Looking after all of our clients’ interests is our top priority, so for us that also means adopting a new and fairer approach to charging for our services.
‘Traditional’ advisers will charge a percentage based on how much money you invest with them; so basically, the more you have invested, the higher fees you pay. We don’t think that is fair. This approach to fees means that other firms are often incentivised to invest their client’s money at a higher level, in order for them to earn higher fees.
So, what happens when the market goes up? Over extended periods of time, global investment markets tend to go up and this means that the ongoing cost to you is also going up if it’s linked as a percentage to the money you’ve invested. In this instance, your financial adviser will be earning higher fees with the probability that no additional service is actually being delivered.
But what happens when the market is falling? This is a time when you will certainly be relying on your financial adviser to pull out all the stops and give you sound advice, guidance and reassurance. However, this is also a time where they will be earning lower fees from your falling investment, and possibly may not be that keen to invest too much personal time in you.
If the fee is linked to a percentage of your investments they may not be that keen in encouraging you to spend and enjoy your money either as this would result in them being paid a lower fee!
But this all assumes that you need to invest your money, which may not necessarily be the case. Through Lifestyle Financial Planning you will begin to understand what level of return you need on your money to achieve your objectives. What if you found you could achieve your objectives without taking any risk with your money whatsoever? If that was the case why take any risk in the first place? Traditional advisers want you to take risk so they can get their hands on your money and get paid.
What makes us any different? All of our planning and advisory fees are flat – which means we give you expert advice which focuses on you and not your money, helping you avoid the mistake of investing in things you don’t need; our sole purpose is to help you achieve your financial and lifestyle goals and help you make sense of your money. We believe our flat fee charging structure removes any potential conflict of interest, strengthens client confidence in us and creates a relationship that is 100% with you – and not with your money.
Our fees have no worrying and confusing percentages. You will have complete financial clarity about our advice costs presented in a way that is totally transparent and easy to compare. Most importantly, we are confident that the value of service we offer, will far outweigh our fees.