How to choose a wealth manager is a harder question when a family's homes, companies, pensions and heirs are spread across several countries. The adviser who suits a single-country household may lack the regulatory permissions, the tax awareness or the network to look after a family with a London house, a Swiss account, a Singapore holding company and children studying in the United States. The most important checks cost nothing: major financial centres publish registers of the firms they authorise, and the rules on how advisers describe and charge for their service are public.
Corporate INTL Newsroom · Wealth Management
How to Choose a Wealth Manager: Checks, Fees and Questions for Cross-Border Families
By The Corporate INTL Newsroom · 27 October 2026
This guide sets out what a wealth manager does for an international family, the regulator checks to run before you sign, how fees must be disclosed, the questions to ask and the red flags to walk away from.
What a wealth manager does for a cross-border family
A wealth manager advises on and, usually, manages a family's investments: setting a strategy, choosing or running portfolios, and reviewing them over time. For an internationally mobile family, good wealth management advisers also coordinate with the family's other professionals, because an investment decision in one country can carry tax and succession consequences in another.
A wealth manager is not a substitute for a lawyer who drafts wills, trusts and marital agreements, nor for a tax adviser who settles residence and filings. Well-run families appoint all three and make them talk: the investment adviser, family and private client lawyers in the countries that matter, and tax advisers who understand each jurisdiction. A move abroad shows why. Someone planning on leaving the UK for tax purposes needs portfolio decisions timed around residence tests that only a tax adviser can confirm.
How to choose a wealth manager: the regulator checks
The first rule of how to choose a wealth manager: confirm the firm is authorised where it advises you, for the activities it will carry out, before you hand over money.
In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority keeps the Financial Services Register, a public record of firms, individuals and other bodies that are, or have been, authorised by the FCA or the Prudential Regulation Authority. The FCA's own guidance on checking a firm, last updated on 22 September 2026, draws three distinctions that matter:
- Authorised, not merely registered. A firm that is registered but not authorised cannot provide products and services that need authorisation, and if you use one you are unlikely to have Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection or access to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
- Permissions, not just status. The FCA Firm Checker shows whether a firm has permission for the specific service, which the FCA calls the most effective way to reduce your risk.
- History, not just today. The Register holds the firm's full regulatory record, including historic fines and whether it can handle client money. Firms marked "Revoked" lost their authorisation after enforcement action.
Two traps catch international clients. An appointed representative that goes beyond what its principal firm allows may leave you without Ombudsman or FSCS protection, the FCA warns. And clone firms copy genuine firms' names, so check that the contact details you were given match the Register.
A cross-border family should repeat the exercise wherever an adviser will act:
| Where the adviser operates | Public register to check | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | FCA Financial Services Register and Firm Checker | Authorisation, permissions, disciplinary history, warnings about unauthorised and clone firms |
| United States | SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, which publishes Form ADV | Disciplinary events, plus brochures on fees and conflicts of interest |
| Singapore | MAS Financial Institutions Directory | Licensed and exempt financial advisers and capital markets services licensees |
| Switzerland | FINMA lists of authorised institutions | Banks and securities firms, and portfolio managers and trustees licensed by FINMA |
| Jersey | Jersey Financial Services Commission regulated entities search | Regulated businesses by sector, including investment and trust company business |
Other centres, such as Guernsey, run their own registers. In Switzerland, note that individual client advisers appear on an adviser register kept by licensed registration bodies rather than on FINMA's own lists. Singapore's regulator warns that scammers impersonate regulated institutions, so verify identity through official channels before transferring money.
Independent or restricted advice: what the label means
In the UK the word "independent" is a regulated claim, so ask which kind of advice you are getting. Under the FCA's conduct rules, a firm that tells a client it provides independent advice must assess a sufficient range of relevant products available on the market. That range must be sufficiently diverse in type and in issuer or provider to meet the client's objectives, and must not be limited to products issued by the firm itself, by entities closely linked to it, or by others with legal or economic ties close enough to impair the independence of the advice.
Restricted advice is not necessarily worse: a private bank recommending its own funds can still give suitable advice. The point is to know which you are buying, because it shapes how widely the adviser looks and where conflicts sit. In the United States, the Form ADV brochure and relationship summary exist to disclose exactly these conflicts.
Wealth manager fees: how charging works and what must be disclosed
There is no regulator-set "reasonable fee" for wealth management; what the rules control is how the charge is structured and disclosed. A charge may be set as a cash amount or as a percentage of the money invested, and the adviser's charge is not necessarily the only cost: ask whether fund and dealing charges are added on top, and get every layer in writing.
For advice to retail clients on retail investment products, the FCA's adviser charging rules set out three protections that are worth knowing before you negotiate:
- No commission. The firm must be paid for its personal recommendation only through adviser charges, and must not solicit or accept commissions or other benefits in connection with that advice.
- Ongoing fees need an ongoing service. A charge payable over time must pay for a disclosed ongoing service that the client can cancel without penalty, unless it relates to a regular-payment product with no ongoing service.
- Disclosure in cash terms. The firm must agree with and disclose the total adviser charge, in cash terms or illustrative cash equivalents, as early as practicable.
Cross-border families should also ask whether a separate charge applies in each jurisdiction or custodian. If the adviser cannot show the full annual cost, in money, for your actual portfolio, keep looking.
