How We Work

Key Areas

• Introduction
• Agree remuneration method
• Agree how we work together

Initial Consultation Fees: At our expense

We will introduce ourselves and provide information about our business, how we would like to work with you, the intermediary services we can provide and the costs of those services.

A key part of the financial advice process is deciding what services you would like and to agree how you would like to pay for them.

At this stage of the process, we will agree with you your priorities and the appropriate fees prior to commencing any work. We cannot charge you a fee for work completed without your prior agreement.

Please ensure you are clear about the services you want and how you will pay for them before we proceed with any work that may incur a charge. We will not exceed a specified budget limit without first consulting with you and receiving your written commitment to proceed further.

Key Areas

• Identify goals and objectives
• Information gathering
• Assess objectives
• Review existing plans
• Research

Fees: £1,250.00 (Fees exempt from VAT)

Once we have decided to work together, we gather personal and financial information from you and we will talk to you about your financial goals, so we can develop our recommendations and advice including which products would be most suitable for your needs.

We also gather detailed information about your current financial plans, policies and any commitments.

Where we are considering your investment needs, we will assess your attitude to investment risk. This will help us to understand how much investment risk you are willing to take with your money.

We cannot guarantee that we can meet all your objectives and financial goals, but we can work with you to help you work towards them.

Please be aware that if you do not move to Stages 4 and 5 (Advice and Implementation) our fee for Understanding and Analysis still applies.

NB. If you decide to appoint us as your Adviser(s) and the work required to assess your circumstances and provide you with advice is outside of our standard charging structure, we reserve the right to apply a chargeable fee of £300.00 per hour for advice and £150.00 per hour for administration. If this applies, we will advise you in writing before undertaking such work and give you an estimate of the total cost involved.

Our Mortgage & Insurance Proposition

Key Areas

• Devise investment strategy
• Select investment provider (if applicable)
• Complete documentation
• Process applications

Fees: (exempt from VAT)

Lump Sum

• 5% of the first £49,999.99 invested, then
• 4.5% of the next £50,000.00, then
• 4% of the balance over £99,999.00

Regular Premium

• An amount equal to 50% of the first 12 months contribution

Once we have gathered all the necessary information, we will provide you with tailored financial recommendations on the areas you wanted to review.

We will then agree the recommendations you want us to implement, in order to meet your needs and objectives. This may also include any broader or more complex planning such as trust work. Where relevant, our services and charges for referring clients to discretionary fund managers will be disclosed to you separately.

We will help you complete the relevant application(s) and any additional information required. It is vitally important you check all the information you have provided is correct before you sign any documents. We will then monitor your application(s) through to product issue and make sure you receive the related product documentation. Where you choose to make regular contributions, our fee may be spread over a longer period dependent on our agreement.

An example of our Advice and Implementation charges

Lump Sum Investment Example: If you invested £100,000 and the agreed charge was 5% this means £5,000 excluding VAT would be immediately deducted from your investment or paid to us direct.

Premium Charge Example: If you invested £100 a month and the agreed charge was 50% of the first 12 months contribution, the total charge would be £600. If you choose to pay this in instalments, £50 would be deducted from each of the first 12 months contributions.

Key Areas

• Review your financial plans
• Provide you with regular valuations
• Invite you to regular meetings

Fees*: A percentage of funds under management, dependent on ongoing service

We aim to build long-lasting trusted business relationships with all of our clients. An essential part of this is to continually review your arrangements to ensure that they continue to match your goals and objectives at any given period throughout your Financial Planning lifetime.

We can provide you with ongoing support and servicing options to suit your specific needs in areas which you have identified as being important to you.

If you elect to receive an Ongoing Service, we will charge you a percentage of your investments based upon the level of service you have chosen. This will be deducted from your investments, of which 0.12 per cent goes to Openwork on an ongoing basis. This charge pays for ongoing technology and administrative support for investment products provided to Thomas Oliver by Openwork to help maintain the quality and delivery of our Ongoing Service to you.

In addition, Thomas Oliver also pays a percentage of the total fees to Openwork for the advice support services that they provide.

Ongoing Service Example

If you invest £50,000 at a maximum agreed ongoing service charge of 1.25%, you will pay £625, per annum excluding VAT. The ongoing service charge may increase as the fund grows. Ongoing Service is optional. If you choose to take it, you can cancel at any time.

*Exempt from VAT if incorporated within the same fee agreement as Advice and Implementation. Otherwise subject to VAT.