Wealth management fees in the UK: what you're really paying

By the Y Invest team · Updated July 2026 · 8 min read

Ask most wealth management clients what they pay and they'll quote a single number — usually "about 1%". Ask what they actually pay, all-in, and very few can answer. That gap is not an accident: charges in UK wealth management are layered across several documents, expressed in different units, and rarely added up for you in one place.

This guide explains each layer, what's typical in 2026, and how to work out your own all-in figure.

The four layers of wealth management charges

1. The management or advice fee

This is the headline number — the annual percentage your wealth manager charges for running your portfolio (discretionary) or advising on it (advisory). In the UK this typically ranges from 0.5% to 1.25% a year, often on a tiered scale that falls as portfolio size rises. It is usually the only figure quoted in conversation.

2. Underlying fund charges

If your portfolio holds funds — and most do — each fund levies its own ongoing charge (OCF). Actively managed funds commonly cost 0.6%–1.0% a year; passive index funds as little as 0.05%–0.2%. A portfolio built from the manager's own in-house funds deserves particular scrutiny, since you may be paying the firm twice. This layer typically adds 0.2%–0.9%. The active-versus-passive trade-off behind these numbers is covered in our guide to managing your own portfolio.

3. Platform and custody fees

Someone has to hold the assets. Custody or platform charges typically add 0.1%–0.35% a year, sometimes bundled into the management fee, sometimes not — you have to check.

4. Transaction costs

Dealing commissions, spreads, and FX conversion charges on foreign holdings. Individually small, but on an actively traded portfolio they can add another 0.1%–0.5% a year. FX margins in particular are a quiet profit centre: converting currency at 0.5%–1% above the market rate is common.

What's typical all-in?

Stack the layers and the picture changes considerably:

In practice, most traditional UK wealth management relationships land between 1.5% and 2.5% a year all-in. On a £1m portfolio that's £15,000–£25,000 every year — and because it's charged on the whole portfolio regardless of performance, it compounds directly against your returns.

Why small percentages matter enormously

A 1% difference sounds trivial. It isn't. £1m growing at 6% gross for 20 years becomes roughly £2.65m at a 1% annual cost — but only about £2.19m at 2%. That single percentage point is worth around £460,000 over the period. Fees are the one component of your investment outcome that is contractually guaranteed; returns are not.

How to find your own all-in figure

1. Request your annual costs & charges disclosure. Under MiFID II rules, your manager must provide an annual statement showing all costs in pounds and as a percentage — including underlying fund and transaction costs. Many clients have never looked at it; some have never been sent it. Ask.
2. Check what the platform/custody arrangement costs and whether it's included in the headline fee.
3. Look at the portfolio's fund list. Note the OCF of each holding, and flag any in-house funds.
4. Divide total annual costs by average portfolio value. That's your true all-in percentage.

Questions worth asking your manager

• "What did I pay last year, in pounds, across all charges — including fund and transaction costs?"
• "How much of my portfolio is in funds managed by your own firm, and why?"
• "What FX rate margin do you apply to currency conversions?"
• "How has my portfolio performed, net of all fees, against a passive benchmark at the same risk level?"

A good firm answers these directly and in writing. Evasiveness is itself a data point.

This article is for information and education only and is not financial advice. Y Invest is not authorised or regulated by the FCA.