2022-03-22 GDD

General Disclosure 

Document 

About us and what we do

Contents 

Page 

Purpose of this document ................................................................................... 3 

Who are we? ........................................................................................................ 4 

Where are we based? .......................................................................................... 5 

Who owns and controls us? ................................................................................ 8 

Our approach to advice ....................................................................................... 9 

How big are we? ................................................................................................ 10 

What financial matters do we advise on? ......................................................... 11 

Our advice process ............................................................................................ 12 

What if something goes wrong?........................................................................ 14 

Your personal data and privacy ......................................................................... 16 

How we are paid ................................................................................................ 19 

How much do our services cost? ....................................................................... 20 

Our customer proposition for ‘Investment Portfolios’ ..................................... 21 

Our customer proposition for ‘Single Investments’ .......................................... 23 

Our customer proposition for ‘Pension Transfers’ ............................................ 25 

Our customer proposition for ‘Pension Planning’ ............................................. 27 

Our customer proposition for ‘Personal Protection’ ........................................ 30 

Our customer proposition for ‘Estate Planning’ ............................................... 32 

Our customer proposition for ‘Hourly Charged Advice’ ................................... 34 

Page 2 of 34 General Disclosure Document 23/3/2022

Purpose of this document 

Financial advice is complicated. Regretfully, there is no getting away from this fact of life. 

The decisions you make regarding financial matters will also be some of the most important 

in your life, both to you and others. Our role as financial advisers is to ensure you are placed 

in a position to make informed and objective decisions about these important matters. The 

purpose of this document is to explain what matters we advise on and how we carry this 

out. 

Choosing a financial adviser is an exercise in trust. We recognise that to establish that trust, 

it is necessary for customers to understand more about us as people and as an organisation. 

The purpose of this document is to set out the essential elements of that information. 

Disclosure is a regulatory requirement. The Financial Conduct Authority set out strict 

requirements for the information financial advisers must disclose to customers at outset of 

any engagement. The purpose of this document is not just to meet those requirements but 

to try to go further in providing you with comprehensive background information. 

Couldn’t you have made this document shorter? Making a document shorter doesn’t 

necessarily make it easier to read. Neither will it convey required information more readily. 

We’ve spent a lot of care and attention producing a document that we feel conveys our 

commitment to provide a quality service to our customers. 


Who are we? 

We are a firm of financial advisers based in South Wales. We started in 2004 and serve 

customers across the UK. 

We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct 

Authority (FCA). You can check our registration at 

https://register.fca.org.uk/ under the Firms Register 

Number: 402291. 

We are directly regulated by FCA Financial advice firms can be regulated directly by the 

FCA, or an appointed representative of another directly regulated firm. 

We are independent. Financial advisers as either ‘independent’, or ‘restricted’. FCA rules set 

out that a firm describing itself as independent must: 

'assess a sufficient range of relevant products available on the market which must be 

sufficiently diverse with regard to their type; and issuers or product providers, to ensure that 

the client’s investment objectives can be suitably met; and not be limited to relevant 

products issued or provided by the firm itself or by entities having close links with the firm; or 

other entities with which the firm has such close legal or economic relationships, including 

contractual relationships, as to present a risk of impairing the independent basis of the 

advice provided.' (See FCA Handbook COBS 6.2B.11) 

These are the key differences between independent and restricted financial advisers: 

Independent 

Restricted 

Will consider all retail investment products Yes No 

Can focus only on a particular market No Yes 

Can consider products only from certain product providers No Yes 

Has to explain to you the type of advice they offer Yes Yes 

Can use ‘independent’ to describe the advice they offer Yes No 

Incentivised to recommend one product over another No No 


Where are we based? 

Our offices are at: 

Valleys Innovation Centre 

Navigation Park 

Abercynon 

CF45 4SN 

Phone: 01443 749991 

Email: info@leabold.co.uk 

Website: www.leabold.co.uk 

Our offices have free customer parking and are easily accessible to wheelchair users. 


To reach us by road – from Cardiff 

‣ Head north on A470 towards Pontypridd. 

‣ Continue along the A470, for roughly two miles. 

‣ Leave the A470 on the slip road signposted B4275 ‘Abercynon’. 

