Pricing for Our Financial Planning Service
At Lucent, we believe great financial planning advice should come with straightforward pricing—no hidden fees, no nasty surprises.
How Our Pricing Works
When it comes to how we charge for our financial planning and on-going management, we offer a clear, upfront pricing structure that ensures you know exactly what you’re paying for. We've designed our pricing so you can focus on building your financial future with confidence.
Here’s exactly how our pricing works and the 'total cost' to you:
Getting to Know You
Your first meeting with our financial planning experts is complimentary. We’ll get to know each other, discuss your needs, and you can see if we’re the right fit for your requirements.
Cost to you - £Nothing
We do not charge you for the initial consultation.
Creating Your Bespoke Financial Plan
After our initial consultation, our experts will design a bespoke financial plan just for you. In a follow-up meeting, we present your plan and walk you through how to make your money work harder, cover any financial shortfalls, and achieve your life goals with confidence.
What’s included in your financial plan:
- A detailed cash flow plan and financial modelling.
- Testing your plan against every investment return scenario since 1915 to ensure resilience.
- Analysis of your investment costs to see if better returns and value are achievable.
- Review of your investment portfolio to ensure it matches your risk profile and goals.
- Insights on when you might run out of money and strategies to mitigate this risk.
- Guidance on potential savings, tax efficiencies, and how to manage spending.
- Inheritance tax minimisation strategies if you have substantial wealth.
- Personalised calculations to see how much more you can comfortably spend each month or year.
- Alignment of all this to your lifestyle goals—whether it’s an early retirement, buying a holiday home, or something else entirely.
For this comprehensive work, we charge a one-off fixed-fee of £3,000. If, after our presentation, you don’t find it valuable or feel our approach isn’t right for you, you can walk away at no cost.
We believe you should only pay if you see real value in what we bring.
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Implementing Your Financial Plan
If, during our planning process, we identify ways to improve your returns—like moving you to a better pension, ISA, or market-based portfolio—we charge £1,250 plus 1.5% on the total amount moved. Here are two examples:
Policy Arrangement for Simple Pensions & Investments – 1.5%
Illustrative Example 1
For a standard employer pension transfer of £500,000, the implementation fee would be £1,250 + (1.5% of £500,000 = £7,500) = £8,750
The total fee per ‘wrapper’ is capped at £14,750 (a wrapper being an ISA / Pension etc)
Policy Arrangement for Complex Investments – 2.5%
For higher-risk, specialised investments—such as Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs), Enterprise Investment Schemes (EIS), and Business Relief Investments—our arrangement fee is 2.5%.
Illustrative Example 2:
For a VCT investment of £200,000, the implementation fee would be £1,250 + (2.5% of £200,000 = £5,000) = £6,250
Financial Protection Products
For financial protection products like life insurance or income protection, we’re paid by the provider, meaning there’s no additional cost to you for arranging these products, as it is included in the premium.
Cost to you - Nothing.
Ongoing Advice and Management
Once your financial plan is set up, if you’d like us to manage your portfolio on your behalf, we charge an ongoing service fee of 0.85% per year on the invested funds.
What’s included:
- On-going advice and financial planning.
- An annual meeting with your dedicated financial planner to review progress and goals.
- Open access to your planner throughout the year for any life changes or investment concerns.
Cost to you - Minimum Fee: £3,000 annually, capped at £26,000
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Why Consider the Total Cost?
We’re committed to providing a high-value, cost-effective solution. Our clients typically pay between 1.2% - 1.3% annually for a complete package of independent advice, portfolio management, and ongoing support. When evaluating financial providers, it’s essential to look at the full picture.
Here are some things to consider:
- Service Fees: Are they clearly explained, and do they align with the value you’re receiving or looking for?
- Provider and Investment Charges: Some fees might not be obvious initially—ask for a breakdown of advisor costs, on-going advice, and portfolio management.
- Hidden Charges: Look out for any additional charges for “extras” like transaction fees or fund switches.
- Platform Charges: Look for additional on-going charges to access your investment information through a funding platform.
- Commitment to Transparency: Does the provider offer clear, upfront information, or are there any ambiguities in their pricing?
With Lucent, you get straightforward, competitive pricing—no surprises, just high-quality advice and support to keep your finances on track.
Cap on Maximum Fees
Regardless of the complexity or level of your investments, we cap our maximum total charge at £26,000 annually. This means that even if your portfolio grows, you’ll never pay more than this amount in combined ongoing fees, providing peace of mind and cost certainty as your wealth increases.
How Our Costs Compare to the Industry
According to the NextWealth Financial Advice Business Benchmarks (October 2024), the average adviser charge is 0.77%. But as the saying goes, “you get what you pay for.”
Only 20% of firms hold Chartered status, like we do. More importantly, advice fees are just one part of your overall costs. Many larger firms offer lower advice fees but invest your money in their own funds—earning more through investment management and platform fees. The key number to focus on is your total cost because that’s what truly impacts your long-term returns.