Questions to ask a wealth manager before hiring
The questions to ask a wealth manager before hiring should test permissions, independence, cost and cross-border competence, in that order.
- Which regulators authorise your firm, and for which activities, in each country where you will advise us or hold our assets?
- Is your advice independent or restricted, and if restricted, how?
- Who will hold our assets, and in which jurisdictions?
- What is the total annual cost, in cash terms, for our portfolio, including fund and dealing charges?
- What ongoing service do we receive for any ongoing fee, and how do we cancel it?
- How do you handle family members who are resident, or citizens, in different countries, including the United States?
- Which lawyers and tax advisers do you work with, and will you take instructions from ours?
- How do you plan for succession, including the UK inheritance tax tail for families leaving the UK?
- What happens to our accounts if you, or your firm, stop advising us?
- How do we complain, and which compensation scheme or ombudsman covers us?
Compare written answers from at least two firms against their register entries. Vague answers to questions one, two or four are a reason to stop.
Red flags and the protection you actually have
The biggest red flag is a firm, or a person, that does not appear on the relevant register with the right permissions. Others include pressure to transfer money quickly, contact details that differ from the register, and reluctance to state the total cost in cash terms.
Understand, too, what safety nets exist, because they are narrower than many clients assume. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme pays up to £85,000 per eligible person, per firm, for investment firms that failed after 1 April 2019, and it does not accept claims for poor investment performance. The Financial Ombudsman Service can award up to £455,000 for complaints referred on or after 1 April 2026 about acts or omissions on or after 1 April 2019, and up to £205,000 where the events happened earlier. It can recommend more, but the business does not have to pay the excess.
For a wealthy family those limits cover only part of the portfolio, and protections abroad differ, so the up-front checks matter more than any scheme. Family breakdown is another stress point: if a separation is possible, read our guide to international divorce before restructuring joint assets.
Building the team and finding a wealth manager
The right wealth manager for a cross-border family is authorised in every country where it acts, transparent about independence and cost, and willing to work alongside the family's lawyers and tax advisers.
Corporate INTL's Find an Expert directory lists advisers by practice area and country. Start with wealth management, then add international tax specialists, asset protection advisers and cross-border specialists where the family's affairs demand them, for example when you are buying property abroad. If you would like help finding the right adviser, use our enquiry form and tell us where your family and assets are based.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a wealth manager?
Check the firm is authorised, with the right permissions, by the regulator in each country where it will advise you; ask whether its advice is independent or restricted; get the total annual cost in cash terms; and put the same written questions to at least two firms before deciding.
How do I check if a wealth manager is FCA registered?
Search the firm on the FCA Firm Checker or Financial Services Register. Confirm it is authorised, not just registered, and that it has permission for the service you want. The Register also shows disciplinary history and whether the firm can hold client money. Check that its contact details match the Register to avoid clone firms.
What is a reasonable fee for a wealth manager?
No regulator sets a reasonable fee. In the UK, FCA rules require advisers on retail investment products to be paid by agreed adviser charges, not commission, and to disclose the total charge in cash terms as early as practicable. Ongoing fees must pay for a disclosed ongoing service that you can cancel without penalty.
What is the difference between independent and restricted advice?
A UK firm that calls its advice independent must assess a sufficiently diverse range of relevant products from across the market, not limited to its own or closely linked providers. Restricted advice covers a narrower range, such as one provider's products or one type of investment. Both can be suitable, but you should know which you are getting.
Can I use a UK wealth manager if I live abroad?
Possibly, but the firm needs the regulatory permissions to advise you where you live, which differ from country to country. Check the regulator's register in your country of residence as well as the FCA Register, and ask the firm directly which authorisations cover clients resident where you are.
Am I protected if my wealth manager fails?
For UK authorised firms that failed after 1 April 2019, the FSCS can pay up to £85,000 per eligible person, per firm, but not for poor investment performance. Complaints can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, whose award limit is £455,000 for complaints referred from 1 April 2026 about events since 1 April 2019.
Sources
- Financial Conduct Authority: Financial Services Register
- Financial Conduct Authority: How to check a firm or individual is authorised (updated 22 September 2026)
- FCA Handbook: COBS 6.2B Describing advice services
- FCA Handbook: COBS 6.1A Adviser charging and remuneration
- Financial Services Compensation Scheme: Investments
- Financial Ombudsman Service: Compensation and award limits
- US SEC, Investor.gov: Form ADV
- Monetary Authority of Singapore: Financial Institutions Directory
- FINMA: Authorised institutions, individuals and products
- Jersey Financial Services Commission: Regulated entities
About this article
This guide was researched and written by The Corporate INTL Newsroom, which covers cross-border legal, regulatory and business developments for lawyers, professional advisers and financiers in over 150 jurisdictions. It has been checked against the FCA Register and Handbook, the FSCS and Financial Ombudsman Service, and the public registers of the US SEC, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, FINMA and the Jersey Financial Services Commission. Corporate INTL is not a regulated financial adviser. This article is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice; for advice on your circumstances, consult a qualified, authorised adviser. Last reviewed 27 October 2026. For more analysis like this, visit the Corporate INTL newsroom or subscribe to Corporate INTL.
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