‣ At the roundabout, take the 1 st left. 

‣ The Valleys Innovation Centre is the first building on your left. 


To reach us by rail 

‣ Arriva Trains Wales from Cardiff Central - both Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil trains will 

stop at Abercynon Station. 

‣ Our offices are 0.4 miles, or about a nine-minute walk from the station. 


Who owns and controls us? 

Leabold Financial Management Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leabold Financial 

Management Holdings Limited, a non-trading holding company that is majority owned by its 

founding directors. 

You can find out more about the ownership and control of our companies at Companies 

House website on https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/search/companies by searching on 

the following registration numbers: 

• Leabold Financial Management Limited: 05173817 

• Leabold Financial Management Holdings Limited: 08296996 


Our approach to advice 

We believe in giving clear professional opinions to our customers setting out exactly how 

and why they should act. While we respect customers may not always wish to follow our 

advice, we believe it important they be placed in position to evaluate the risks and 

consequences of not doing so. 

We do not believe in undertaking transactions that we reasonably believe may be imprudent 

and against our customer’s interests. We do not, therefore, provide execution only services, 

ie where clients instruct us to carry out transactions without advice. 

We believe that fairness to our customers is key. This means ensuring they get fair value 

and are aware of our costs before committing to proceed. Our charging tariffs are intended 

to provide a quality service at a highly competitive rate. 

We do not believe financial advisers should decide for their clients but place the client in a 

position to decide themselves. That includes recommending products, or strategies, that 

clients are not capable of fully understanding or confident in managing. 

We believe that basic financial products, ie those with the least complexity and greatest 

transparency, usually provide best value for clients. We are therefore cautious in 

considering anything offering unusual guarantees, low costs, high returns, or tax 

advantages. 

We do not believe in encouraging clients to undertake transactions for which there is no 

immediate tangible benefit. Neither do we recommend transactions where the practical 

benefits are likely to be outweighed by the cost. 

We believe in quality and technical excellence. All research and preparation of advice is 

carried out in-house and subject to a rigorous peer review. We invest significantly in the 

ongoing training and competence of our staff with each individual having a supervised 

development plan. 


How big are we? 

It depends what you mean by ‘big’ but the following may help you decide. Currently: 

• We employ four fully qualified financial advisers. Supporting them are seven technical 

staff engaged in administration, research, and preparation of advice, who are overseen 

by a Chartered Financial Planner. In addition, we have a full-time compliance officer 

assisting us with negotiating the range of complex regulations and laws that financial 

services businesses must meet. 

• We do not outsource technical services, compliance, or investment oversight, but take 

pride in managing this internally and to a high standard. 

• We advise on over £70 million of customer investments. 

• We service over 340 active clients including private individuals and businesses across the 

UK. 

• Combined, our staff have over 150 years of relevant industry experience. 

• We apply the same principles of prudence and thrift to the financial management of our 

business as when advising our customers. We retain a significant amount of our balance 

sheet assets as cash, which gives us a superior capability to deal with risks, adapt to 

changes in the marketplace, and focus on long-term goals and objectives. 


What financial matters do we advise on? 

We provide advice to customers who are defined by the Financial Conduct Authority as 

‘retail’ or ‘consumer’. This means ordinary people acting outside their trade or profession. 

We also advise ‘professional’ and ‘commercial’ customers. These are typically larger 

organisations and businesses who have a greater understanding of the products on which 

they require advice. 

The permissions we hold from the Financial Conduct Authority enable us to advise on a 

wide range of financial products and transactions. These include: 

• Investing capital to create a regular income or protect against erosion in value from 

future inflation. This is typically for retired customers, or those who have amassed 

significant funds they wish to pass on to the next generation. 

• Planning to meet income needs in retirement. This is typically for customers who have 

not yet retired but wish to plan for a retirement income to support a particular lifestyle. 

• Advising on the transfer of entitlements held under occupational pension schemes. 

• Protection for families against the financial effect of death or incapacity. 

• Reducing exposure to inheritance tax through use of insurance and investment 

products. 

We also advise businesses, ranging from small to large, on business planning issues 

including. 

• Employee workplace pension arrangements and death in service schemes. 

• Shareholder protection arrangements. 

