An ongoing advice fee is a recurring charge, typically 0.5–1% of your portfolio a year, for continuing to manage and review your finances after the initial advice. It usually pays for annual reviews, rebalancing, tax-year planning and access to your adviser. It is optional, and you can cancel it at any time.
The short answer
- An ongoing advice fee is a recurring charge for looking after your money after the initial advice.
- It is typically 0.5–1% of your portfolio a year, or a flat annual sum.
- It usually buys an annual review, rebalancing, tax-year planning and adviser access.
An ongoing advice fee is the recurring charge you pay for your adviser to keep looking after your money after the initial advice is done. Where the initial fee is a one-off for setting up your plan, the ongoing fee is the subscription that keeps the relationship, and the work, alive year after year. It is typically 0.5% to 1% of your portfolio a year, though some firms charge a flat annual sum instead. This is general information, not personal advice.
The key thing to understand is that it buys a service, not just access. It is optional, it must correspond to actual work the adviser does for you, and you can turn it off whenever you choose. It is usually deducted directly from your investments in regular instalments, so it is easy to lose sight of, which makes knowing what it covers all the more important.
What an ongoing fee typically buys
- 1
An annual review
A yearly check-in to review your goals, your portfolio’s performance and whether your plan is still on track: the cornerstone of the service and something the adviser must offer under FCA rules.
- 2
Rebalancing and fund oversight
Keeping your investments aligned to the agreed risk level as markets move, and switching funds where a better or cheaper option arises.
- 3
Tax-year planning
Using your ISA and pension allowances, harvesting capital gains sensibly, and adjusting before each 5 April deadline so nothing is wasted.
- 4
Access to your adviser
Someone to call when life changes, an inheritance, a job move, a market wobble, and a steady hand to stop rash decisions.
- 5
Reporting and admin
Regular valuations, paperwork, and coordination with the platform and providers on your behalf.
The value, in other words, is meant to be continuous. Markets move, tax rules change, and your own life shifts: a good ongoing service keeps the plan matched to all three. Our guide to ongoing adviser charges sets out how the fee is structured and disclosed.
It is worth being clear about what an ongoing fee is not. It is not a charge for the initial advice (that is a separate one-off cost) and it is not a fee for simply holding your investments, which is what the platform charge covers. Nor is it a guarantee of better performance; no adviser can promise the markets will be kind. What you are buying is a relationship and a service: the ongoing work of monitoring, adjusting and advising, plus a qualified professional who knows your circumstances and can act quickly when something changes. Whether that service is delivered, and used, is precisely what determines whether the fee is money well spent.
How much, and how it is charged
It must be for a real, ongoing service
FCA rules require that an ongoing fee corresponds to a service you are actually offered, most obviously an annual review. If you are being charged but never hear from the firm, that is not what the fee is for, and you are entitled to question or cancel it.
On a percentage basis, 0.5%–1% a year translates into real cash quickly: 0.75% on a £250,000 portfolio is roughly £1,875 every year. That is not a small sum, and it should buy a service you genuinely use. Sitting beneath the adviser’s fee are the usual platform and fund charges too, so it is always worth asking for the total yearly cost: the point we make in the answer on how advisers are paid.
Some firms have moved away from a pure percentage to a flat annual fee, a set number of pounds a year regardless of portfolio size, which can be fairer for larger pots, since the work of an annual review does not really double when your portfolio does. Others tier the percentage so it falls on higher tranches. Whatever the structure, the regulator now expects firms to review, at least annually, whether ongoing advice remains suitable for you, and to be able to show that the service is actually being provided. That reform followed years in which some clients quietly paid for reviews they never received, so it pays to keep your own record of when you last spoke to your adviser.
Whether the fee earns its keep is a fair and important question, and the honest answer is that it depends entirely on whether you use what you are paying for. We tackle that head-on in the companion answer on whether ongoing adviser fees are worth it. If you are matched through the free Vetted Wealth service, the adviser will set out the ongoing charge and exactly what it includes before you commit, see financial advisers. This is information and a matching service, not personal advice, and investments can fall as well as rise.
In summary
- An ongoing advice fee is a recurring charge for looking after your money after the initial advice.
- It is typically 0.5–1% of your portfolio a year, or a flat annual sum.
- It usually buys an annual review, rebalancing, tax-year planning and adviser access.
- It is optional and can be cancelled at any time: you are never locked in.
- FCA rules require it to correspond to a real service, most obviously an annual review.
- If you never use the service, question or cancel it: this is information, not personal advice.
Sources and further reading
- Financial adviser charges MoneyHelper
- Retail Distribution Review Financial Conduct Authority
Read the full guide
For the complete picture, see our in-depth guide: Ongoing Adviser Charges Explained.
Speak to a vetted financial advisers specialist
This is free information, not personal advice. When you’re ready, we’ll match you with an independently vetted, FCA-regulated specialist, free, and with no obligation.
