Has anyone used a wealth manager after coming into money?

[MadamMim666]

Hi there,

Has anyone ever used a Wealth Manager after coming into some money? My DH have recently found ourselves in a fortunate position and I'm scared of fucking it up. I know nothing is perfect and that markets can go up and down, but I wondered if it would be best to speak to a professional who can advise us how to use the money to protect our future?

What sum of money are you talking about?

Unfortunately, I have no experience of this, but I think if you have a substantial amount it would be well worth having advice from a professional.

A friend of mine has found her wealth has rocketed due to her own hard work - she's in a creative field - and she's found it incredibly useful to have advice.

I’ve used and use a financial adviser and made investments accordingly, so I didn’t put my inheritance on black whilst carousing in the desert

I would have had no idea what to do with it otherwise

But not a wealth manager- is there a threshold?

if you do do this just ensure they’re reputable, preferably by recommendation

Yes we have/are, but it depends on how much wealth we are talking about - they are expensive for ‘smaller’ sums.

Thanks so much for the replies. Yes, good question! Maybe what we need is a financial adviser as opposed to a wealth manager. We're talking about £700k right now and potentially another £700k over the next few years. My DH has resisted us taking advice from anyone so far. I know enough about ISA's and pensions etc..., but this is out of my league. I want to make this money work for our and our DD's future.

We have used a firm for a similar amount to yours, good advice re tax. We also enquired about another firm which I thought was independent but they are a franchise for St James Place who are often complained about. I looked through their fund performance list and they do not score well. High management costs in my humble opinion..

I had Power of Attorney for one of my wealthy relatives so had spent a lot of time dealing with her financial advisor. He (as above, self-employed but ultimately a St James's Place agent) had actually done relatively well for her and if I knew absolutely nothing I possibly would have been tempted for myself.

However, I have been investing since my teens and have also done relatively well for myself. Things like corporate financial analysis, asset allocation, stock-picking were all things I'm quite competent in and couldn't really see the point in paying someone else to do.

Nevertheless, when I started coming into seven figure sums I did invite several financial advisors as well as wealth managers in private banking to basically pitch to me.

I never really intended to use one, but it gave me the chance to compare my strategy with that of several others and make sure I was on the right track, and it also gave me a couple of ideas to do with tax efficiencies which I hadn't previously been aware of.

Yes. Had one for 12 years. Couldn't have managed my money without him. He's great

For £1.4m you need to make sure you're not paying for a level of advice you don't really need. Wealth managers focused VHNWIs+ are going to offer services and very personalised advice you don't need and so shouldn't be paying for. Your advisor should be able to explain exactly what they charge and what additional costs there will be on top of this. As well as fees, you need to find out whether there is any sort of exit fee- I would always avoid this.

You might find a financial planner covers your needs rather than a full wealth management service. See eg https://www.jacksons.life/how-we-help (this is the planning service of the people behind the Meaningful Money podcasts- very reputable. Not suggesting you necessarily use these guys- just an example of what people offer and charge). You can see what is covered by their ongoing service and what they charge for this (0.7% at your asset level, so £9800 a year)- you can decide whether you actually need the ongoing service or whether one-off advice getting things set up would be enough. It would be completely reasonable to manage it all yourself and take occasional one-off advice on bigger decisions- just depends how much time and effort you want to put in.

I’d go for a local independent adviser. Ask for recommendations on local Facebook or people you know.

Yep you need financial advice not wealth management. They tend to barely see several million as worth their while....

Usually there is a minimum amount they deal with and fees are proportionately higher for smaller sums, then there are set up fees for each product etc.
Honestly, wealth management needs mid 7 figures to be worthwhile

Our wealth manager took us on as a charity case with £700k investable assets. Usually need £1m to make it worth their while. Our chap helped us as we’re friends with one of his big clients. It’s been hugely helpful for us as due to our jobs dh and I can’t pick shares ourselves so investing needs to be arms length. Over 15 years we’ve had great returns as we are allowed to access “sophisticated investor” products that you can’t get retail.

not sure it’s worth your while to use a wealth manager per se but you do need good advice .

The other things being with a wealth manager has helped with has been high value house insurance, transferring large sums of money from abroad and tricky re-mortgaging with a large loan on said high value house. So if you might need those extras a wealth manager has all those experts on staff

Financial advisor not a wealth advisor (who tend to charge higher percentage fees). I would check fees first of all but yes, use them for basic tax advice and portfolio management

I have used an independent financial adviser for some years now, particularly for my private pensions.

I used to work as an administrator for a good, self-employed IFA, who began helping me get all of my finances together and into better shape. He is sadly no longer with us but I have kept to the investments set up.

I have recently taken on another financial adviser this year following the death of my lovely DH, and then just three months later of my 91 year old mother. ☹️ This has meant that substantial sums have been coming to me via inheritance (return of pension account, death in service benefit amongst others) and I need to invest most of it so that it won't become fritter money and will give me some further income.

So I would certainly see a good IFA. I now have two IFAs, the one I sourced myself a few months ago and now the one who has dealt with my parents' finances for years who is helping with that and with probate. I'm pleased with both. The investments do well and I don't even notice the costs as the benefits far outweigh them.

You might have access to this via your bank. We did as Royal bank of Scotland is in the same group as Coutts (all part of NatWest) and had a few meetings both online and in person who went through all the options and what our goals and timescales are.

Coutts definitely wouldn't welcome an investment of this size and their efforts to maintain the relationship would be minimal. Online interface is also not great.

Be aware that your bank can only offer their own products, not whole of market.

A wealth manager is for multimillionairesand is normally associated with a bank unless you're much higher worth. If it's anyone who will talk to you for less, they're probably scamming you. What you want if it's less it's a financial advisor.

I would book a one off appointment or series of appointments with someone to get advice but don't enter into any kind of ongoing contract or agreement or buy any investments through them.

They can end up creaming off fees on an indefinite basis that sound trivial but 1.5% or so of a lot is still a lot to hand over that you could have kept.

Once you've mastered the basics you can select appropriate accounts eg ISA SIPP (don't forget Junior ISA and SIPPs) and the remaining in a general investment account and just choose a low cost global index fund.

Personally I use vanguard as an investment platform (not advice) and am very happy with them. I've educated myself about personal finance but I understand not everyone has the time or interest.

They are probably the lowest priced large well known provider where you can phone up and speak to a human if you have any issues.

Cheaper platforms exist but don't have the long established track record and human assistance should you need it. I really value this as I've had to contact someone with queries several times.

Thanks so much for the advice all! It definitely sounds like a chat with a Financial Adviser is what we need, opposed to a Wealth Manager. I've been recommended a FA at The Private Office. I'll have the free 30 min chat and see what's what. We have ISAs, pensions and are looking into ETF's (also been looking into Vanguard @Charliede1182) and possibly property. I quite like the Martin Lewis adage of not investing in stuff you don't understand.