Where do I find a financial advisor specialised for high net worth clients?

Grumpy_chap

amyk01 said:

I have a NW of 7 figures and need financial advice. 

amyk01 said:

I think I would feel more reassured with a somewhat reputable name I’ve heard of e.g does the likes of Coutts etc offer this kind of service?

Key to your whole strategy will be whether you have a total NW of 7 figures, just scraped over the magic line and that NW includes PPR equity and pension fund, OR you have assets of 7 figures to invest. 

Coutts, for example, appear to require that you will

• invest more than £1m,
• or borrow more than £1m
• or have annual income over £1/2m

before they'll consider you as a Client for either banking or wealth management services (though they don't make this easy to find on their website).

Albermarle

I’ve searched unbiased and locally I can only find the names of small firms

Small local  firms with maybe two or three IFA's and some assistants is probably what would be best .

Remember they only offer advice and set up any new investments needed. These investments will be with large financial companies .

 does the likes of Coutts etc offer this kind of service?

I am sure they do , but I think more aimed at the very wealthy and with a hefty price tag.

One useful point to note that the more you understand yourself , the more you will understand what an IFA is talking about , rather than maybe feeling blinded by jargon etc .

It's like its better talking to a car mechanic when you know a bit about cars .

Cus

Do you have any friends of the same wealth that would recommend someone?

Albermarle

According to the ONS, to scrape the top percentile, you need about £2 million, but the statistics are a few years old. It is probably nearer £3 million now. One in a hundred is not rare. The poorer members of society cannot afford an adviser.
Just to clear that is £2m as an individual . For a household £2M would 'only' get you in the TOP 5% That was from 2018 so probably higher now. 

GeoffTF

Albermarle said:

According to the ONS, to scrape the top percentile, you need about £2 million, but the statistics are a few years old. It is probably nearer £3 million now. One in a hundred is not rare. The poorer members of society cannot afford an adviser.
Just to clear that is £2m as an individual . For a household £2M would 'only' get you in the TOP 5% That was from 2018 so probably higher now. 

Yes, that is a good point. It is also worth noting that many people in the south have houses worth £millions. People with £millions of investments are less common, particularly in the north. IFAs typically charge 1% p.a. to look after investments, that is £10K p.a. per £million, along with a set up fee that often larger. Nonetheless, we cannot say what is appropriate for the Original Poster (OP). he should be able to find an IFA who will make an assessment for a reasonable fee. Clearly, the more the OP learns beforehand the better.

longleggedhair

I wouldn’t consider 7 figures as high NW, it’s fairly standard across most middle class people, at least not out of the ordinary. In London you would only need a 2 bedroom flat in certain areas to quality! Pass the sick bucket anyone?

Albermarle

longleggedhair said:

I wouldn’t consider 7 figures as high NW, it’s fairly standard across most middle class people, at least not out of the ordinary. In London you would only need a 2 bedroom flat in certain areas to quality! Pass the sick bucket anyone?

I think 'fairly standard ' is  overegging it . Even most people living in two bedroom flats in London, will have a mortgage still to pay, sometimes a large one.
To have  One Million Pounds in net assets as an individual , would put you in the TOP 5% of UK population .
However for a household to have the same amount is more common , about 15% of households .

Albermarle

GeoffTF said:

Albermarle said:

According to the ONS, to scrape the top percentile, you need about £2 million, but the statistics are a few years old. It is probably nearer £3 million now. One in a hundred is not rare. The poorer members of society cannot afford an adviser.
Just to clear that is £2m as an individual . For a household £2M would 'only' get you in the TOP 5% That was from 2018 so probably higher now. 

Yes, that is a good point. It is also worth noting that many people in the south have houses worth £millions. People with £millions of investments are less common, particularly in the north. IFAs typically charge 1% p.a. to look after investments, that is £10K p.a. per £million, along with a set up fee that often larger. Nonetheless, we cannot say what is appropriate for the Original Poster (OP). he should be able to find an IFA who will make an assessment for a reasonable fee. Clearly, the more the OP learns beforehand the better.

Typical IFA fee for an account this size would be 0.5% but as you say there would be a fairly large initial fee.

Alice_Holt

Of your 'NW of 7 figures', how much is available to be invested ? 

What are your long-term financial aims ?
What is your attitude to risk ?
How would you react if a large lump sum was invested into risk assets, and the global stock markets fell ? 
What spending plans do you have for the next few years, and would your personal cashflows support these ?
Have you pension assets in place, what life style do you require in retirement ?

I would suggest you need to consider these issues before engaging an IFA.
Blithely handing over your money to a personal finance professional may not "fix" your finances.
For the best outcome you need to set the parameters, an analogy might be the client / architect relationship.      

  

GeoffTF

Albermarle said:

GeoffTF said:

Albermarle said:

According to the ONS, to scrape the top percentile, you need about £2 million, but the statistics are a few years old. It is probably nearer £3 million now. One in a hundred is not rare. The poorer members of society cannot afford an adviser.
Just to clear that is £2m as an individual . For a household £2M would 'only' get you in the TOP 5% That was from 2018 so probably higher now. 

Yes, that is a good point. It is also worth noting that many people in the south have houses worth £millions. People with £millions of investments are less common, particularly in the north. IFAs typically charge 1% p.a. to look after investments, that is £10K p.a. per £million, along with a set up fee that often larger. Nonetheless, we cannot say what is appropriate for the Original Poster (OP). he should be able to find an IFA who will make an assessment for a reasonable fee. Clearly, the more the OP learns beforehand the better.

Typical IFA fee for an account this size would be 0.5% but as you say there would be a fairly large initial fee.

The price he paid would no doubt depend on his knowledge, ability to shop around and negotiating skills. Nonetheless, he would almost certainly be paying a percentage platform fee too, and possibly paying for unnecessarily expensive funds. I am down near 0.1% for everything, but that is exceptional.