Being independent, there are a number of ways you can pay for advice – commission, fees, or a combination of both.
Fees
Whether you buy a product or not, our fee is for our advice and services only. If we also receive commission from the product provider when you buy a product, we will pass on the full value of that commission to you in one or more ways. For example, we could reduce our fee, reduce your product charges, increase your investment amount, or refund the commission to you.
Commission (or product charges)
If you buy a financial product, we will normally receive commission on the sale from the product provider. Although you pay nothing up front, you will pay us indirectly through product charges. Product charges pay for the product provider's own costs and any commission. These charges reduce the amount left for investment. If you buy direct, the product charges could be the same as when buying through an adviser, or they could be higher or lower. We will tell you how much the commission will be before you complete an investment, but you may ask for this information earlier.
Combination of commission and fee
In some circumstances, in order to meet the full fee for our advice, we may also charge an additional fee on top of any commission we might receive.