Adviser charges
Our adviser charge (AC) options are available on both new and existing Pension Portfolio plans. This includes our Personal Pension, Income Release and Self Investment plans.
It’s important that your client agreement clearly states the agreed services you’ll provide as well as their charges.
Types of adviser charges
We offer a range of flexible adviser charging options to match the services you provide. These are agreed between you and your client.
Initial adviser charge
This charge applies when the plan starts or when a new contribution is applied to the plan.
Ongoing charge
This charge covers the ongoing advice and services you provide during the lifetime of the plan.
Ad hoc charge
This charge covers one-off events that take place on the plan including ad hoc services not already covered by initial or ongoing charges.
We’ll facilitate the following initial, ongoing and ad hoc adviser charge payments:
| Contribution type | Initial AC | - | Ongoing AC | - | - | Ad hoc AC | - |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % of contribution | Monetary amount | % of contribution | % of fund | Monetary amount | % of fund | Monetary amount | |
| Regular contributions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Single contributions | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Transfer payments | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
It's important to note that before we’ll make an adviser charge payment, the following conditions must be met:
- Any adviser charges must be agreed with your client directly and they’ll need to complete one of our adviser charge instruction forms
- Clients can tell us to stop an agreed adviser charge payment from being deducted from their plan at any time
- Adviser charge payments are charged separately and aren't included within our product charges.
You can get more information about how adviser charges are paid to you in our terms of business for advisers.
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Initial adviser charge
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Ongoing adviser charges
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Ad hoc adviser charges
Frequently asked questions
We've included some of the questions advisers often ask us about how remuneration can be paid on our Pension Portfolio plans.
Common questions about commission
Will you pay commission on execution-only business?
No.
Can commission be renegotiated on pre-RDR plans?
No, we don't allow existing commission payments to be changed.
Can you offset commission credit and debit against adviser charges?
Yes.
Common questions about charges
Can adviser charges be added to pre-RDR plans?
We'll facilitate adviser charges from new contributions that are applied to pre-Retail Distribution Review (RDR) plans. But we won't allow ongoing adviser charges to be added retrospectively to contributions made before RDR.
Who can change adviser charges?
The adviser or the client can tell us to reduce or remove an adviser charge. But any new requests to add or amend an adviser charge must come from the client. They'll need to complete one of our adviser charge instruction forms (PDF).
For Income Release plans, can adviser charges be taken from crystallised funds only?
No. Any adviser charges will be taken proportionately from crystallised and un-crystallised funds.
If my client has an Income Release plan and agrees an initial adviser charge, will this affect their tax-fee cash?
No. We'll calculate the tax-free cash and maximum income available to your client based on the value of their crystallised funds - before any adviser charge is deducted from their plan.
If both an adviser charge payment and an income payment are deducted from the plan on the same day, we'll deduct the adviser charge payment first.
Is a Consumer Credit Licence required?
It may be required if you're agreeing adviser charges with your client.
What happens if regular contributions reduce stop or increase?
If regular contributions stop:
| Adviser charge | Commission |
| If the charge is a percentage of the contribution it'll reduce in line with the contribution. We'll continue to pay all other charges if there is sufficient value in the regular contribution part of the plan. | If commission is being paid as a percentage of the contribution, it will reduce in line with the contribution. If commission has already been paid, it may be clawed back. This is outlined in the remuneration guide below. |
If regular contributions increase:
| Adviser charge | Commission |
|
For automatic increases (for example, salary-related) which are being paid as a percentage of the contribution and where payments still need to be made, we'll increase the charge in line with the contribution for the remainder of the charge period.
For non-automatic increases where the charge is being paid as a percentage of the contribution and a charge has been previously agreed, we'll apply the original charge instruction to the increase, unless we're told otherwise. |
For automatic increases, we'll apply any commission to the contribution increase.
For non-automatic increases, we won't pay any commission. Any remuneration will need to be paid as an adviser charge, which will be agreed on an individual basis. |
What happens if a client retires before or after their retirement date, transfers or dies?
If a client retires earlier than their chosen retirement date, transfers or dies:
| Adviser charge | Commission |
|
Where possible, we'll deduct any outstanding initial charge from the plan value before it's transferred or the benefits are paid.
If the client dies and any ongoing charges have been deducted from the plan after the date of death, we'll credit these back to the plan. |
If commission has already been paid, we may apply a clawback. You can find out more details in the remuneration guide below. |
If a client retires later than their chosen retirement date:
| Adviser charge | Commission |
| If there are any agreed ongoing charges, these will continue to be paid until the later retirement date or a specific chosen date. | Any commission payments will continue being paid until the later retirement date. |
What happens if a client changes their financial adviser?
| Adviser charge | Commission |
|
If the client tells us to move their charges to their new financial adviser, we'll pay any ongoing charges and any new initial charges to the new adviser.
If there are any outstanding initial charges that are still being paid, we'll continue paying these to the existing adviser firm unless the member tells us otherwise. |
We can re-register commission with the new adviser firm as long as the ongoing service is being provided. |
What happens if an individual adviser moves firms?
| Adviser charge | Commission |
|
If an individual adviser moves firms, the charges won't automatically move with them, as they're agreed at firm level.
The client can instruct us to redirect ongoing adviser charges to the new adviser firm. |
We can re-register commission with the new adviser firm, if the adviser is providing an ongoing service and if we receive an instruction from the client. |
What happens if an adviser sells their business?
| Adviser charge | Commission |
| The adviser charge can be redirected to the new adviser firm. If the client doesn't want to change their adviser firm, any charges will stop. | We'll register any commission with the new adviser firm, providing that all the adviser's clients are notified about the re-registration. |