Services and scope

01 The first mandate

Introductory consultation

no charge

A first conversation that establishes what the question actually is, which of the remaining five services would answer it, and what that scope would cost. It carries no charge and ends without obligation. Nothing needs to be prepared beforehand and no documents are required; the practice would rather hear the question in plain words and say honestly whether it is one for a wealth manager at all.

Best for a first approach, including an undecided one.

Included

• A written summary of the question as the practice understands it
• A statement of which of the remaining five services fits, or that none does
• The scope and the cost of that service, in writing

Not included

No recommendation, product or document review forms part of this conversation.

Timing

About 45 minutes, in the rooms or by telephone.

Contact about Introductory consultation

The five that follow

• 02

  Portfolio review

  fee disclosed in consultation

  A structured read of an existing portfolio against the purpose the holder states for it: what it is concentrated in, what it costs to hold, and where it differs from that stated purpose. No trade is placed. The review reports in writing and stops there: the decision to act on it, and who acts, remains entirely with the holder.

  Best for holdings that already exist, where the question is whether they still fit.

  Included

  • A written read of what the portfolio is concentrated in
  • The cost of holding it, stated as a figure
  • The points where it differs from the stated purpose, listed

  Not included

  No trade is placed and no replacement product is proposed.

  Timing

  Usually two to three weeks from the statements arriving.

  Contact about Portfolio review

• 03

  Retirement planning

  custom scope

  Work on the shape of retirement income: what is expected to be available, when it becomes available, and which decisions have a deadline attached. Scope is set in the introductory consultation. The work covers state and workplace entitlements alongside private savings, and it separates what is confirmed from what is only assumed, so that a household can see which parts of the plan would survive a change of mind.

  Best for a date already in view, whether it is near or years away.

  Included

  • A written schedule of what is expected to be available, and when
  • Assumptions listed separately from confirmed figures
  • The decisions that carry a deadline, with the deadline named

  Not included

  No income figure is guaranteed, and no tax return is prepared here.

  Timing

  Scope set at the introductory consultation; most run across several meetings.

  Contact about Retirement planning

• 04

  Business-owner planning

  custom scope

  Planning for an owner whose business and personal finances are entangled: what depends on the business continuing, what would be needed if it did not, and which questions belong to an accountant or a solicitor instead. The result is a personal plan that can stand on its own, written so that it still reads correctly if the business is sold, passed on or wound up.

  Best for an owner, partner or director of an operating business.

  Included

  • A written separation of what depends on the business trading and what does not
  • The questions that belong to an accountant or a solicitor, named as theirs
  • A plan for the personal side that stands on its own

  Not included

  No company valuation, no sale process and no legal drafting.

  Timing

  Scope set at the introductory consultation.

  Contact about Business-owner planning

• 05

  Estate coordination

  custom scope

  Coordination of the financial side of an estate with the legal work being done elsewhere: what exists, who holds it, and what the surviving arrangements would be. Legal drafting is not part of this scope. The practice works to the solicitor’s timetable rather than its own, and keeps one written inventory that both sides can use, so that the same account is not described two different ways.

  Best for work alongside a solicitor already instructed, not instead of one.

  Included

  • A written inventory of what exists and who holds it
  • The surviving arrangements, stated plainly
  • Correspondence directly with the solicitor already instructed

  Not included

  No will, trust or deed is drafted here.

  Timing

  Runs alongside the legal work and follows its timetable.

  Contact about Estate coordination

• 06

  Second-opinion review

  custom scope

  A read of advice received elsewhere, against the purpose the holder states. It reports what the advice does, what it assumes and what it leaves open. It does not grade the adviser who gave it. Where the recommendation looks sound the review says so plainly, because a second opinion that never agrees with the first is worth nothing to the person paying for it.

  Best for a recommendation already on the table with a decision due.

  Included

  • A written statement of what the advice does
  • The assumptions it rests on
  • What it leaves open, and what a decision would still need

  Not included

  The adviser who gave the advice is not graded, and no replacement is sold.

  Timing

  Usually one to two weeks from the recommendation arriving.

  Contact about Second-opinion review