Do you need a financial adviser or wealth manager? What you are actually paying for

You are sitting across a polished desk. The coffee is good, the report is thick and the charts slope gently upwards. “We’ll take care of everything,” says the adviser. It is a relief. Investing feels complicated, the stakes are high, and here is someone who does this every day.

Years later, many people find they can’t answer three simple questions: what exactly they are paying for, whether it has been worth it, and what they would do if the adviser retired tomorrow. This guide helps you answer them. It is not anti-adviser. For some decisions, good regulated advice is essential. It is pro-knowing what you are buying.

Wherever you are in the world. Titles differ, financial adviser, financial planner, wealth manager, private banker, investment adviser, but the questions are the same. Where the rules differ, I mention the UK, US and EU in turn.

Currency guide: £1 is about US$1.34 and about €1.19 (20 October 2026). A £1 million portfolio is roughly $1.34 million or €1.19 million.

“A good adviser is worth their fee. The mistake is paying for a relationship when what you needed was a decision.”Alpesh B Patel OBE

Step 1: Know who does what

Many people pay two layers, an adviser and a manager, without realising it. Check your statements.

Step 2: Independent, restricted, fiduciary: what the labels mean

• UK. Advisers must tell you whether their advice is independent (based on a comprehensive and fair analysis of the relevant market, unbiased and unrestricted) or restricted (limited to certain products or providers). Since 31 December 2012, advisers can’t be paid commission by product providers for new investment advice; you pay them a fee you agree. Check any firm or individual on the FCA’s Financial Services Register.
• US. Registered investment advisers must give you a brochure and a relationship summary (Form ADV) setting out their services, fees and conflicts of interest. You can look up advisers and brokers, including any disciplinary history, on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site and FINRA’s BrokerCheck.
• EU. Under MiFID II, firms must tell you whether advice is independent, and independent advisers can’t keep commissions from product providers.

Step 3: When advice is worth paying for

Pay for good regulated advice, without hesitation, when you face:

• A final salary (defined benefit) or other guaranteed pension you are thinking of transferring. In the UK, if it is worth more than £30,000 you must take regulated advice first, and the regulator tells advisers to start from the assumption that a transfer is unsuitable.
• Inheritance and estate planning, trusts, gifting and business succession.
• Complex tax: cross-border income, becoming or ceasing to be a resident somewhere, large gains, business sales.
• Life events: divorce, a large inheritance, a business sale, a serious illness.
• Later life, if you would like someone you trust to manage things as decisions become harder.

Much of this is a one-off or occasional need. You can often buy it as a fixed-fee or hourly project rather than an ongoing percentage of your wealth.

Step 4: What you may be paying for without needing it

The part many people pay for year after year is choosing and monitoring investments. On a large portfolio, a percentage fee for this grows as your wealth grows, even though the work rarely does. Ask yourself honestly:

• Do I get a real annual review, with performance after charges compared with a fair benchmark?
• Is my portfolio meaningfully different from a handful of low-cost funds?
• Would I be comfortable learning a clear, rules-based process for this part myself?

If the honest answers are “not really”, “not much” and “yes”, a hybrid approach may suit you: buy advice for the specialist decisions, and manage the investment part yourself, with a process.

Step 5: Questions to ask any adviser or manager

1. Is your advice independent or restricted? (UK) Are you acting as a fiduciary at all times? (US)
2. What will I pay in total, in pounds, this year and every year?
3. Is it a percentage, a fixed fee or hourly, and can I choose?
4. What exactly do I receive for the ongoing fee?
5. How will you measure whether you have added value, after charges?
6. Are there charges if I leave, and how would my investments be transferred?
7. Can I see you on the regulator’s register?

Before you change adviser or move money

Never move a pension or investment just because you have decided to change adviser. Check first, in writing, what you could lose:

What this taught me

I have met excellent advisers, people who saved their clients from expensive mistakes and earned every penny. I have also met clients who paid for years and couldn’t say what they had received. The difference was rarely the adviser’s qualifications. It was whether the client knew what they were buying.

What this taught me is that advice is a tool, not a relationship you have to keep forever. Use it for the decisions that need it. So the question to take away is: which parts of what you pay for are decisions, and which are habits?