Financial adviser fees can vary a lot, and are influenced by various factors. These include the amount you want to invest or borrow, the amount of advice you need, and whether the advice relates to a very specialist area. Some products can pay a hefty commission to the adviser, so it’s important that your adviser discloses any commission being paid.
The initial meeting should be free
You can usually have the first meeting with a financial adviser without being charged. But bear in mind that this will be a fairly general meeting, to explain what the adviser can do for you. They should also outline their charges. This meeting is a chance for you to find out whether you’d be comfortable dealing with them, and for them to assess whether they provide the kind of financial advice you need.
They won’t go into your financial circumstances and aims, in any detail, until you decide to sign up with them.
Different ways to pay
Some advisers charge hourly, with currently quoted rates varying hugely, from around £75 to £350. Others charge a set fee or a percentage of the sum you are investing. The latest software for IFAs Software for IFAs allows them to offer much better deals on portfolio management, without resorting to the “robo advisers” you may have heard about –https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/de/Documents/financial-services/Deloitte-Robo-safe.pdf. Even today, most people looking for advice want human involvement to help them make a decision.
Other ways to pay may involve a set fee for a specific activity, such as finding a mortgage or allocating pension assets. Ongoing fees are only paid by those who are getting an ongoing service. Your adviser may even be open to a mix and match approach in which you pay for some services as a fee and others as a percentage. Again, the new software for IFAs helps them to be more flexible.
Remember that your adviser must give you a copy of what they charge for each service before they start advising you. If your situation is very complex, or if you need the advice of a specialist adviser with a raft of qualifications in various areas, you will generally pay more. This is simply a consequence of the fact that advice in your case may involve special research, and will take longer to prepare.