How Advice Is Paid For

Where We Begin

The initial conversation is free and carries no obligation. Its purpose is simply to understand your situation and explore whether working together makes sense for both of us.

No preparation is required. No commitment follows automatically.

Fee Structure in the UAE

Financial advice in the UAE operates differently to the UK. Under UAE regulation, advisory fees are not invoiced directly to clients. Instead, agreed charges are deducted from the client's account held with the relevant product provider — the investment platform, pension provider or insurance company through which your arrangements are held.

This is the standard regulatory structure for the market. It does not mean fees are hidden or undisclosed. Every fee is agreed in writing, expressed in both percentage and currency terms, before any charge is incurred. Nothing is deducted without your prior knowledge and confirmation.

Regulatory Framework

In the UAE, financial advice firms are licensed by the Capital Market Authority (CMA), which oversees investment business, and the Insurance Authority (IA), which oversees insurance and protection products.

I operate as an Appointed Representative of Skybound Wealth Management LLC, which is regulated by the CMA. This means the advice I provide, and the fees associated with it, operate within a formally regulated framework with the professional accountability that demands.

Initial Planning Fee

An initial planning fee covers the work required to understand your position in full, develop a structured financial plan and, where agreed, implement the recommendations arising from it.

The fee reflects the complexity of the work involved. Factors that typically influence this include:

• The number of jurisdictions across which your financial arrangements are held
• The range and complexity of existing products, pensions and investments to be reviewed
• The extent of analysis required — including cashflow modelling, tax consideration and estate review
• The scope of implementation work agreed

The fee is confirmed in writing before any work begins. You will know exactly what is being charged, and why, before any commitment is made.

Ongoing Advice Fee

Clients who proceed to an ongoing advisory relationship are charged an annual fee calculated as a percentage of the assets under advice.

The percentage is agreed and confirmed in writing before the ongoing service commences. It is reviewed periodically and any changes are communicated and agreed in advance.

This fee covers the full structured advisory relationship — including the Annual Client Programme of four quarterly meetings, written summaries after every meeting, and all ongoing planning, review and coordination work throughout the year.

There are no hidden charges. No additional fees are levied for individual meetings, correspondence or plan updates within the scope of the agreed service.

What Transparency Means in Practice

Before any engagement proceeds, you will receive a written fee confirmation setting out:

• The initial planning fee in both percentage and currency terms
• The ongoing advice fee as a percentage and its estimated annual cost
• How and when fees are deducted
• What the fee covers and what, if anything, falls outside it

No work begins and no charge is incurred until this has been agreed in writing by both parties.

If at any point you have a question about how fees work or what you are being charged, the answer will always be given in full and in plain terms.

The Question Behind the Question

In practice, the fee conversation rarely ends with the numbers. Most clients find that what they are really trying to assess is something more fundamental.

Am I going to be looked after properly? Will this adviser understand my situation? Will the planning actually make a difference?

Those questions are best answered in a conversation. The fee structure sets the framework. The relationship determines the value.