• Key-person cover. 

• Self-invested and director pension arrangements. 

• Corporate Investments. 


Our advice process 

We start with an informal discussion in which we get to know you and establish whether 

we can help you. This is without charge or obligation to proceed. 

We offer a number of services, which we refer to as ‘customer propositions'. The fee you 

pay is dependent upon the proposition you select. If more than one of our propositions is 

appropriate for you, we will advise you of this. 

Following our first meeting, if you decide you want us to act on your behalf, we will ask you 

to complete a formal customer agreement. This document sets out what we will deliver and 

provide you with our best estimate of the cost. 

We then collect the details from you needed to prepare our advice. Where you hold 

existing financial products, we will ask you to sign authorities allowing us to approach the 

providers and obtain details. 

Once we have received all necessary information, we will then prepare our advice and 

provide this to you in a formal written report setting out the following: 

• Our understanding of your objectives. 

• The information used to prepare our advice. Where we are advising on investments, we 

will ask you to complete a ‘risk tolerance’ questionnaire so we can establish how 

comfortable you are with investing. Our report will set out the results of our 

assessment and explain how this has affected our recommendations. 

• Clear recommendations covering each decision you will need to make, together with an 

explanation of why we consider this to be the most appropriate course of action. 

• Where we are giving advice on investments, we will set out details of the strategy you 

should follow as well as the asset types and geographical sectors in which you should 

invest. We will also set out both the potential for future returns on your investments 

and the potential for you to incur losses if the value of investments fall. 

• The future steps you will need to take in the future to ensure our advice remains 

consistent with your requirements. 

• Recommendations for product providers with whom you should purchase investments 

and other financial products. This will include an assessment of the financial strength of 

the provider; cost of the product in relation to others available in the market; and the 

servicing record. 

• The risks of either following, or not following, our advice. 


• The costs and charges you will be required to meet both for our services and those of 

any recommended product providers. 

• A list of supplementary documents to help you understand the background to our 

advice and place you in the best position to make an informed decision. 

When preparing our advice, we apply extensive ‘peer review’ and other internal checks to 

ensure accuracy, consistency and to ensure the language used is clear and understandable. 

Once a report has passed these checks, we then issue it to you by post, giving you the 

opportunity to review and consider at your own pace. 

After issuing our advice, we will contact you to hold another meeting to answer any queries 

and establish how you wish to proceed. After taking your instructions, we will then arrange 

for the transactions you specify to be executed. 

If you require, we will then periodically review and meet with you to determine any changes 

in your circumstances which might impact on our previous advice. We will also review the 

position of your investments and forward to you any critical communications from providers 

with whom they have been arranged. 


What if something goes wrong? 

Where a customer is unhappy with the service we have provided, it is important to us to try 

and resolve the matter as quickly and fairly as possible. Part of the role of our compliance 

department is to investigate and manage the resolution of any customer complaints or 

expressions of dissatisfaction. 

If you have a complaint, you can contact a member of our compliance department at our 

main office address. However, all our staff are trained to deal with customer complaints and 

ensure these are passed on the compliance department. Please be aware that you do not 

have to make a complaint in writing. A verbal complaint is sufficient for us to act. 

When we receive a complaint, we will try to acknowledge it, in writing, within 5 working 

days. Our acknowledgement will set out our understanding of the matter that has caused 

concern or dissatisfaction and will request any further information that we require in order 

to proceed with an investigation. 

We will try to complete our investigation as soon as possible, at which point we will write 

back to you proposing how we intend to resolve matters. Typically, we will do this within a 

period of eight weeks. However, in the event that this is not possible, we will write to you 

explaining the reason for the delay. 

If you are not satisfied with our proposal to resolve your complaint, or we are unable to 

finish our investigation within eight weeks, we will invite you to refer the matter to the 

Financial Ombudsman Service. The Ombudsman will act on your behalf, without charge, 

and their decision is binding on the firm. 


Where we provide services to you as a retail client acting outside their normal trade or 

profession, our advice and services are covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) 

and Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). 

The FOS was set up by Government to 

resolve individual complaints between 

financial businesses and their customers. They 

can look into problems involving most types of 

money matters - from payday loans to 

pensions, pet insurance to PPI. If they decide 

someone has been treated unfairly, they have 

legal powers to put things right. 

