Rethinking Wealth Management Fees – Why Brigantia’s Model Puts Clients First
7th February 2025
The Wealth Management Industry Told Me Our Model Wouldn’t Work. They Were Wrong.
When I launched Brigantia, plenty of people in the industry told me our fee model wouldn’t work.
A capped onboarding fee and a low ongoing advice charge?
"You’ll never make enough money," they said.
"You need to charge as much as possible upfront," they insisted.
The assumption in traditional wealth management is that advisers should extract as much value as possible from clients as early as possible—before the client realises how much they’re paying.
That approach never sat right with me.
Instead, Brigantia was built on the belief that fair, transparent, and sustainable fees work better—not just for clients, but for us too. This blog explains why our fee model challenges industry norms, why it works, and most importantly, why it benefits you as an investor.
When I launched Brigantia, plenty of people in the industry told me our fee model wouldn’t work.
A capped onboarding fee and a low ongoing advice charge?
"You’ll never make enough money," they said.
"You need to charge as much as possible upfront," they insisted.
The assumption in traditional wealth management is that advisers should extract as much value as possible from clients as early as possible—before the client realises how much they’re paying.
That approach never sat right with me.
Instead, Brigantia was built on the belief that fair, transparent, and sustainable fees work better—not just for clients, but for us too. This blog explains why our fee model challenges industry norms, why it works, and most importantly, why it benefits you as an investor.
The Industry-Standard Fee Model – And Why It’s a Problem
The traditional wealth management fee structure looks something like this:
💰 Initial advice charge: 3% (uncapped)
💰 Ongoing advice charge: 1% per year
At first glance, this doesn’t sound unreasonable. But once you layer in other costs—such as platform fees, fund charges, and product fees—the total annual cost can easily climb to 2-3% per year or more.
The impact? Lower investment returns, reduced portfolio growth, and unnecessary erosion of wealth over time.
Brigantia’s Approach – Lower, Fairer Fees
We took a different route:
✅ Initial advice charge: 3%, but capped at £2,500
✅ Ongoing advice charge: 0.5% per year
At first, competitors told us this model wasn’t sustainable.
But here’s why it works for clients—and for us.
The traditional wealth management fee structure looks something like this:
💰 Initial advice charge: 3% (uncapped)
💰 Ongoing advice charge: 1% per year
At first glance, this doesn’t sound unreasonable. But once you layer in other costs—such as platform fees, fund charges, and product fees—the total annual cost can easily climb to 2-3% per year or more.
The impact? Lower investment returns, reduced portfolio growth, and unnecessary erosion of wealth over time.
Brigantia’s Approach – Lower, Fairer Fees
We took a different route:
✅ Initial advice charge: 3%, but capped at £2,500
✅ Ongoing advice charge: 0.5% per year
At first, competitors told us this model wasn’t sustainable.
But here’s why it works for clients—and for us.
Why Brigantia’s Fee Model Works – And Why It Benefits You1. A Capped Onboarding Fee Is Simply Fairer
💡 The work involved in onboarding a £1m investment vs. a £100,000 investment isn’t 10x different.
So why should the fee be?
In traditional models, a client with £1m in assets would pay £30,000 upfront—while another with £100,000 would pay £3,000, for essentially the same work.
That doesn’t make sense.
🔹 Brigantia’s onboarding fee is capped at £2,500—no matter how much you invest.
🔹 This ensures fairness and transparency, so clients aren’t paying vastly different sums for the same level of service.
2. Lower Ongoing Fees Mean More of Your Money Stays Invested
Every extra 1% in fees is 1% less in potential portfolio growth.
📉 Traditional ongoing charge: 1% per year
📈 Brigantia’s ongoing charge: 0.5% per year
At first, 0.5% vs. 1% might not seem like a huge difference. But let’s look at the numbers:
💰 Investing £500,000 over 20 years at 8% returns:
That’s a £192,000 difference, just from reducing fees!
This is why we keep our fees low—because they compound just like investment returns do.
💡 The work involved in onboarding a £1m investment vs. a £100,000 investment isn’t 10x different.
So why should the fee be?
In traditional models, a client with £1m in assets would pay £30,000 upfront—while another with £100,000 would pay £3,000, for essentially the same work.
That doesn’t make sense.
🔹 Brigantia’s onboarding fee is capped at £2,500—no matter how much you invest.
🔹 This ensures fairness and transparency, so clients aren’t paying vastly different sums for the same level of service.
2. Lower Ongoing Fees Mean More of Your Money Stays Invested
Every extra 1% in fees is 1% less in potential portfolio growth.
📉 Traditional ongoing charge: 1% per year
📈 Brigantia’s ongoing charge: 0.5% per year
At first, 0.5% vs. 1% might not seem like a huge difference. But let’s look at the numbers:
💰 Investing £500,000 over 20 years at 8% returns:
- With a 1% fee: Portfolio grows to £1,854,000
- With a 0.5% fee: Portfolio grows to £2,046,000
That’s a £192,000 difference, just from reducing fees!
This is why we keep our fees low—because they compound just like investment returns do.
Why Don’t Other Wealth Managers Do This?
The industry doesn’t like our model for one simple reason:
🔹 Short-term profit vs. long-term client success.
Many firms want quick, high-margin revenue rather than sustainable, long-term business growth.
Brigantia operates differently:
✅ Do the right thing for clients, and they stay with you.
✅ Great advice leads to referrals, which fuels sustainable business growth.
✅ If you constantly maximise fees at the client’s expense, you won’t have a business in the long run.
Some firms are willing to risk client relationships for short-term profit extraction. We’re not one of them.
Brigantia’s Fees – Built for Long-Term Success
We don’t believe in hidden fees. We don’t believe in excessive charges. We believe in transparency.
That means:
✔️ A fair, capped onboarding fee.
✔️ A low, sustainable ongoing charge.
✔️ No unnecessary fee erosion on your investments.
This model works. It benefits clients. And it’s why Brigantia continues to grow.
The industry doesn’t like our model for one simple reason:
🔹 Short-term profit vs. long-term client success.
Many firms want quick, high-margin revenue rather than sustainable, long-term business growth.
Brigantia operates differently:
✅ Do the right thing for clients, and they stay with you.
✅ Great advice leads to referrals, which fuels sustainable business growth.
✅ If you constantly maximise fees at the client’s expense, you won’t have a business in the long run.
Some firms are willing to risk client relationships for short-term profit extraction. We’re not one of them.
Brigantia’s Fees – Built for Long-Term Success
We don’t believe in hidden fees. We don’t believe in excessive charges. We believe in transparency.
That means:
✔️ A fair, capped onboarding fee.
✔️ A low, sustainable ongoing charge.
✔️ No unnecessary fee erosion on your investments.
This model works. It benefits clients. And it’s why Brigantia continues to grow.
The Bottom Line?
If you’re serious about growing your wealth and want a wealth manager whose success is aligned with yours, it’s time to rethink the traditional approach.
📩 Want to see how our model works for you? Let’s talk.
#WealthManagement #FinancialPlanning #InvestmentFees #Transparency #HNW #ExpatFinance
If you’re serious about growing your wealth and want a wealth manager whose success is aligned with yours, it’s time to rethink the traditional approach.
📩 Want to see how our model works for you? Let’s talk.
#WealthManagement #FinancialPlanning #InvestmentFees #Transparency #HNW #ExpatFinance