The Private Office IFA

westv

Ibrahim5 said:

All IFAs are looking for clients with big funds. Easy money.

True, but this mob are charging a one off fixed fee whereas others charge an ongoing percentage. You are better off with a larger pot.

dunstonh

westv said:

Ibrahim5 said:

All IFAs are looking for clients with big funds. Easy money.

True, but this mob are charging a one off fixed fee whereas others charge an ongoing percentage. You are better off with a larger pot.

But most IFAs charging a percentage will tier their percentage as the amount gets bigger and/or have a cap and collar arrangement.    

Their pdf on charges was based on £1m invested.   And the charges were up to nearly 4 times more than what you can often get.  In our area, a number of the independent small IFAs have caps of between £4k and £5k on the initial.   
Given the price changes to being listed on unbiased now, small independent IFAs cannot afford to be on there, but those charging big client fees can (50 locations on unbiased costs £3272 pm.  Enterprise is bespoke pricing with upto 500 locations - and that doesn't include the cost of enquiries which runs from £52pm)

Aegis

I worked for them a few years ago. At the time I joined, they were all about fair fees and making sure that clients got good value for money, but by the time I left I felt they had shifted their attitude to be all about maximising company revenue ahead of the eventual sale of the business (no idea to whom, but it was regularly talked about as something the senior staff were all about).  I suspect many of their advisers have no real appreciation for how much things have changed in that regard, only that their bottom lines have gone up enormously, but the change in culture from client-focused financial planning to corporate-focused charging for everything was apparent to some of us.  I recall there was a fairly high staff turnover rate at the time, and now fairly few of my former experienced colleagues actually still work there, instead they have trained up their own new recruits to the profession who in many cases have never seen any alternative ways of doing things.

No question, there are some very good advisers either working there or who used to work there, but the company as a whole has in my view lost sight of the idea of providing their services at a fair price, which is backed up by the idea that they would charge nearly £4k to help someone commence their DB pension benefits.

westv

dunstonh said:

westv said:

Ibrahim5 said:

All IFAs are looking for clients with big funds. Easy money.

True, but this mob are charging a one off fixed fee whereas others charge an ongoing percentage. You are better off with a larger pot.

But most IFAs charging a percentage will tier their percentage as the amount gets bigger and/or have a cap and collar arrangement.    

Their pdf on charges was based on £1m invested.   And the charges were up to nearly 4 times more than what you can often get.  In our area, a number of the independent small IFAs have caps of between £4k and £5k on the initial.   
Given the price changes to being listed on unbiased now, small independent IFAs cannot afford to be on there, but those charging big client fees can (50 locations on unbiased costs £3272 pm.  Enterprise is bespoke pricing with upto 500 locations - and that doesn't include the cost of enquiries which runs from £52pm)

Ok. I only have experience of a constant 0.5% being deducted from my portfolio. They seem to charge a large one off fee but nothing after that - unless I am reading it wrong.

Aegis

westv said:

dunstonh said:

westv said:

Ibrahim5 said:

All IFAs are looking for clients with big funds. Easy money.

True, but this mob are charging a one off fixed fee whereas others charge an ongoing percentage. You are better off with a larger pot.

But most IFAs charging a percentage will tier their percentage as the amount gets bigger and/or have a cap and collar arrangement.    

Their pdf on charges was based on £1m invested.   And the charges were up to nearly 4 times more than what you can often get.  In our area, a number of the independent small IFAs have caps of between £4k and £5k on the initial.   
Given the price changes to being listed on unbiased now, small independent IFAs cannot afford to be on there, but those charging big client fees can (50 locations on unbiased costs £3272 pm.  Enterprise is bespoke pricing with upto 500 locations - and that doesn't include the cost of enquiries which runs from £52pm)

Ok. I only have experience of a constant 0.5% being deducted from my portfolio. They seem to charge a large one off fee but nothing after that - unless I am reading it wrong.

I can confirm that they charge ongoing fees in addition to the initial fees. When I left, there was enormous pressure to get everyone onto a 1% annual fee via their Preferred Portfolio offering.  I would be very surprised indeed if they have changed that approach significantly.

interbear

I use TPO for my SIPP. They charge an annual advisor fee of 0.95% plus relevant fund charges which obviously vary depending on the investment strategy and fund choice. Last time I looked total charges on my SIPP were about 2% for the year. Certainly much higher than if I went for a self-managed platform but I happen to value their advice and involvement.  I've used them for approx 5 years now after being matched with them via the unbiased website. I found their initial fixed fee approach to advice and pension planning to be a fair approach and have since found that their advice - at annual review and whenever I contact them with questions - has been pragmatic and independent. I still occasionally baulk at the ongoing fees and ponder switching to a cheaper alternative, but as their advice and performance has been decent and I have no desire to manage it myself, I have stuck with them.

Albermarle

interbear said:

I use TPO for my SIPP. They charge an annual advisor fee of 0.95% plus relevant fund charges which obviously vary depending on the investment strategy and fund choice. Last time I looked total charges on my SIPP were about 2% for the year. Certainly much higher than if I went for a self-managed platform but I happen to value their advice and involvement.  I've used them for approx 5 years now after being matched with them via the unbiased website. I found their initial fixed fee approach to advice and pension planning to be a fair approach and have since found that their advice - at annual review and whenever I contact them with questions - has been pragmatic and independent. I still occasionally baulk at the ongoing fees and ponder switching to a cheaper alternative, but as their advice and performance has been decent and I have no desire to manage it myself, I have stuck with them.

You could say to them that you are thinking of leaving due to the high fees, and you have been in contact with a couple of IFA's who were only wanting to charge just over 1 % in total .
You might just get an immediate discount ! They can only say no.
2% is a lot, especially over many years.