From 1 st April 2022, the maximum claim you can make if you bring a complaint to the FOS is 

£375,000. This amount will increase each year in line with inflation 

If you have a complaint about a financial product or service and you're not sure how to get 

started, you can contact them at: 

• Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London 14 9SR 

• Phone: 0800 023 4567 

• Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk 

You can find out further details about the FOS at: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk 

The FSCS is an arrangement established by Parliament to protect consumers if a regulated 

firm has stopped trading or does not have enough 

assets to pay claims made against it. 

The amount of compensation you receive will 

depend on the basis of your claim. The FSCS only 

pays compensation for financial loss. Compensation 

limits are per person per firm, and per claim 

category: 

• Deposits: £85,000 per person per firm 

• Investments: £50,000 per person per firm 

• Insurance Business: there is no upper limit on the amount of protection. 

You can find further details about the FSCS at: https://www.fscs.org.uk 


Your personal data and privacy 

New laws protecting the personal privacy of UK citizens came into force in May 2018. 

These increase the existing duties on businesses and organisations to ensure your personal 

information is protected and fairly processed. 

When you first approach us to become a client, we will obtain information about you directly 

and from other sources. Typically, these sources will include those financial services providers 

with whom you have existing arrangements, and those services necessary to determine your 

identity for the purposes of complying with our statutory obligations. 

The information we collect will include details of your personal circumstances, financial 

affairs, and your goals and objectives. Where relevant, we may also collect sensitive 

information such as details of your health, medical history, religious considerations and 

ethical preferences. 

We hold your information in both paper and electronic 

formats. Typically, we will maintain a paper file with 

your most recent information, which is used for day-today 

servicing of your affairs. These files are periodically 

updated and electronically archived to our computer 

server. 

Unless we receive your consent, we process your 

information only in relation to those services we have 

agreed to provide to you, and which are set out in the 

Customer Agreement you have signed and agreed to. 

Where you have given your consent, we will use your 

contact information to provide you with regular copies 

of our newsletter, birthday and Christmas cards, or to 

contact you from time to time on matters we 

reasonably believe will be of relevance and interest to you. 

We will not, at any time, release your information to any other source for the purposes of 

marketing to you. 

We will only share your information with another party where necessary to fulfil the 

contractual obligations set out in our Customer Agreement, or where subject to a statutory 

obligation. 


Those sources with whom we will share data will usually be your existing and potential new 

financial service providers, as well as: 

https://www.smartsearchuk.com 

https://www.intelliflo.com/financ 

ial-adviser-software 

https://www.xero.com/uk/ 

Our identity verification 

service provider 

Our back office 

administration and 

investment valuation 

provider 

Our online accounting 

system provider 

https://products.office.com/enus/sharepoint/collaboration 

Our online data sharing 

platform 

https://www.financialexpress.net 

/analytics 

Our investment data 

provider. 

https://www.ev.uk/ 

Our client risk tolerance 

profiling system provider 

https://www.thegooditcompany. 

co.uk/ 

Our IT management 

provider 

https://asana.com/ 

Our online project 

management provider 

https://doc-safe.co.uk/ 

Our secure online 

customer portal provider 

https://www.thecabinetofficewale 

s.co.uk/ 

Our data capture 

contractor 


https://www.csgdms.co.uk/ 

Our data storage 

manager 

Before using an external provider, we always take steps to determine their security and 

data handling arrangements are appropriate. 

We will hold your information and keep it up to date during the period during which your 

Customer Agreement is in force. We may continue to hold such information after this 

agreement has terminated where necessary to comply with relevant regulations, or for 

indemnification against any future claim. 

You are very welcome to request to inspect our records or ask for details of the 

information we hold on you, provided that reasonable notice is given, and such access does 

not affect the confidentiality of the Company’s other clients. If you request, we will provide 

details of any personal data we hold on you in accordance with the requirements of the 

Data Protection Act 2018. 

It is important to us to keep your data up-to-date and as accurate as possible. It is also a 

legal obligation that we make a reasonable effort to do so. With this in mind, if you make us 

aware of any error or omission in the data we hold on you, we will correct this immediately. 

