Flat Fee Financial Advice

Our mission at Sandringham-Darlington is to offer clients high quality financial advice at a fair, transparent and easy to understand fee. We think it is important that as a prospective client, you can clearly see the value for money in our services and importantly, understand what you will pay and when throughout the advice process.

Initial fees will vary depending on the complexity of advice required and we charge a flat ongoing fee of £1,975 per person p.a. to carry out a comprehensive annual review. If you are a couple and both have plans under our management, the second annual fee is discounted to £1,000, giving a total cost per couple of £2,975. If you are married but only one person holds plans with us the charge is £1,975 as per an individual.

Our comprehensive review service includes:

• Office Hours Support from your adviser
• Annual Precision review pack
• Ongoing appraisal of suitability of investment solution and product provider
• Fund switch recommendations and rebalancing (where required)
• Offer of face-to-face meeting at least annually
• Updated cashflow models
• Bed and ISA processing
• Drawdown Reviews
• Change to an existing regular contribution

Initial fees can either be settled directly or in most cases are deducted from the plan. Ongoing Fees are taken proportionally each month and again can be paid directly or in most cases are taken from the plan. The below case studies are intended to give an indication of our initial and ongoing charges in a variety of different circumstances. Our fees will always be quoted to you in full after our first meeting before making a commitment to proceed with advice.

Cases which require specialist advice such as Defined Benefit Pension Transfers, Transfers of Pensions with Safeguarded Benefits, Trusts, and Tax Efficient Investment Schemes such as Enterprise Investment Schemes and Venture Capital Trusts may be subject to additional charges. Once again, these charges will be fully disclosed, before moving forward with advice.

To see if you could save by a move to fixed fees try our fee calculator.

Mrs Jones has a defined contribution (money purchase) pension worth £263,000 which was accrued during her service with a previous employer. Mrs Jones has recently moved jobs and wants to ensure that this pension continues to be managed and reviewed so that it remains suitable for her long term needs.

Sandringham-Darlington conducted a full review of the pension, recommending a move to an alternative lower cost arrangement, along with a change to the underlying investment solution to align it with Mrs Jones’ personal risk profile and financial objectives.

£1,500 (equivalent to 0.67% of £223,000)

£1,975 (equivalent to 0.89% of £223,000)

Mr and Mrs Smith are considering retiring in the next 12 to 24 months and have accrued various pensions throughout their working life. They are keen to understand what income this will provide for them in retirement and how long they can expect their funds to last, given their income needs.

Mr Smith holds two Defined Contribution Pensions worth a total of £360,000. Mrs Smith holds 3 pensions worth a total of £420,000. In addition to this they have cash savings of £70,000 and a small stocks and shares ISA each of £15,000.

Sandringham-Darlington provide Mr and Mrs Smith with a comprehensive cash flow plan which considers all of their pensions, savings and investments, along with their income needs in retirement, providing a detailed projection against which to make informed choices in retirement.

£4,400 (equivalent to 0.54% of £810,000)

£2,975 (equivalent to 0.37% of £810,000)

Mr Williams has recently sold his share in a manufacturing business for £1.5m. He is looking for advice on how to invest this money tax efficiently and to help support his retirement planning. In addition to this Mr Williams has benefits in a Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) of £385,000 and a portfolio of stocks and shares, which he self manages. Mr Williams is an experienced investor and has an adventurous attitude to risk.

Sandringham-Darlington provide advice on switching the investment solution within the SIPP to one which is designed for income drawdown and put in place a tax efficient drawdown strategy for the pension. In addition to this we recommended investment solutions including a stocks and shares ISA and a General Investment Account, for some of the proceeds from the sale of the business.We also recommend investing in an Enterprise Investment Scheme, a specialist, tax incentivised investment in smaller companies to benefit from favourable Inheritance Treatment (via Business Relief) alongside providing Income Tax Relief and the potential for Capital Gains to deferred.

EIS are a specialist and often higher risk investment. Charges are higher to reflect the additional due diligence and research needed when recommending such a solution.

£5,250 (0.28% of £1,885,000)

£1,975 (0.10% of £1,885,000)