Tilney, the wealth manager, appears to be removing a discount on its annual fees that applied to some former Bestinvest clients.
Tilney and Bestinvest merged in 2014. The Tilney brand was subsequently used for the wealth and investment management part of the business, with the Bestinvest brand retained for diy investor business.
We’ve had some former Bestinvest investment management clients move across to our service from Tilney in recent years, primarily because it saved them a lot of money while still enjoying a high level of service and expertise. As a result, we’ve come to understand Tilney’s various charging structures very well.
Past Tilney literature (and our experience) suggests the firm discounts its tiered annual fee for former Bestinvest investment management clients via a 0.75% cap. However, based on recent enquiries we’ve received from Tilney clients, this discount appears to be ending.
If true, the upshot would be a large fee increase for affected clients, with the 1.25% tier on the first £250,000 and 1.00% tier between £250,000 - £750,000 taking hold. I’ve based this on the Tilney rate card and recent enquiries, in practice it might be that some clients are on other charging structures or deals.
Given the size of affected portfolios, the extra fees (if payable) in pounds and pence will be significant. Someone with a £750,000 portfolio, could see their annual Tilney fee rise from an already not insubstantial £5,625 to £8,125, a £2,500 increase.
If you are a Tilney client affected by the removal of this Bestinvest discount, then I’d suggest protesting strongly to Tilney asking them to reinstate the 0.75% cap.
And if this proves fruitless, or you’re concerned that 0.75% is too high in any case, speak to other advisers!