The fee stack
A wealth-management offer may show one clean annual fee, but the real cost can include several layers: advisory or management fee, fund costs, custody, transaction charges, foreign exchange spread, and tax-reporting fees.
For a large portfolio, a small percentage difference is not small. A 0.8 percentage point annual cost gap on CHF 500'000 is CHF 4'000 per year before compounding.
This does not mean every wealth manager is bad. It means the value must be visible: planning, tax coordination, risk control, rebalancing, estate questions, and behavioural discipline.
Questions to ask before signing
Ask whether the adviser is independent, how they are paid, whether they receive retrocessions, and whether they will rebate them. Ask for the full expected annual cost in CHF, not only percentages.
Ask how they handle US persons, UK-domiciled clients, EU moves, restricted fund access, or future relocation. Many expats have cross-border issues that a purely local portfolio pitch ignores.
Ask what happens if you leave Switzerland. Can the relationship continue? Will products still be suitable? Can assets be transferred easily?
When advice may be worth it
Advice can be worth paying for when the situation is complex: high income, multiple countries, business ownership, concentrated stock, pension assets, property, inheritance, or a spouse in another tax system.
Advice is less convincing when the service is mainly expensive fund selection wrapped in impressive language.
The practical benchmark is this: after the meeting, can you explain the plan, the risks, the fee stack, and the cross-border assumptions in plain English?
If the proposal needs jargon to sound convincing, slow down. A good adviser should be able to show what is being managed, what is being delegated, what remains your responsibility, and what would change if you relocate.
Ask for a one-page summary after the meeting. It should show the recommended portfolio, total annual cost, tax assumptions, and actions you must take yourself.