Paying an IFA for advice

When choosing an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) you will have to decide how the IFA is paid for the highly skilled advice that they provide you with.

As with all professional services the fees charged will vary from firm to firm but unlike most other sectors there are strict requirements set down by the Financial Services Authority for the type and amount of payments to IFA’s to be clearly disclosed. Since July 2005 the Financial Services Authority has insisted that advisers who market themselves as Independent must offer a choice of remuneration to clients.

Western Welsh Financial Services will offer you the option of paying for advice via a fee or commission or a combination.

The options would normally include:

• Commission : Traditionally the most common way to pay for advice is for us to receive a commission from the product provider. The amount of commission we receive and whether it is deducted from the amount you actually invest or is included in the cost of the investment varies from product to product. We will disclose to you the amount of commission we receive.
• Fees : Less common than commission, we offer the option of working for a fee. Depending on the size and type of the investment, and the complexity of the advice, this can sometimes work out cheaper than paying commission.
• Combination : It is also possible to pay a combination of fees and commission. In this situation we will, if appropriate, rebate a proportion of the commission that would have been due in a commission-only scenario or issue you with an invoice should any further fees be due.

The information on this page is intended as a general guide only.