Five questions to ask your wealth manager before singing up

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Wealth Management Questions

It may seem daunting to trust and choose a wealth manager for your financial future, but it’s actually very easy to approach them and find out if they are right for you. If you are worried about what to ask a potential wealth manager, we’ve spoken to the experts and put together some initial questions to get your started.

Wealth managers differ significantly in the services they offer. Some are online only digital wealth managers offering access to investment products through a range of pre-chosen ETFs, some focus on ethical investments, others only offer their own selection of funds, whilst some offer access to the entire marketplace of investment and savings products.

Top five questions to help you choose a wealth manager

We spoke to Ben Covey,Β  Head of private clients at 7IM to find out what the most important questions are that you should ask any prospective wealth manager on expertise, investment philosophy, performance, costs and relationships:

  1. Can they handle all your financial planning and tax needs?
  2. What is their approach to investing and what tools do they use?
  3. How have their investments performed, and do they deliver on promises?
  4. Are their fees and costs fully clear and transparent?
  5. Who will be your advisor, and what does the relationship team look like?

Make sure you also ask about fees

It’s important to ask about fees, in particular exit fees. If you don’t get along with your wealth manager you need the option to leave and switch to another wealth manager without being penalised financially for doing so. After all, you could be using the same point of contact for twenty years. So it’s important you have a good relationship with them.

Some large wealth managers, charge up to 6% of the value of your portfolio when you leave. In many cases, this acts like a handcuff as if you have Β£1m under administration with them, the fine for moving is Β£60k.

Most wealth managers are upfront about costs but do note it is hard to compare wealth management fees directly as many offer different service levels. For example, some include advice for free but have a higher annual fee, whilst others have a lower annual fee, but charge extra for advice

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