Why Fixed Fees Build Trust in Financial Planning

For decades, financial advice has been charged as a percentage of the money you invest. It looked simple. It sounded fair. But in reality, it blurred the line between what you pay and what you get.

At Xentum, we believe financial advice should earn back its trust. That starts with clarity, and it starts with fixed fee financial planning.

Why the 1 per cent model no longer works
Percentage based charging became the industry habit because it was easy to calculate, not because it was fair. If your investments rise, your adviser automatically earns more even if the amount of work stays the same.

A £1 million portfolio at 1 per cent costs £10,000 a year. Over ten years, allowing for moderate growth, you could pay more than £120,000. Yet the meetings, planning sessions and reports may barely change.

That model rewards market movement, not meaningful service, and it quietly undermines trust. It is time for something better — a fair, transparent fixed fee financial planning model that reflects real work, not wealth.

How fixed fees rebuild transparency
Our Movement of Clarity replaces assumption with evidence. Every client pays a fixed fee that reflects the real time, expertise and resource it takes to deliver their plan, nothing more, nothing less.

This shift does three things:

1. Aligns interests. You know exactly what we earn, and we know exactly what you expect. There is no incentive to gather assets or sell products.

2. Gives you control. You can compare value directly against the work done, in hours, not percentages.

3. Builds trust. When costs are fixed, conversations move from performance to purpose. Advice becomes collaboration, not commission.

Read more about how we charge fairly on our Fixed Fee Calculator page.

Trust is not a feeling, it is evidence
We believe trust must be proven, not presumed. That is why we created our Fixed Fee Calculator.

It shows, line by line, how each fee is built from real data: planner hours, technical input, compliance oversight and service commitments. You see exactly where your money goes before you spend it.

Transparency does not mean cheap. It means fair. When you can see behind the curtain, you make better choices and the relationship strengthens.

If you would like to learn more about our approach, visit our Movement of Clarity page.

Better relationships, better advice
When the fee stops rising with portfolio value, everything changes. Reviews become about your life, not the markets. We talk about what matters your family, your business, your wellbeing  without any hidden agenda.

It turns advice into partnership, built on equality and shared purpose. That is what genuine financial planning should feel like.

Aligned with the FCA Consumer Duty
The FCA Consumer Duty demands fair value, clear understanding and measurable outcomes. For firms using percentage models, that is a challenge. For Xentum, it is how we already operate.

Our fees are evidence based, agreed in advance and reviewed regularly. We can show precisely how each charge links to service delivery. That is not box ticking, that is clarity by design.

A better model for clients and the profession
Fixed fees create predictability for clients and sustainability for planners. They remove conflicts of interest, reduce anxiety and encourage honest dialogue.

Most importantly, they rebuild confidence in an industry that has too often hidden behind percentages and jargon. The future of financial advice belongs to firms prepared to be open about cost, value and purpose.

At Xentum, we are proud to lead that future: fair, fixed and focused entirely on our clients.

See how clarity feels
Use our Fixed Fee Calculator to discover what fair, fixed fee advice looks like for you. No percentages. No surprises. Just truth, trust and transparent planning.

Because clarity builds trust, and trust builds everything that follows.