Financial advice fees vary depending on the financial adviser and the type of advice you want. Once you have an idea of the costs, you can decide whether paying for financial advice is right for you.
When you first meet with a financial adviser, they should explain their fees, services and how they deal with complaints.
The adviser may give you a copy of their Financial Services Guide (FSG). It may be available from their website or you can ask for it. The FSG is a good way to compare fees and services between different advisers.
How fees are charged
It's important to understand the fees your adviser will charge you and other income or benefits they will receive. Also consider any financial product fees and costs you may pay on top of the fees charged by your adviser.
Types of fees
Your financial adviser may charge:
- Statement of Advice (SOA) fee — A one-off fee for preparing your SOA. This fee is either paid up-front and deducted from your investments, or added to ongoing fees for service.
- Fee to implement financial advice — A one-off fee for implementing financial advice — for example, opening accounts and purchasing investments. This can be an up-front fee based on the value of your assets.
- Fee for ongoing financial advice — An ongoing fee for advice and services, like reviews, reports, phone calls, emails and newsletters. This is often a monthly fee.
- Fee for review — A one-off fee for reviewing your financial plan and implementing any changes — for example, changing your investments to align with your goals.
- Hourly rate — Fixed fee per hour to answer one-off questions that are not part of ongoing advice or services.
- Fee for service — Fixed fee for a service or a type of advice, for example, preparing your Statement of Advice (SOA).
- Asset-based (portfolio percentage) — Percentage fee based on the total value of the assets in your portfolio. The more assets you have, the higher the fee. You pay this fee regardless of how well your investments perform.
If your adviser charges a portfolio percentage, ask what this fee is in dollars. The percentage may seem much lower than the dollar amount.
Commissions
A commission is an amount received by an adviser from product issuers for selling their products. The commission is usually based on a percentage of what you pay for the product.
Your adviser can’t receive a commission on superannuation products or investments. They can still receive a commission on some insurance policies that you take out through them.
Commissions could influence the advice that you receive.
Insurance commissions
Advisers usually receive commissions for insurance policies. You can ask to pay a higher up-front fee to your adviser to reduce the commission and your premium.
From July 2025, advisers providing personal financial advice about insurance products need to get your consent to charge commissions for selling the product to you. This includes life insurance, general insurance and consumer credit insurance.
Consent may be oral or written and will generally be ongoing, extending to any renewal periods. Your adviser is required to give you a copy of your consent.
Make sure you understand how much you are being charged, how often you are charged and what you are getting.
Gifts and other benefits
Advisers are generally not allowed to receive gifts or other benefits from a product provider for recommending a financial product. These benefits may influence the products they recommend to you. An adviser may try to get around this by seeking your consent.
Be wary if you’re asked to sign anything that allows the adviser to receive gifts or other benefits from a product provider. Such actions could be misconduct and you should report misconduct to ASIC.
Product fees and costs
You may pay fees or incur costs on financial products recommended to you, in addition to the fees paid to your adviser. Examples of product fees and costs include:
- investment platform fees
- superannuation fund administration fees
- establishment fees
- contribution fees
- investment management fees
- investment performance fees
- investment buy/sell spreads
- brokerage fees
- withdrawal fees
- exit fees
- insurance premiums
Read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for a financial product to find out the product fees you will pay. This PDS may be provided via a hyperlink as part of your application for the product. If you do not receive a PDS, ask for it.
Check your fees
You may be paying an ongoing fee for advice, or have fees deducted from your superannuation. You must give written consent each year to being charged these fees, and may do this face-to-face or electronically.
Ask your adviser when you next have to opt-in and when they will remind you. They must give you written details about the services to be provided under the arrangement, and the frequency of those services each time you consent.
If you're unhappy with the fees or advice from your financial adviser, the first step is to talk to them. If you're not satisfied with their response, you can make a complaint.
Rhett asks to see all the fees
Rhett has around $400,000 to invest.
After his first meeting with a financial adviser, Rhett agrees to get a financial plan. The adviser charges $3,500 for the plan, plus a $1,500 implementation fee. There will also be additional product fees for the financial products they are recommending.
At the next meeting, Rhett receives the Statement of Advice (SOA). This outlines all the fees (and who receives each fee) for the first year if Rhett agrees to go ahead.
From this statement, Rhett can see that the total fees and premiums for the first year are $13,000. They are estimated to be $8,100 in the second year.
|
Fees Rhett has to pay |
Fees and costs ($) |
Fees as a percentage of investments |
Fees and commissions for financial adviser |
Fees for product provider |
|
Up-front fees |
||||
|
Statement of Advice fee |
$3,500 |
- |
$3,500 |
- |
|
Implementation fee |
$1,500 |
- |
$1,500 |
- |
|
Ongoing fees based on $400,000 in investments |
||||
|
Ongoing advice fees |
$2,000 |
0.50% |
$2,000 |
- |
|
Platform administration fees |
$1,000 |
0.25% |
- |
$1,000 |
|
Investment management fees(1) |
$3,000 |
0.75% |
- |
$3,000 |
|
Investment Fees in year 1 |
$11,000 | $7,000 | $4,000 | |
|
First year insurance premium(2) |
$2,000 |
- |
$1,320 |
$680 |
|
Total fees, premiums & commissions - year 1 |
$13,000 |
- |
$8,320 |
$4,680 |
|
Estimated ongoing advice and investment fees |
$6,000 |
1.5% |
$2,000 |
$4,000 |
|
Estimated second year insurance premium(3) |
$2,100 |
- |
$462 |
$1,638 |
|
Estimated fees, premiums & commissions - year 2 |
$8,100 |
|
$2,462 |
$5,638 |
(1) Investment management fees are usually deducted from investment returns before they are credited to your account.
(2) Insurance commission (66% of first year premium, including GST).
(3) Insurance commission (22% of second year premium, including GST).
Note: Fees shown are indicative amounts only and will vary. Fees are also likely to be higher if you need a broader scope of advice.