Investment Services and Costs

We will provide you with an initial consultation free of charge

This helps us to understand your financial objectives, and we will confirm how we can support you in working towards these goals. We will also discuss the cost, and our services both initially and throughout our relationship with you.

Financial Review and Recommendation

This can be a continuation from the initial discussion, where agreed, or by further appointment. This process covers:

  • Gathering of information about your existing financial arrangements and full personal circumstances;
  • Understanding of your investment knowledge and attitude and tolerance towards investment risk;
  • Recommendation of an asset allocation model that matches your risk profile and the subsequent assessment and suitability of any existing holdings;
  • Preparation of our recommendations to you;
  • Arranging a second appointment to explain and discuss our recommendations in detail.

Advice Arrangement and Implementation

Should you instruct us to proceed with (any of) our recommendation(s) we will act for you in the following ways:

  • Handle all fund and policy administration on your behalf;
  • Provide regular updates to keep you informed of progress;
  • Ensure all your documents are issued in line with your expectations;
  • Provide confirmation of all actions taken on your behalf in writing.

For clients new to our firm a fixed initial amount of £750 is charged. In addition, to arrange the initial investment transactions agreed, Sterling will charge 0.50% of the amount transferred/invested.

We will deduct our charge from the recommended product before your money is invested.

In the table below we have provided examples of the initial charge to expect based on various account values: –

Amount Invested Fixed Initial Charge Percentage Charge Total Charge in £ Total Charge as a %
£100,000 £750 £500 £1,250 1.25
£200,000 £750 £1,000 £1,750 0.88
£300,000 £750 £1,500 £2,250 0.75
£500,000 £750 £2,500 £3,250 0.65
£750,000 £750 £3,750 £4,500 0.60
£1,000,000 £750 £5,000 £5,750 0.58
£1,500,000 £750 £7,500 £8,250 0.55
£2,500,000 £750 £12,500 £13,250 0.53
£3,500,000 £750 £17,500 £18,250 0.52
£4,000,000 £750 £20,000 £20,750 0.52

 When regular monthly payments are recommended, we apply a fixed charge equal to 10% of the first year’s contributions subject to a minimum fee of £500 and a cap of £1,200.  The table below provides examples based on different amounts saved:

Monthly Amount Saved Typical Charge
£100 £500
£250 £500
£500 £600
£1,000 £1,200

 

  • A married couple and their dependent children are considered to be a single client for the purposes of the fixed initial charge.
  • We usually seek your consent to deduct the initial charges from your account once established, but investors can choose to settle our charge directly if they wish.
  • Initial charges can sometimes be higher than those shown above. Certain transactions can be particularly complex and/or time-consuming.  We would inform you immediately if we felt our typical costs would not apply.
  • We will never undertake chargeable work without your consent.

Typical Ongoing Charge

We apply an ongoing charge in return for helping you efficiently manage your wealth.  A full list of services will be provided in our formal agreement with you (Service and Charges Agreement) but, to summarise, it will include the following:

  • Review recommended funds every three months and report to you should a change in fund selection be warranted
  • Annual desk-based review and, where necessary, report to you should we feel it’s necessary to adjust asset allocation or funds of your portfolio in line with pre-agreed level of portfolio risk
  • Annual provision of portfolio valuation
  • Invitation to arrange annual review meeting, at which point we shall assess any changes in your circumstances or objectives and provide advice on any alterations that may be required as a result

We recognise that, usually, those investing for long term growth in a single product require less service than an individual with multiple accounts requiring an income.  Our ongoing charge reflects this.  We will discuss the level of service required to manage your account with you and confirm which rate will be applied.

Our ongoing charge is percentage based.  Our ongoing charge is deducted from your account monthly.

The charge starts at 0.70% of the account value per annum for a simple standalone solution that requires limited ongoing service.  We charge 0.85% of the account value per annum for moderate service requirements and 1% per annum where a more intensive service is required.

We have provided several examples of the rates and amounts charged in the table below to help illustrate the cost of ongoing advice: –

   
  0.70% 0.85% 1.00%
Account Size Monthly Account Deduction
£100,000 £58.33 £70.83 £83.33
£250,000 £145.83 £177.08 £208.33
£500,000 £291.67 £354.17 £416.67
£750,000 £437.50 £531.25 £625.00
£1,000,000 £583.33 £708.33 £833.33
£1,500,000 £875.00 £1,062.50 £1,250.00
£2,500,000 £1,458.33 £1,770.83 £2,083.33
£3,500,000 £2,041.67 £2,479.17 £2,916.67
£4,000,000 £2,333.33 £2,833.33 £3,333.33