How much do you pay your IFA and are they worth it?

[JadeVS72]

Just potentially starting a relationship with an IFA. Do you love/hate yours? Are the fees worth it?

Interested in this as so far I've chosen to do the DIY route and not to use an IFA. I decided this after a bit of research and looking at some very useful comments (Money Saving Expert forum is great).

As for "is it worth it" - I think personally this would have to be decided by how large an amount of money you have / how complex it is / what additional compliacating factors you may have.

I also found this from "Which"
"The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says advisers charge an average of 2.4% of the amount invested for initial advice and 0.8% a year for ongoing advice (1.9% p.a with underlying product and portfolio charges factored in)."

Good luck with making your decision and I'll be interested to see what other people say.

Like mine. We have been using him for 6 years but mostly in relation to my BTL and also for mortgages. I’ve not paid him anything so far -he has just been paid via the commission on the products we have had but obviously it all depends on what you need them for.

I will probably have a fee to pay for investing some inheritance at a later date but I have been separately advised to never agree percentages and to always pay hourly rate instead. You always pay more if it’s percentages. I think ours charges about £175/hour but I can’t say for definite.

we’ve been looking at this recently too. Met with two IFAs so far, one we don’t earn enough / have enough to invest for them to take us on 🤣. The other I felt unsure about and since the meeting a couple of things he said have turned out to be bad advice.

I’m speaking with another firm next week and in the meantime reading up myself.

around £4K per year with portfolio of >£2m between me & DH. This is a fixed up-front fee that covers everything (no commissions, no extras).

he is great - sorts investments, pensions, tax planning etc. one meeting per year to make decisions plus comprehensive statements for doing taxes, and so I don't have to think about investments the rest of the time.