You have the right to request that data we hold on you is deleted. Unless there are good 

reasons to prevent this, ie regulatory requirements or the need to indemnify ourselves 

against legal action, we will be happy to comply with such requests. 

All organisations retaining and handling personal 

data are required to register with the Information 

Commissioner’s Office (ICO), The UK’s independent 

authority set up to uphold information rights in the 

public interest, promoting openness by public bodies 

and data privacy for individuals. Our license number is 

Z8721312 and details of our registration can be found 

on https://ico.org.uk/esdwebpages/search 


How we are paid 

Before we agree to provide a service to you, we will provide details of the basis on which 

we will be paid, together with an estimate of the actual cost. This is set out in a ‘Customer 

Agreement’ document that sets out the scope and nature of the services you will receive, as 

well as when and how you will need to pay us. 

Before we commence to provide a service, it will be necessary for you to sign the Customer 

Agreement and return it to us. It will then be countersigned by a director of the Company 

and a copy returned to you. 

You have the option to pay for our services directly, or for the providers of your financial 

products to deduct our charges from your financial products and pass these on to us (known 

as ‘Adviser Charging’). Where you choose to pay us directly, we will invoice you for the 

agreed amount on completion for payment within 30 days. 


How much do our services cost? 

Our services are based around advice and focus on how financial products can be used 

efficiently and effectively to meet customer needs. Our propositions to customers are 

therefore built around providing a service consisting of initial advice followed by ongoing 

oversight to ensure that advice remains consistent with changes in the customer’s 

circumstances and needs. 

Each service proposition is fully defined and documented so that our customers are aware 

of precisely what we will deliver and the standard to which this will be carried out. We are 

similarly rigorous in ensuring our charges are fully transparent and disclosed in a manner 

that enables customers, not just to be aware of the cost, but also to make a reasonable 

judgement about the value to them. 

The amount you pay will depend on the type of service you require. This may be a flat 

amount, percentage of the amount you are investing, or an agreed hourly rate. To help you 

understand how much our services would cost, we have outlined these in further detail 

within this brochure, together with monetary examples. 

You will not be charged VAT. This is because services provided by financial advisers are 

exempt from VAT where they involve the arrangement of financial products, or where 

advice is given with a view to such arrangements. Where we provide services outside of this 

exemption our turnover for this type of activity is currently below the level required for VAT 

registration. Hence, we are not required to pass this additional cost on to you. 


Our customer proposition for ‘Investment Portfolios’ 

This service is suitable for customers requiring ongoing advice and oversight of an 

investment portfolios, as well as those wishing to make new investments. 

This service is not suitable for customers intending to hold investments within a single asset 

type or through a discretionary manager. It is also not suitable for customers requiring 

limited or one-off advice. 

We will take over servicing of an existing portfolio of investments and make necessary 

recommendations to ensure it is both tax-efficient and consistent with the customer’s 

tolerance to risk and requirement for future returns. 

Once we have provided our advice, and we have received instructions on how the customer 

wishes to proceed, we will then arrange for the agreed transactions to be carried out. 

Where you have asked us to provide continuing oversight, we will also: 

• Forward any relevant communications received from product providers from whom you 

have transferred servicing rights responsibilities to us. 

• Monitor any changes in legislation, tax allowance, product terms and product provider 

status and notify you where these impact on those objectives, attitude to risk and 

personal circumstances you have notified to us. 

• Undertake a formal review of our original advice and recommendations at intervals of 

twelve months. 

• Calculate and provide you with a valuation of your investments at quarterly intervals. 

• Advise you on rebalancing your investments and review the suitability of each investment 

in your portfolio at six monthly intervals. 

How much does this service cost? 

