What independent wealth advice really means (and how to spot it)
Most advisors are paid by the products they sell. Independence changes the incentive — and the outcome. Here are the questions that reveal who is actually on your side.
Independence is not a marketing word. It is a compensation structure. An independent wealth advisor is paid only by the client — never by a bank, a fund house or an insurance company. That single fact removes the incentive to recommend the product with the highest hidden cost.
The three questions that reveal everything
- How are you paid, exactly? A flat fee, a percentage of assets, or commissions from the products you place?
- Do you receive any payment, rebate or incentive from third parties connected to what you recommend?
- Can you show me the total cost of my portfolio in euros or dollars, not just in percentages?
If the answers are vague, the conflict of interest is real. Costs that look small — 1.5% or 2% a year — quietly compound into a large share of your final wealth over two or three decades.
Independence is about process, not products
An independent advisor starts from your objectives, your timeline and your tax situation, then chooses the cheapest efficient instrument to reach them. The order matters: goal first, allocation second, product last. When the product comes first, the plan is being reverse-engineered around a sale.
What good advice looks like in practice
- One transparent fee, agreed in advance and written down.
- A written investment policy: what you own, why you own it, and when you would change it.
- Explicit worst-case scenarios, not only expected returns.
- Education, so you become progressively less dependent on your advisor — not more.
That last point is the reason I built Titanium: my goal is that you learn to manage your own wealth, with a method, and never need to hand that responsibility to anyone again.