As part of our Ethical approach in doing business, we ensure that potential clients are fully informed of the charges that they will be subject to……. We advocate Full Transparency.

So how are clients charged..??

• Establishment Charge ** – this is the fee to set up the policy or platform. This can either be deducted from the initial investment amount (i.e. 2.5% fee so 97.5% of the amount is then invested) which is what we generally do with investments into direct Platforms such as Ardan International……….. or when dealing with an Offshore Life Company Policy (such as RL360 or Investors Trust), 100% of the investment amount is invested, with the establishment fee being deducted over a period of 5, 8 or 10 years (re: below). 

• Product / Policy Charge – this does vary depending on the type of product (Direct Platform or Offshore Portfolio Bond). A Platform will generally have a set product % fee & this is based on the daily value of the portfolio. So a simple, straightforward charging structure. 

Offshore Portfolio Bonds will generally have a set amount quarterly service fee (approx. £ 100 per quarter) irrelevant of the policy value. There will generally be an additional policy service fee which is payable over a period of 5, 8 or 10 years and this amount is determined by the level of commission being received by the adviser. This policy service fee is a set % amount and is based on the amount that was invested. So if the value of your policy reduces through taking withdrawals or from market movements, this % charge will still be applicable on the initial investment amount.

• Portfolio / Account Management Charge – this is generally a set %pa fee which is charged on the actual value of the account / policy, which is payable to us. This is to cover our ongoing portfolio and account management as well as ongoing advice & services. 

• Underlying Fund Manager Charge – all of the underlying investment managed funds and ETF’s do charge an ongoing management fee, which is deducted from the gross performance of the fund. Generally the more active, equity type funds will have a higher charge where as passive funds such as ETF’s and bond funds will have a much lower charge. We will use the lowest charging version of the fund available to ensure that more of the funds profits are maintained in the investors’ pockets. 

The Sustainable Ethical Portfolio Allocations that can be found here currently have a Total Expense Ratio (TER) of 0.61%pa (Cautious), 0.69%pa (Balanced) and 0.81%pa (Growth).

We will not hide the fact that we do receive revenue from the establishment of investment accounts and policies as well as for the ongoing management of these accounts. But will justify the fees we receive by ensuring that you are recommended the right product for your specific individual needs and that the underlying investments have been chosen to meet your financial objectives….. and that we use the lowest charging structure available.

** The Establishment Charge does depend on what is required by the investor and what services have been used. If we are looking at a straight forward investment placing, the establishment charge will be lower than for a situation where there is individual personal planning & strategic work involved, such as estate planning, tax minimizing or pension planning.

Each client and their requirements are dealt with on an individual basis. If you would like to receive further information or speak directly with us, please click here