How We Are Paid

Investment

You will pay for our services on the basis of either commission only, fee only or a combination of both fee and commissions. We will discuss your payment options with you and answer any questions you have. We will not charge you until we have agreed how we are to be paid.

Paying by Fee Only (Fee Only Option)

Whether you buy a product or not we will ask you to pay a fee for our advice and services. This fee will become payable upon completion of the work. If we also receive commission from any product taken out we will pass on the value of that commission on to you either by reducing our fee, reducing product charges or increasing the investment amount. These will be discussed and agreed with you. Our typical rates for fees are as follows: Technical Pensions £150 per hour, Adviser £120 per hour, Administration £40 per hour.

We will confirm the rate we will charge in writing before beginning work and we will tell you if you have to pay VAT. You may ask for an estimate of how much in total we might charge. You may also ask us not to exceed a given amount without consulting you first.

Paying by Commission through product charges (commission only option)

If you buy a financial product we will normally receive commission on the sale from the product provider.  Although you pay nothing to us upfront, that does not mean our service is free. You still pay us indirectly through product charges. Product charges pay for the product providers own costs and any commission. These charges reduce the amount left in for investment. If you buy direct from a provider the product charges could be the same as when buying through an adviser, or they could be higher or lower. The amount of commission we will receive will vary depending on the product, the amount you invest and sometimes how long you invest and your age. For example

• If you invest £100 per month in an ISA we would receive commission of up to 4% of all payments and up to 0.75% of the value of your fund each year.
• If you invest a lump sum of £100,000 in a pension, unit trust or investment bond we would receive commission of up to 4% of all payments and up to 0.75% of the value of your fund each year.
• If you invest in or buy a regular premium policy we would typically receive commission of up to 135% of the first years premiums

We will tell you how much commission will be paid before you complete an investment (usually on a product illustration) but you may ask for this information earlier.

The commission we receive may include payment for ongoing services and financial reviews.

Paying by a combination of fee and commission (through product charges)

We will charge you a combination of fee and commission. The fee will not exceed the rates shown above in the paying by fee section. We will agree the rate to be charged before beginning work and we will tell you if you have to pay VAT. The fee will become payable on completion of our work. You may ask for an estimate of how much in total we might charge. You may ask us not to exceed a given amount without checking with you first.

We will tell you how much commission we will be paid before you complete an investment (usually on a product illustration) but you may ask for this information earlier.

For details on what commission may also be taken please refer to the section above "Paying by Commission".