One of our frequently contributing members posted an insightful group comment on the fees for currency exchange and options to reduce them. He was told by his bank that for a currency exchange he had to pay a commission of 1.5%, however, he got it down to 0.3% after re-negotiating the fee with his adviser. An unusually high discount, but still his experience is affirmed by other feedback we got from members.Currency exchange is expensive and provides a substantial extra earning for the bank. Especially because many clients underestimate the costs and also how often currency exchange is necessary when for instance the adviser recommends diversifying the asset allocation internationally.

To minimize the costs of currency exchanges clients should do three things: Firstly, have a clear idea of the long-term currency split they would like to have in their portfolio. A clear strategy prevents a rather unstructured changing back and forth of currencies due to changes in the asset allocation. Also it is worthwhile to check if the particular stock, fund, ETF etc. is quoted in various currencies, so that they can avoid currency exchange in their investments. Secondly and in particular when changing larger sums the investor should check possible discounts with his adviser. Thirdly, if he frequently trades assets in different currencies it can pay off to have an account with an online broker. Often they offer significantly lower fees.

Wealth management and private banking services have one of the most intransparent pricing policies one can imagine. In spite of the large sums of money changing hands (respectively accounts) you hardly will find any price list, fee comparisons or info on rooms for negotiations. In fact the wealth managers of this world work hard to keep it not transparent: They make prices look like small, insignificant numbers; position themselves as adviser and not sales man; do not disclose the hidden costs of a client´s  portfolio and make sure clients do not talk much to each other about their fees. Or have you ever seen a client forum on a wealth manager´s website?

Time to speak up! Tell us how much you pay for your wealth management, if you could negotiate the fees and if your adviser disclosed the kickbacks he generates from your portfolio. Please participate in our survey about your costs of wealth management!

Our survey is anonymous, takes a couple of minutes and of course you will receive an exclusive report on the results for free. Find out what other pay and let´s work together on taking out the hot, expensive air in the wealth management market and getting down to facts and figures. Click here to start survey.