The cost of our Service

The Financial Services Authority (FSA)

The FSA is the independent regulator of financial services. It requires us to give you this document when advising on some savings and investments. You may use this information to compare value for money, to shop around and to decide which firm to use.

Our services

We offer an initial discussion (without charge) when we will describe our services more fully and explain the payment options. If you decide to go ahead, we will:

• gather and analyse personal information about you, your finances, your needs and objectives;
• recommend and discuss any action we think you should take and, with your agreement, arrange relevant investments for you.
• We provide a full, thorough and professional service geared to providing truly Independent Financial Advice to Individuals and to Businesses . We will discuss and agree individual product advice or complete financial strategies as appropriate.

What are your payment options?

Not all firms charge for advice in the same way. We will discuss your payment options with you and answer any questions you have. We will not charge you anything until you have agreed how we are to be paid. We have ticked the payment options we offer.

Paying by fee. Whether you buy a product or not, you will pay us a fee for our advice and services. If we also receive commission from the product provider when you buy a product, we will pass on the full value of that commission to you in one or more ways. For example, we could reduce our fee; or reduce your product charges; or increase your investment amount; or refund the commission to you.

Paying by commission (or product charges). If you buy a financial product, we will normally receive commission on the sale from the product provider. Although you pay nothing up front, that does not mean our service is free. You still pay us indirectly through product charges. Product charges pay for the product provider?s own costs and any commission. These charges reduce the amount left for investment. If you buy direct, the product charges could be the same as when buying through an adviser, or they could be higher or lower. We will tell you how much the commission will be before you complete an investment, but you may ask for this information earlier.

Paying by a combination of commission and fee. In some circumstances, we also charge a fee on top of any commission we might receive.

How much might our services cost?

If you choose the fee option We will agree the rate we will charge before beginning work. We will tell you if you have to pay VAT.
Our typical charges are:

Principal/Director/Partner

£150-250 per hour

Financial adviser

£100-150 per hour

Administration

£25 per hour

If we are delivering Advice on the Investment of Lump Sums, we may charge a fee which is a percentage of the amount Invested. Please ask for details.

If we agree a Fixed fee, that may relate to a percentage of the amount invested please ask us for details. We will agree the rate we will charge before beginning work. We will tell you if you have to pay VAT. You may ask us for an estimate of how much in total we might charge. You may also ask us not to exceed a given amount without checking with you first.

If you choose the combination of commission and fee option.

We will charge you a combination of fees and commission. The actual amounts will depend on the service provided to you, but will not exceed the total of the maximum fees set out above and the maximum commission set out in the tables which can be downloaded here.

If you choose the commission option

Tables 1 and 2 show examples of the amounts of commission we could receive (or the equivalent we earn through product charges) and compare those amounts with the market average. The amounts vary according to: the type of product, the amount you invest, and (sometimes) how long you invest for, or your age when you start the product. We will confirm the actual amount to you before you buy a product.