Relationships are important to us and we believe that getting to know each other is a crucial first step towards building a financial plan. With this in mind, our initial meeting is at our expense (with the exception of travel costs if applicable).
First steps
In this initial discovery meeting, we discuss the service you are looking for and our fee structure. We then follow up with a summary of the main points discussed, an outlined plan for your finances and an indication of the next steps required.
If you decide to proceed further, we will agree a fixed fee based on your personal requirements. Our initial fee is typically between £2,000 and £4,000 and is payable immediately, ahead of any work commencing. This fee includes a review of your existing pensions and investments, a lifetime cash flow forecast (if appropriate) and a formal recommendation.
Should you wish to move forward with our recommendation and engage our services, an implementation fee will be agreed, with the initial fee already paid deducted from the amount due.
These fees are between 1% and 3% of funds invested. We typically charge 3% on the first £100,000 of funds, 2% on the next £100,000 and 1% on all remaining funds thereafter.
As an example, an investment of £250,000 would incur an implementation fee of £5,500.
Ongoing service
We know that the process of reviewing and making necessary adjustments is fundamental to the success of any long-term plan. Our continued advice and administration, including an annual report and meeting; personalised updates (annual/biannual dependent on service level) and ad hoc commentaries when something interesting happens – such as a budget or an unexpected change to the economic outlook – is provided for by our ongoing fees.
These fees are calculated on the basis of assets under management, at a rate of up to 1% per annum.
As an example, an investment portfolio valued at £250,000 would incur an annual fee of £2,500. Typically, our fee is deducted from your portfolio.
External charges
The only other fees you’ll see in your statements are platform and investment fund charges.
The platform is the custodian of your money and investment funds are where the platform invests your money. Fund managers levy fees in a fairly complex manner, including: an annual management charge, transactional charges, incidental charges and potentially discretionary management charges.
All formal recommendations from us fully disclose these fees but for simplicity they are consolidated below as investment fund fees.
| Based on a portfolio1 of £150,000, the ongoing fee for our Saving & Review Service may be: | ||
| Gibson Lamb’s fee | 0.50% | £750 |
| Platform fee | 0.30% | £450 |
| Investment fund fees | 0.26% | £390 |
| TOTAL | 1,06% | £1,590 |
| Based on a portfolio of £600,000, the ongoing fees for our Retirement Planning Service may be: | ||
| Gibson Lamb’s fee | 1.00% | £6,000 |
| Platform fee | 0.29% | £1,740 |
| Investment fund fees | 1.27%2 | £7,620 |
| TOTAL | 2.56% | £15,360 |
1 This is the charge for Vanguard’s passive LifeStrategy 60% equity fund (moderate risk).
2 This is the charge for our Responsibly Managed level 3 (moderate risk) portfolio.
As a small professional financial planning firm, our fees are not subject to VAT because the ‘provision of advice with intermediation’ is exempt from VAT.
Figures correct as at January 2021.