financial advisers prefer operating on a commission basis for a reason - they tend to get paid more this way and therefore have a vested interest in maintaining this STATUS QUO.

Paying a commission instead of a fee at first might seem attractive; however this does not mean an adviser's service is free. You instead pay your adviser indirectly through EXTRA product charges which pays for the commission.

Furthermore commission payments will of course vary from product to product and from provider to provider and this potentially can create a conflict of interest for a commission based adviser and expose clients to potential adviser abuse.

Why we are fee based!

In our experience once the concept of fees is explained properly, clients much prefer this method over straight commissions.

In most cases a fee is actually CHEAPER but best of all it will increase your chances of having a successful financial planning experience. Our fees are agreed with you in advance so that you remain in control and are able to judge whether you are getting good value for money.

Paying by fee removes the potential conflict of interest that will always be there with commission. It can still be collected from a product (like a commission, this is called fee offset) but crucially its amount is agreed with you prior to its collection. If it is less than the commission normally paid by the product provider you benefit from the reduction in product charges.

Our fees are described in full within our Client Agreement which you will receive at our first meeting.