• To take over any existing investments, prepare our advice and carry out any initial 

transactions: 

Value of investments 

Charge rate 

£1 - £50,000 £600 

£50,001 - £100,000 £831 

£100,001 - £150,000 £1,063 

£150,001 - £200,000 £1,294 


£200,001 - £250,000 £1,526 

£250,001 - £300,000 £1,758 

£300,001 - £350,000 £1,989 

£350,001 - £400,000 £2,221 

£400,001 - £450,000 £2,452 

£450,001 - £500,000 £2,684 

£500,001 - £550,000 £2,916 

£550,001 - £600,000 £3,147 

£600,001 - £650,000 £3,379 

£650,001 - £700,000 £3,610 

£700,001 - £750,000 £3,842 

£750,001 - £800,000 £4,074 

£800,001 - £850,000 £4,305 

£850,001 - £900,000 £4,537 

£900,001 - £950,000 £4,768 

£950,001 - £1,000,000 £5,000 

£1,000,000+ 0.50% of investment 

• Where we are subsequently required to advise on additional investments: 

Per amount of additional investment 

Charge rate 

£50,000 £400 

• To provide continuing oversight: 


Charge Rate 

Minimum charge 

Charge rate 

1.0%pa of investment value 

£250pa 

As an example - Let us say you were to ask us to establish or takeover investments to the 

value of £100,001, the cost of initial advice, including any transactions you required us to 

undertake, would be £1063. 

The subsequent annual cost would depend on how much your investments increased or 

reduced in value, for example: 

• If the value of your investments remained at £100,000: £1000pa 

• If the value of your investments grew by 5% to £105,000: £1050pa 

• If the value of your investments fell by 5% to £95,000: £950pa 

Please note - You are able to cease our services at any time, subject to confirming this in 

writing to us. 

Page 22 of 34 General Disclosure Document 23/3/2022

Our customer proposition for ‘Single Investments’ 

This service is suitable for customers who wish to invest in a single asset type or investment 

manager. It is suited both to smaller investments of less than £100,000, as well as larger 

investments where a discretionary fund manager is to be appointed. 

This service is not suitable for customers intending to hold investments in multiple asset 

types or through more than one investment manager. It is also not suitable for customers 

requiring limited or one-off advice. 

We will take over servicing of an existing portfolio of investments and make necessary 

recommendations to ensure it is both tax-efficient and consistent with the customer’s 

tolerance to risk and requirement for future returns. 












How much does it cost? 

• To take over your existing investments, prepare our advice and carry out transactions: 


Charge rate 

£1 - £50,000 £600 

£50,001 - £100,000 £831 

£100,001 - £150,000 £1,063 

£150,001 - £200,000 £1,294 

£200,001 - £250,000 £1,526 

£250,001 - £300,000 £1,758 

£300,001 - £350,000 £1,989 


£350,001 - £400,000 £2,221 

£400,001 - £450,000 £2,452 

£450,001 - £500,000 £2,684 

£500,001 - £550,000 £2,916 

£550,001 - £600,000 £3,147 

£600,001 - £650,000 £3,379 

£650,001 - £700,000 £3,610 

£700,001 - £750,000 £3,842 

£750,001 - £800,000 £4,074 

£800,001 - £850,000 £4,305 

£850,001 - £900,000 £4,537 

£900,001 - £950,000 £4,768 

£950.001 - £1,000,000 £5,000 

£1,000,000+ 0.50% of investment 


Per amount of additional investment 

Charge rate 

£50,000 £400 



Charge Rate 


Charge rate 


£250pa 

As an example - Let us say you were to ask us to establish or takeover investments to the 

value of £100,001. 

The cost of initial advice, including any transactions you required us to undertake, would be 

£1063. 

The subsequent annual cost would depend on how much your investments increased or 

reduced in value, for example: 

• If the value of your investments remained at £100,000: £500pa 

• If the value of your investments grew by 5% to £105,000: £525pa 

• If the value of your investments fell by 5% to £95,000: £475pa 

Please note - You are able to cease further charges at any time, subject to confirming this in 



Our customer proposition for ‘Pension Transfers’ 

This service is suitable for customers who require advice on whether to transfer the value 

of pension benefits built up under an employer’s occupational pension scheme to another 

type of pension arrangement. 

This service is not suitable for customers who require a transfer to be undertaken 

irrespective of the risks and consequences, or who require limited advice. 

We operate a fully non-contingent charge for this service. This means that the charge 

remains the same whether we advise you to transfer your pension benefits or retain your 

existing pension entitlement. 

The purpose of the service is to advise you on whether your interests are best met by 

transferring or retaining your pension entitlement. Critical considerations will include the 

extent to which you are capable and comfortable in understanding the risks and 

consequences of what is a complex and potentially risky transaction. 