The table below shows how our costs compare:
* For our preferred DFM, we pay the costs on your behalf.
To give you an illustration of our total costs, below are three scenarios:
Standard Advice
Context: Financial planning with stock market based investments.
This example reflects a typical financial planning scenario where the focus is on consolidating a few key investments and pensions. In this case, our advice includes a review and setup of a pension plan and investment portfolio. The aim here is to simplify and organise your finances, ensuring your money is working effectively for you without introducing complex investment products.
Illustrative Example:
Investment: £500,000 (Comprised of Pension £350,000 & Investment £150,000)
Initial Fees:
- Financial Plan Creation: £3,000
- Financial Review, Analysis & Implementation: £1,250
- Policy Arrangement (1.5%): £500,000 x 1.5% = £7,500
Total cost for initial advice: £11,750
Plus additional fee of:
Ongoing financial planning & investment management – 0.85% of £500,000 = £4,250
Complex Advice for Low-Level Investment
Context: Advanced planning for larger portfolios with specialised investments with on-going financial planning.
This example represents a more intricate planning scenario, often suited for high-net-worth individuals or clients with a broader range of assets. Here, we’re not only setting up pensions and traditional investments, but also integrating a Venture Capital Trust (VCT)—a specialised investment that can offer potential tax benefits but comes with additional complexity. This level of advice includes thorough analysis and recommendations across multiple pensions, investments, and tax-efficient products.
Illustrative Example:
Investment: £750,000 (Comprised of Pension 1 £300,000; Pension 2 £150,000; Investment 1 £100,000; Venture Capital Trust £200,000)
Initial Fees:
- Financial Plan Creation: £3,000
- Financial Review, Analysis & Implementation: £1,250
- Standard Policy Arrangement (1.5%): £550,000 x 1.5% = £8,250
- Complex Policy Arrangement (2.5%): £200,000 x 2.5% = £5,000
Total cost for initial advice: £17,500
Plus additional fee of:
Ongoing financial planning & investment management – 0.85% of £750,000 = £6,375
Complex Advice for High-Level Investment
Context: Advanced planning for high-value specialised investments with on-going planning and management.
This example represents a more intricate planning scenario, often suited for high-net-worth individuals or clients with a broader range of high value assets. Here, we’re not only consolidating 3 pensions, and restructuring an investment portfolio, but also integrating a high value Venture Capital Trust (VCT).
Illustrative Example:
Investment: £2,400,000 (Comprised of Pension 1 £700,000; Pension 2 £200,000; Pension 3, £400,000; ISA £300,000; General Investment Account £200,000; Offshore Bond £400,000; Venture Capital Trust £200,000)
Initial Fees:
- Financial Plan Creation: £3,000
- Financial Review, Analysis & Implementation: £1,250
- Standard Policy Arrangement (1.5%): £2,200,000 x 1.5% = £33,000
- Complex Policy Arrangement (2.5%): £200,000 x 2.5% = £5,000
Total Cost for advice: Capped at £26,000
Plus additional fee of:
Ongoing financial planning & investment management – 0.85% of £2,400,000 = £20,400
Ready to build your financial plan?
Contact Lucent today to start building a financial plan that secures you and your family’s future and maximises your earning potential.
- Do you have investible assets of £500k or more and seek professional financial planning?
- Are you focused on growing your wealth while balancing family and career responsibilities?
- Do you want to optimise your tax position and investment strategy during your peak earning years?
- Are you looking for guidance on planning for your children’s education and your future financial goals?
If you answer yes to the above, get in touch.
FAQs
We don’t just hand you a financial plan and leave you to figure it out. Life changes, tax laws shift, and your goals evolve—so your plan needs to keep up. Without expert guidance, it’s easy to miss opportunities or fall off track. That’s why we’re here to ensure your plan stays relevant, resilient, and working hard for you. We set you up to win—today and tomorrow!
Once we’re managing your investments, there are no extra fees for making changes within your existing portfolio. For any new money invested, we charge £650 plus 1.5% of the amount invested. To help you keep costs down, we recommend setting up direct debits and maximising your annual allowances. Unlike firms that charge higher ongoing fees, our approach ensures you only pay extra when it involves additional work—keeping your long-term costs lower.
Our fees are capped to ensure you don’t pay endlessly as your portfolio grows. For a single investment wrapper, the maximum fee is £14,750, and across all wrappers combined, it's capped at £26,000. These caps are adjusted annually in line with inflation, ensuring fair and transparent costs as your wealth increases.
Absolutely! We schedule one annual review at a fixed point each year to ensure everything stays on track. But within that framework, you can tailor the support to fit your needs. Need extra meetings for reassurance, guidance, or financial education? No problem—it’s all part of the service!
We invest in whatever we believe is best for you—no restrictions, no gimmicks, just the strategies most likely to deliver the best outcomes. If a bespoke approach leads to better results, we’re all for it. If it doesn’t, we won’t do it. Simple as that.
Still have questions?
If you've got a question we haven't answered, we'd love to hear from you.