Vestra Wealth Management?

dunstonh

Domain.Rider wrote: »

Maybe times have changed - when I was looking, most of the ones I talked to were after about 1.5% pa, and a couple at 1% wanted dealing fees on top.

Thanks, I'll have another look around.

You are looking at the bundled retail charge that everyone gets paid out of. Not just the IFA. The most typical amount that the IFA gets is 0.5% (although there is a trend to 1% on smaller values as cross subsidy starts to go away). The rest goes to the platform/distributor and the fund house.

Domain.Rider

dunstonh wrote: »

You are looking at the bundled retail charge that everyone gets paid out of. Not just the IFA. The most typical amount that the IFA gets is 0.5% (although there is a trend to 1% on smaller values as cross subsidy starts to go away). The rest goes to the platform/distributor and the fund house.

Quite likely, I don't recall the details now.

I did see one online today that had his charges laid out:

£250 + VAT for the investment plan.
3% for initial lump sum investment.
0.5% annual review fee.
No charge for rebalancing portfolio or fund switching.

Sounds reasonable, although they're too far away; if I can find similar terms a bit closer, I might be tempted.

Rollinghome

Domain.Rider wrote: »

Sounds reasonable, although they're too far away; if I can find similar terms a bit closer, I might be tempted.

I haven't noticed how much you have to invest but if it's a reasonable amount you should easily find someone offering those terms. You should be aware though that due to the problems in the industry, the FSA as part of the Retail Distribution Review is banning the payment of sales commission to IFAs by the product providers from the end of this year.

A better way to get advice is to pay for the actual work involved. See http://www.candidmoney.com/intro/financialadvice.aspx for the different ways to get financial advice. There's similar advice on the Which? website.

It's been said on this thread that IFAs can't recommend ITs. They can, see http://www.candidmoney.com/questions/question344.aspx Because ITs don't pay sales commission many just haven't bothered to get authorised.

You might also be interested in this article on the warning given by the FSA concerning Wealth Management companies http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/14/fsa-warns-wealth-management-firms-investment-risk It shows that an investigation by the FSA revealed that 79% of the cases investigated had a "high risk of unsuitability" and carried more risk than the clients had been led to believe.

It's tempting but dangerous to rely on the idea of a cautiously managed portfolio and equally tempting for the manager to increase the risk to improve the returns in order to cover their high fees.

Any one in any doubt about that should google for Arch Cru - funds that were sold as being "cautious managed" before the firm was shut down by the FSA. http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/investing/article-2096380/JEFF-PRESTRIDGE-Arch-Cru-investment-fund-scandal-lengthy-list-shame.html

Domain.Rider

OK, looks like I've got some more reading to do...

Vestra seem pretty well thought of, and I always check up to see what they've bought on my behalf - so far the product commentaries on trustnet, ft.com, morningstar, etc., broadly match what I'd expect, and Vestra send me a written explanation of the reasons for the change which always seem reasonable - but I guess there's no harm seeing what else is available.

Thanks for the interesting links.

Aegis

Domain.Rider wrote: »

Quite likely, I don't recall the details now.

I did see one online today that had his charges laid out:

£250 + VAT for the investment plan.
3% for initial lump sum investment.
0.5% annual review fee.
No charge for rebalancing portfolio or fund switching.

Sounds reasonable, although they're too far away; if I can find similar terms a bit closer, I might be tempted.

Depending on how much you're investing, that could be very high. Typical maximum for investments is 3%, this adviser wants 3% plus a flat fee, which would suggest high costs. However, it's difficult to say how expensive this is without knowing what you are looking to do and how much of your investment will be affected.

The 0.5% per annum is fairly typical, but could start to be expensive if your portfolio is significant. It's also dependent on what your IFA will actually do for this. If it's literally just designed to cover the annual review, then be sure they will also contact you mid-year if circumstances change enough to warrant a change in portfolio composition.

planteria

Domain.Rider wrote: »

It was originally a mini insurance ISA with the Druids Sheffield Friendly Society that was converted into a stocks & shares ISA, but the society retained a specified interest rate format for the customer, which has dropped over time, but still remains extremely competitive.

i'm interested in this Domain.Rider. was that the return, or actually an agreed interest rate?