Hi Mark

I really want to start implementing a more comprehensive approach to dealing with my better clients (current ideal & potential) but I am really worried about the risk of changing from a situation where currently the investment product provider pays me a % fee on behalf of the client to a situation where I have to invoice the clients directly. How do you transition?

Adam

For the record Adam, I'm not opposed to a third-party (turnkey asset management program, etc) handling the fee colletion for you. That can be effecient. What is sticky, however, is if your compensation is not up-front & fully disclosed (buried in the products) or your product provider does not offer you the flexibility to charge the amount or type of compensation you want.

My only advice is from my own experience. In the U.S. all the major institutional investment custody firms (Schwab, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, etc) have web-based client fee debiting software for Registered Investment Advisors with clients utilizing their account services.

After they review your signed client agreements, you're "good to go." We hired a bookkeeper to follow my written documented quarterly client fee billing process (aproved by our compliance person), and I simply "built-in" several review steps to reduce (or eliminate) errors in billing.

I can post my documented fee-billing process on The TrustedAdvisorToolkit.com™ (TATK) Site. Thanks for the idea.

Best,

Mark