Telephone
01797 252527
Email
mike@montgo.co.uk
How Services Are Paid For
An initial telephone discussion or meeting of up to an hour is offered without charge. The purpose of this session is to give you an opportunity to assess whether you feel comfortable in using me, for me to obtain information on your personal and financial circumstances and for us to clarify your financial objectives and the nature of the work that you require.
If you decide to appoint me as your IFA all work is chargeable at a rate of £125 per hour. VAT is payable in addition for some services.
A timesheet is sent with each invoice which shows the work done, dates and the time spent in minutes.
A pure fee means no commission is received and all work is chargeable by invoice. An alternative way to pay is commission offset. Here commissions received on transacting new business for you or taking over the servicing rights on existing investments and policies will reduce the fee or cover it entirely.
If commission exceeds a fee the excess will be paid to you in some way. For example if I advise and arrange an investment portfolio for you for £75,000 and the time spent is 10 hours, my fee will be £1,250. A typical commission rate is 3% i.e. generating £2,250. The excess of £1,000 is either re-invested into the investments to enhance their terms, usually by reducing initial charges, paid as a cash sum to you, used to cover the cost of other work or kept on your timesheet as a credit for future use. Please note cash rebates of commission from pensions or annuities are not possible as this breaches HMRC rules.
Fee based advice may appear more expensive especially when you receive an invoice but it is deceptive. A commission based adviser will normally pocket the whole £2,250 which you ultimately pay for out of product charges.
The cost of reviews can be covered by excess initial commission, ongoing fund commission, typically paying 0.5% p.a. of the value of an investment, direct fees or a combination of these.
Unlike items 9 and 10, our menu is clear!
J F, Surrey