Our Services and Fees

We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to give independent financial advice. This can be verified on the FCA Register: www.fca.org.uk/consumers.

We are not restricted to only sell a limited range of financial products and we advise from the whole market. We provide a comprehensive financial planning service. We are also authorised to provide guidance on a very wide range of sometimes complex and specialist areas.

All of our staff are salaried and they have no sales’ targets. Our service is based upon client service and not transactional sales. Our charges are clear and simple and all agreed with clients prior to any costs being incurred.

Our advice process can be divided into the following distinct stages, as follows:

  • Initial Meeting– During the initial meeting/telephone conversation and completion of our Confidential Questionnaire and Risk forms, we review your overall situation to determine where guidance would be helpful to you. As a Firm we have chosen to absorb all the costs of these initial interactions.
  • Client Proposal– You will receive an Initial Review, again at our cost. It will confirm our understanding of your situation and provide general guidance of what may benefit you, including any future costs. This will encourage the next stage, perhaps after a meeting or telephone appointment. After considering the guidance, if you then instruct us to progress certain aspects, without specific recommendations, there are still no advisory costs involved at all.
  • Our costed Advisory Report– If the need for a detailed, regulated Advisory Report is agreed, upon prior acceptance of the fee for its production, we then research your full options and present recommendations. This will include proposals to meet your specific needs. It will be a comprehensive report and the fee applies whether you progress any recommendations or not.
  • Implementation–Where you agree, we shall then implement some or all of the instruction only aspects or recommendations. This will involve acting between financial and investment providers and you.
  • Ongoing Review– Ongoing reviews through regular contact and/or meetings are necessary to ensure continuing suitability of your strategy. Any costs associated with these reviews will be disclosed to you in advance. There are no additional charges for reviews of your discretionarily managed investment strategies.

You pay for our services, with fees being agreed in advance.

Special Services
If there is specific chargeable work aside from our normal and free services (such as for comprehensive retirement reviews or the specific arrangement of alternative products), these are likely to incur time-costed fees. You can ask for an estimate of the cost and for a cap to be applied too and we shan’t exceed that without your prior consent. Typically, charges are at the below rates and subject to update from time to time.

Advice Hourly Fees

  • Managing Director/Senior Adviser Director: £350 per hour
  • Director/Qualified Financial Adviser: £275 per hour
  • Paraplanner/Client Support Manager: £165 per hour
  • Administration Support: £140 per hour

Where we review a Salary Related Pension/Deferred Annuity Transfer, our time-costed charges are subject to 2% of the value and a minimum £2,000. VAT may apply.

What to do if you have a complaint
We hope that it will never arise but if you have a complaint, please contact us:

in writing: Write to Philip J Milton & Company Plc, Choweree House, 21 Boutport Street, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 1RP
by telephone: 01271 344300

If we cannot settle your complaint, you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free. This can award up to £415,000 for complaints found against regulated firms.

Are we covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)?
We are covered by the FSCS. In the worst possible scenario, which we cannot envisage, you are entitled to compensation from the scheme if we or any of our counterparties cannot meet our obligations. As with banks and building society accounts, most types of investment are covered up to £85,000 per person.