It is one of the most common questions people type into Google before ever speaking to an adviser: what will it actually cost me? It is also, oddly, one of the questions the industry answers least clearly. This guide sets out how advisers in the UK typically charge, what the common ranges look like, and how to decide whether advice offers value for your situation.
The main ways advisers charge
Since commission on investment products was banned in 2012, UK advisers charge fees directly. You will generally encounter four models:
- Percentage of assets. The most common model. An initial fee is charged on the amount invested or transferred, with an ongoing annual fee for continuing advice and reviews.
- Fixed fees. A quoted price for a defined piece of work — for example, a retirement plan, a pension consolidation exercise or a one-off financial review.
- Hourly rates. Less common for private clients, but used for specific, time-bounded tasks.
- Subscription or retainer. A monthly or annual amount for ongoing access to planning, more common with newer firms.
What do typical fees look like?
Every firm sets its own charges, so treat the following as broad industry shapes rather than quotes. Initial advice on investments or pensions is often charged as a percentage of the amount involved, commonly somewhere in the low single digits, with the percentage usually reducing as the amount grows. Ongoing service is typically a smaller annual percentage. Fixed-fee projects vary widely with complexity, and hourly rates for regulated advice tend to sit in the low-to-mid hundreds of pounds.
Two points matter more than the headline number. First, what the fee includes: a percentage fee that covers ongoing reviews, rebalancing, tax-allowance planning and unlimited access to your adviser is a different service from one that covers an annual statement. Second, total cost: adviser fees sit alongside platform and fund charges, and it is the combined figure that affects your returns.
Questions worth asking any adviser
- Are you independent (whole-of-market) or restricted to certain providers?
- What exactly does your ongoing fee include, and how often will we review?
- What is the total annual cost — advice, platform and funds combined?
- Are you a Chartered firm or adviser, and can I verify you on the FCA register?
- Do you charge for an initial conversation?
Is advice worth paying for?
Research over the years has consistently suggested that advised clients tend to accumulate more wealth over the long term than comparable non-advised savers — through better tax use, more suitable investment risk, avoiding panic decisions in downturns, and simply having a plan. That said, advice is not necessary for everyone: someone with straightforward finances and the time and confidence to manage them may be well served by doing it themselves. Advice earns its fee most clearly when the decisions are large, irreversible or tax-sensitive — retirement, inheritance, business sales, or consolidating a working lifetime of pensions.
How we charge at KMD
We publish our charging structure openly on our Fee Structure page, and every fee is confirmed in writing before any work begins. Your first conversation with us carries no cost and no obligation — it exists so both sides can decide whether working together makes sense.
Book a free initial call or read more about what an independent financial adviser actually does.