Services and fees
We like to offer our clients a personal service in today’s ever more impersonal, online world, We do, though, use the best, leading edge technology to provide you with a personal website, giving you access to both us and your investments, anytime, anywhere.
Communication is key to our business
Straightforward advice you can rely on and understand
We’ll listen and take the time to understand your personal circumstances, concerns and needs so our recommendations are right for your circumstances. We’ll give clear, straightforward advice you can rely on. We make sure our recommendations are simple and straightforward, so you have a full understanding of our advice and why it’s the best possible solution for you. And we’ll stay in regular touch to make sure you know what’s happening, and that our advice is still right for you, as life moves and changes.
If you’re a new client, an initial consultation is free of charge. We’ll let you know how and if we can help. We may need to meet again to gather further information before presenting our initial recommendations. If you go ahead, our implementation and review charges will be a straightforward percentage of your investment, paid from your investment. We don’t have a complicated menu of fees or work on an hourly rate. Our initial fee is 1% of any funds we arrange to invest or transfer with a minimum initial fee of £2,000 for new clients. Our annual fee is 0.8% of funds we look after for you.
Our Services
About us
WHAT WE DO FOR YOU
We are Independent Financial Advisers, directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Our Services
Philip James Independent Financial Advice is able to act on your behalf in advising you on investments and non-investment insurance contracts.
- Investments – we offer an Independent advice service. We will recommend investments based on a comprehensive and fair analysis of the market. We will place no restrictions on the Investment Markets we will consider before providing investment recommendations unless you instruct us otherwise. We will however, only make a recommendation when we know it is suitable for you. Investments include products such as unit trusts, open-ended investment companies (OEICs) and personal pensions. We do not advise on non-regulated investment products.
- Non-investment, Protection and General Insurance – we offer non-investment protection products e.g. term assurance, income protection and critical illness, from the whole of the market.
- Mortgages – We are not limited in the range of both first charge legal mortgages and second charge regulated mortgage products that we will consider for you. We offer a comprehensive range of mortgages from across the market
We treat all our clients as “retail Clients” unless you request otherwise or unless we are advising you as a trustee, corporate entity or employer. This means you are provided with the highest level of protection under the regulatory system and should have the right to take any complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Our Advice Process – How we go about advising you
Initial Consultation – Financial Review
- At our initial meeting (which we may carry out online or by ‘phone) we will discuss your financial objectives and gather information about your existing financial arrangements and full personal circumstances to give us an understanding your situation.
- At the end of the meeting we will confirm how and if we think we can help you.
- We will tell you about services the service you can expect from us, our Client Website and what we think makes us different.
- We will explain the costs involved, and how you will pay for services both initially and throughout our relationship with you.
Analysis and Recommendations
- Any advice or recommendation that we offer to you will only be given after we have completed the ‘fact finding’ process which will start at our initial consultation.
- We will need to have an understanding of your investment knowledge, attitude to investment risk and tax position.
- We will take into account any restrictions that you wish to place on the type of products you would be willing to consider.
- We will complete an analysis and, if we decide we are able to help, will prepare recommendations which we will present and discuss in detail with you. This will include details of any special risks associated with the plans and products recommended.
Implementing our Recommendations
If you ask us to arrange and set up the plans we have recommended, you can expect us to:
- Act as your intermediary with product providers to handle fund and policy or wrapper administration on your behalf.
- Provide regular updates to keep you informed of progress and ensure all necessary documents are provided.
- Confirm all actions taken on your behalf and a provide written confirmation of the suitability of our advice.
Continuing Service and Reviews
- You will be able to see your portfolio and policy information via your Client Website, which you can access via an app on mobile devices and which includes a secure messaging service.
- All documents relating to any of your investments, plans and policies which we have arranged, or which you have asked us to monitor for you, will also be available to view via your Client Website.
- You will receive our regular (weekly) email updates (‘An independent financial adviser’s view’) and we will contact you if there are any significant changes which may affect the advice provided.
- Your financial and personal objectives are likely to change over time and so it is essential to ensure that our recommendations continue to meet your objectives and be appropriate for your circumstances. We will contact you each year to offer an online, telephone or face-to face review.
- This will include a discussion of your objectives, risk profile and any tax changes affecting you; and of the suitability of investments, plans and policies which we have arranged or which you have asked us to look after for you.
- We will provide valuations of your investments, confirmation of the fees and charges you have paid and handle all necessary intermediation with product providers.
What will you have to pay us for our services?
- An Initial Consultation is free of charge. We will then, if we decide we are able to help you, present our initial recommendations.
- Assuming you then ask us to act as intermediaries and implement our recommendations you will pay for our services on the basis of an adviser charge. This is a percentage of the amount you invest and is usually collected and paid to us by the product provider. The amount will always be confirmed in monetary terms before you confirm that you are happy to go ahead with our recommendations.
Arranging and Setting up your Investment, Pension or Retirement Benefits
Our charge for arranging investments is 1% of the amount invested or transferred. For arranging an annuity, it’s 3%. The recommended provider pays this to us from your investment. Our minimum initial fee for new clients is £2,000.
Continuing Service and Reviews
Our annual charge is 0.8% of the value of funds on which we provide continuing intermediation (act as intermediaries with financial product providers) and is paid to us on your behalf by the product provider, usually on a monthly basis. This covers the cost of reviews and continuing administration.
Pure Protection and General Insurance Policies
We will not charge a fee for arranging pure protection and general insurance policies but will receive commission from the product provider. You will receive a quotation, which will tell you how much commission we will receive, both initially and in future years.
FAQs
There is no charge for an initial consultation where we will tell you how and if we can help you.
Our initial fee is 1% of any money we invest for you and 0.8% each year of the value of your investments.
Our fees are taken from investments and pensions that we look after or arrange for you, and paid to us by the provider.
You will pay us when you decide to proceed and our fees will be taken from any investments we arrange for you.
We have no minimum investment but do have a minimum initial fee of £2000 for new clients.
No, our fees are based on the value of investments we arrange and manage or look after.
We regularly compare our fees with those of other independent financial advisers to make sure that they are competitive.