Specialist Wealth Advisory in Oxford

Wealth management is the umbrella term for coordinating pensions, investments, tax and estate planning across a household. In practice that means knowing what you already hold (pensions, ISAs, GIAs, property, cash), what the fees on each are, and what you want the money to do over the next 5, 10 or 20 years. For most Oxford households the work breaks into three layers: information, where you understand the rules and your own numbers; planning, where you set a written framework for how the pots fit together; and regulated advice, where you sit down with an FCA-authorised adviser for a specific recommendation on a product or transfer. Information on this site is general in nature and does not constitute regulated financial advice.

No. This site provides general wealth management information for Oxford and Oxfordshire households. We do not give regulated financial advice and we do not sell financial products. Where a question goes beyond information, for example a pension transfer recommendation, a defined-benefit transfer, or a specific investment recommendation, we refer households to FCA-authorised advisers. Always check an adviser's status on the FCA Financial Services Register at register.fca.org.uk before instructing them.

Costs split into three layers. Platform charges, the fee a provider charges to hold your investments, usually 0.15% to 0.45% per year on the balance. Fund charges, the underlying ongoing charges figure on each fund you hold, typically 0.05% to 0.15% on index funds and 0.5% to 1.0% on actively managed funds. Advice charges, where an FCA-authorised adviser is involved, typically a 1% to 3% initial fee on a transfer or new investment, plus 0.5% to 1.0% ongoing per year for continuing advice. Many advisers also work on a fixed-fee basis for specific pieces of work, particularly retirement planning and IHT planning. Always ask for total fees in writing in pounds and pence, not just percentages.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Consolidation can simplify administration, reduce overall fees, and give you a single view of your retirement savings. It is usually wrong where the old scheme carries valuable guarantees, for example a guaranteed annuity rate, a defined-benefit safeguard, or protected tax-free cash above 25%. A pension transfer from a defined-benefit scheme worth more than £30,000 requires regulated advice by law. Even on simpler defined-contribution consolidations, the question of whether to consolidate and where to consolidate to is usually worth taking regulated advice on. Information about the rules is not the same thing as advice on your specific situation.

The total ISA allowance for 2026/27 is £20,000 per adult, refreshed every 6 April. You can split it across Cash ISAs, Stocks & Shares ISAs, Innovative Finance ISAs and a Lifetime ISA (Lifetime ISA contributions are capped at £4,000 of the £20,000). The Junior ISA allowance for under-18s is £9,000. ISA returns, whether interest, dividends or capital gains, are free of UK income tax and capital gains tax. ISAs are usually the first port of call for tax-efficient investing once any employer pension match is captured. Lifetime ISAs add a 25% government bonus on contributions up to age 50 but carry an early-withdrawal penalty if used outside the permitted purposes (first home up to £450,000, or age 60).

Inheritance tax in 2026/27 starts at 40% on estates above the nil-rate band of £325,000 per person. A residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000 applies where a main home passes to direct descendants, taking the headline allowance per person up to £500,000. Married couples and civil partners can transfer unused allowances on first death, giving a combined potential allowance of £1,000,000. Above that, 40% applies on the excess. The residence nil-rate band tapers away on estates above £2,000,000. Gifts within the seven years before death can be brought back into the estate for IHT purposes, with taper relief reducing the IHT rate on gifts made 3 to 7 years before death. IHT planning is regulated-advice territory once the numbers get real; the information here is a framework, not a recommendation.

A workplace pension is set up by your employer, usually with your employer paying a contribution alongside yours, with the fund choice limited to whatever the scheme provider offers. A self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is a personal pension you open in your own name, with a much wider range of investment options and full control over which funds, shares or ETFs the money sits in. Most SIPP providers charge a platform fee plus the underlying fund charges. SIPPs are usually appropriate for consolidating old workplace pensions, or for self-employed savers who do not have an employer scheme. They are not always cheaper than a low-cost workplace scheme, and they should never be used to opt out of an employer match.

Three checks before you instruct anyone. First, confirm they are FCA-authorised on the Financial Services Register (register.fca.org.uk) and check the firm's permissions cover the advice you need (investments, pensions, defined-benefit transfers). Second, ask for the total fees in writing in pounds and pence, including platform, fund, initial advice and ongoing advice charges, with a worked example on your portfolio size. Third, ask whether they are independent (whole of market) or restricted (limited to certain providers), and ask what the adviser's recommendation process looks like in practice. A good adviser will write you a recommendation letter that sets out clearly what they have recommended, why, what it costs, and what the alternatives were.

A discovery call is a free 30 to 45 minute conversation to understand what you already have and what you are trying to achieve. We cover: what pensions you hold and the providers, ISA and general investment account balances, cash savings, mortgage and property position, expected retirement age, dependants, and the questions you want answered first. After the call you receive a short written summary of what was discussed and a clear next step, which may be more information, a specific question for a regulated adviser, or no further action where the situation is already well-organised. We do not sell products and we do not earn commission from referrals.

Not necessarily. For straightforward ISA and SIPP saving on a low-cost passive platform, many households self-direct. The decision to take advice usually turns on three factors: complexity (multiple legacy pensions, defined-benefit entitlements, business interests), tax (IHT planning, capital gains tax timing, lifetime allowance considerations), and decision pressure (retirement income strategy, large lump sum from inheritance or sale of a business). Where any of those three apply, the cost of regulated advice is usually small relative to the cost of getting the decision wrong. Where none apply, a low-cost platform and a globally diversified passive fund usually does more good than an adviser charging 1% per year.

The Universities Superannuation Scheme is the single largest pension scheme exposure across Oxford academic and senior professional services households, with around 470,000 active and deferred members nationally. USS combined defined-benefit and defined-contribution sections after the 2022 reforms, and reinstated improved benefits from April 2024 following the 2023 valuation. For households with USS membership the planning conversation covers: the projected scheme income at the household's chosen retirement age, how the defined-contribution top-up (the USS Investment Builder) is invested, the case for additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) versus a separate SIPP, and how USS sits alongside the state pension and any private pots. USS transfer questions and AVC structuring are regulated-advice territory; we set out the framework.

Oxford has one of the most active university spinout pipelines in Europe, with significant founder and senior employee equity moving across Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) schemes, unapproved options and direct shareholdings. CGT planning around an exit covers: whether Business Asset Disposal Relief (the £1m lifetime limit at 10% CGT) applies on a qualifying disposal, how to use the £3,000 annual exempt amount and spouse transfers to spread gains, whether to crystallise gains into ISAs over multiple tax years, and how the holding period and option exercise sequencing interact with the relief. The technical work is regulated-advice and accountancy territory; the framework is information.