We will establish the value of benefits provided by the scheme and compare this against 

the amount of money that the scheme would be prepared to transfer to another pension 

arrangement in lieu of those benefits. 

We will consider the extent to which a transfer might affect the value of the benefits you 

would receive on retirement, as well as those that would be payable to your dependents in 

on your death. 

We will determine the overall level of income you may require in retirement and how this 

is likely to be split between essential domestic and non-essential lifestyle related 

expenditure. We then advise the earliest date at which retirement could reasonably be 

considered. 

Where a transfer is recommended, we will advise on how a portfolio of investments can be 

constructed to provide a potential for growth that is consistent with both the target 

retirement income, as well as your tolerance to investment risk. We will also consider the 

range of personal pension products that could be utilised to hold these investments, taking 

account of the cost and requirement for flexibility. 

Once our advice has been provided to you, we will meet with you and resolve any further 

queries you may have. 



• The following charge covers the research, preparation and issuing a written report 

setting out our advice. In the event that we recommend a transfer, it also covers our 

carrying out that transaction on your behalf: 

Transferred pension fund 

Charge rate 

£0 - £249,999 £2,400.00 

£250,000 - £499,999 £2,900.00 

£500,000 - £749,999 £3,400.00 

£750,000 - £999,999 £3,900.00 

£1,000,000 - By arrangement 

As an example - Let us say you were to ask us to advise on a transfer of £100,001, the cost 

of advice and any transactions you required us to undertake, would be £2,400. 


Our customer proposition for ‘Pension Planning’ 

This service is suitable for customers requiring ongoing advice and oversight of their 

pension fund investments, as well as those wishing to make new pension contributions. 

This service is not suitable for customers intending to hold pension fund investments within 

a single asset type or through a discretionary manager. It is also not suitable for customers 

requiring limited or one-off advice. 

We will take over servicing of an existing pension fund and make necessary 

recommendations to ensure it is consistent with the customer’s tolerance to risk and 

requirement for future returns. 

We will forecast the likely value of your pension fund and the benefit this may provide on 

your retirement. We will then compare this against your need for income at that point and 

identify any risk of shortfall. 

We will also examine features, charges and financial strength of the providers with whom 

your pension fund is invested to determine the extent to which these meet your needs. We 

will also determine whether effectiveness of the investments selected those products to 

establish whether they provide the optimum potential for future returns. 












• Advise you on rebalancing your investments and review the suitability of each investment 

in your portfolio at six monthly intervals. 



• To take over your existing pension fund, prepare our advice and carry out transactions: 

Value of the pension fund 

Charge rate 

£1 - £50,000 £600 

£50,001 - £100,000 £831 

£100,001 - £150,000 £1,063 

£150,001 - £200,000 £1,294 

£200,001 - £250,000 £1,526 

£250,001 - £300,000 £1,758 

£300,001 - £350,000 £1,989 

£350,001 - £400,000 £2,221 

£400,001 - £450,000 £2,452 

£450,001 - £500,000 £2,684 

£500,001 - £550,000 £2,916 

£550,001 - £600,000 £3,147 

£600,001 - £650,000 £3,379 

£650,001 - £700,000 £3,610 

£700,001 - £750,000 £3,842 

£750,001 - £800,000 £4,074 

£800,001 - £850,000 £4,305 

£850,001 - £900,000 £4,537 

£900,001 - £950,000 £4,768 

£950,001 - £1,000,000 £5,000 

£1,000,000+ 0.50% of pension fund 


Per amount of additional pension contribution or Charge rate 

transferred pension fund 

£50,000 £400 


Value of pension fund 

Charge Rate 


Charge rate 


£250pa 


As an example - Let us say you have an existing pension fund to the value of £100,001. The 

cost of initial advice would £1063. 

If you required us to continue overseeing your pension fund, the cost each year would 

depend on how much your pension fund increased or reduced in value, for example: 

• If your pension fund remained at £100,000, the charge would be £1000 

• If your pension fund grew by 5% to £105,000, the charge would be £1050 

• If your pension fund fell by 5% to £95,000, the charge would be £950 




Our customer proposition for ‘Personal Protection’ 

This service is suitable for customers requiring advice on planning for the financial 

consequences of death or incapacity to their dependents, or who wish to mitigate the 

potential effect of inheritance tax on beneficiaries to their estate. 

