How to choose a wealth manager – 8 things to check

Home > Investing > How to choose a wealth manager

Choosing the right wealth manager will be very different depending on your specific requirements. There will rarely be a single “best” wealth manager for every individual as your needs will differ greatly from someone who has different assets and investments to manage than you do or has different goals in mind to you.

However, there are several ways that you can ensure that you are making the best decision in regards to who will be managing your money.

Do you like them?

Think about who they want to work with – like any company wealth managers may specialise or consider themselves experts in a certain field. True, they should all be able to offer sound financial advice on all of your assets, investments and accounting but some may specialise in certain fields more than others. A wealth manager specialising in property portfolios would be better suited to managing the assets of a property investor than one with an accounting background that may better suit a client with a high number of business interests to keep track of.

How much do they cost?

Check their pricing – the fees and charges matter, if your wealth manager is promising huge returns but charging enormous fees it may mean taking them on is less financially beneficial than an adviser quoting lower fees.

What services do they offer?

Compare the services they can offer – wealth managers generally offer a varied spread of services to help your money grow. If there is something that you need like access to an online portal or weekly face to face meetings but your shortlisted wealth manager cannot offer this it may be considering looking at others that could offer this.

How do they perform?

Look at their performance – finding performance tables for specific wealth management firms is difficult as details are very rarely publicly shared. If you are interested in hearing about your wealth manager’s successes you should ask them about their strategies and how their implementations have benefited their clients. Checking fund manager performance tables is a good check to carry out, especially if you are looking to invest.

They must be regulated by the FCA

Check they are regulated – ensuring that your chosen wealth manager is regulated to operate in the United Kingdom, even if they are based abroad is also sensible. Use the FCA register to ensure that the firm or manager you are working with is authorised and regulated and ask them to provide proof of qualifications or experience before you make your final decision.

Can you meet them?

Find one near to you – if regular face to face meetings with your wealth manager is important to you then you may want to base part of your decision on wealth managers near to you. Alternatively, if you’re happy catching up via telephone or through email or their online portal then proximity may be less important to you. An initial face to face meeting will normally make sense, but choosing a wealth manager simply because they are closer to you may not be the best decision.

What sort of communication do you want?

Consider how often you will want to meet them – if you would prefer regular face to face meetings and performance reviews then it makes sense to choose a wealth manager within a commutable radius of your home or business. You will also need to be upfront about the number and frequency of meetings you will want with them and find out whether they can offer this. It would also be worthwhile finding out if you’ll need to travel to their office for these meetings or if they are happy to come to you and the difference in pricing if both are possible.

Do you trust them?

Choose a wealth manager you can build a rapport with – if you are going to be trusting them with your assets and investing then you will preferably want somebody that you can get along with. This may not seem like the most important factor initially but it will help to have someone you feel comfortable with, especially if you will be working with them over a long period. Here are some questions you can ask wealth managers you speak to that can help you get to know them.

Scroll to Top