Happy New Year and best wishes for 2019.

Why don’t you make a new year’s resolution to take an in depth look at the fees being charged by your investment advisors? At this time last year we heard these fees were going to be more transparent. My experience has been that you still need to obtain a complete understanding of the fees you’re charged.

I recently met with a new client and one of her investment advisors. We were told the fees were based on 1% of the value of the portfolio. Her portfolio included individual shares and investment funds. When I asked whether there were fees within the investment funds, I wasn’t surprised to hear there were.

By adding the fees charged within the investment funds and the fees charged by the investment advisor, the fees totaled 1.5% of the value of the portfolio. My client was under quoted by 50% on the fees she was being charged! I wasn’t impressed.

You should find out, and quantify, exactly what fees you’re being charged by your investment advisors. Then reflect on whether you’ve received value for money.