This service is not suitable for customers requiring limited advice or one-off advice. 

We will establish the financial effect on your dependants if you were to die or become 

incapacitated and the extent to which your financial affairs may be arranged to meet their 

needs. Where there is a shortfall, we will examine and identify appropriate means for this to 

be covered within your expenditure budget. 

Where it is necessary to take out insurance to cover any shortfall, we will examine 

features, charges and financial strength of providers and recommend those whom best 

meet your needs. 

We will also advise on establishing a will and other legal arrangements necessary to care 

for children and ensure access to finances are not restricted by probate. Where you do not 

already have a solicitor, we will arrange to introduce you to a suitable local practice. 











In the event of your death, we will provide your dependents with a comprehensive range of 

support and advice services to allow them to manage funeral and other financial 

arrangements 



Value of estate in the event of death 

Charge rate 

£0 - £499,999 £750.00 

£500,000-£999,999 £1,500.00 

£1,000,000 - £2,999,999 £2,500.00 

£3,000,000 - £4,999,999 £3,500.00 

£5,000,000 + - By arrangement 



Charge rate 

£0 - £499,999 £250.00 

£500,000-£999,999 £750.00 

£1,000,000 - £2,999,999 £1,250.00 

£3,000,000 - £4,999,999 £1,750.00 


As an example - Let us say the existing value of your estate in the event of your death was 

£250,000. The cost of initial advice would £750. 

If you required us to continue overseeing your affairs and providing bereavement support, 

the cost each year would be £250 




Our customer proposition for ‘Estate Planning’ 

This service is suitable for customers requiring advice on the immediate gifting of assets and 

maximising the value of the estate to be passed to beneficiaries following death. 

This service is not suitable for customers requiring limited advice or one-off advice. 

We will establish that you have adequate Income and capital to meet your needs. Including 

provision for long term care, in order to assess the level of any surplus capital that may be 

used either to provide immediate gifts or for passing into trusts for the purposes of reducing 

exposure to inheritance tax. 

Where it is necessary to take out insurance to cover the shortfall in the amount of 

Inheritance tax your estate may be liable to pay, we will examine features, charges and 

financial strength of providers and recommend those who best meet your needs. 

We will also advise you on establishing wills, power of attorney and other legal 

arrangements necessary to care for you while alive and reduce delays in settling your estate 

after your death. If you do not already have a solicitor, we will arrange to introduce you to a 

suitable local practice. 











In the event of your death, we will provide your dependents with a comprehensive range of 

support and advice services to allow them to manage funeral and other financial 

arrangements 




Charge rate 

£0 - £499,999 £750.00 

£500,000-£999,999 £1,500.00 

£1,000,000 - £2,999,999 £2,500.00 

£3,000,000 - £4,999,999 £3,500.00 




Charge rate 

£0 - £499,999 £250.00pa 

£500,000-£999,999 £750.00pa 

£1,000,000 - £2,999,999 £1,250.00pa 

£3,000,000 - £4,999,999 £1,750.00pa 


As an example - Let us say the existing value of your estate in the event of your death was 

£250,000. The cost of initial advice would £750. 

If you required us to continue overseeing your affairs and providing bereavement support, 

the cost each year would be £250 

Please note - You can cease further charges at any time, subject to confirming this in writing 

to us. 


Our customer proposition for ‘Hourly Charged Advice’ 

This service is suitable for customers who require limited, one-off or advice areas not 

covered by our other propositions. 

This service is not suitable for customers requiring continuing oversight of their affairs. 

As with our other propositions, we will review any relevant existing financial products you 

hold and ensure they are consistent with your needs and objectives. Once our advice has 

been provided to you, and we have received your instructions on how you wish to proceed, 

we will then arrange for the agreed transactions to be carried out. 

How much does it cost? - The cost of this service is charged at £100 per hour. The total 

amount you pay will therefore depends on the complexity and amount of advice involved. 

However, we will always provide an estimate, in advance.

2022-03-22 GDD

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