Annual Fee

Annual Fee - also known as the Annual Management Charge - is a fee paid on an ongoing annual basis by you to the manager of your investment or life insurance /pension policy. These charges vary from company to company and from product to product but usually are in the range of 0.35% to 2%.

Annual fees are generally smaller than upfront charges and it is easy to make the mistake of thinking they are less important. This is not necessarily the case.

The percentage of the annual fee may be small but remember your investment or policy may reasonably be expected to grow and, assuming it does (otherwise why are you investing in it!) then the amount of money you actually pay in annual management charges grows with it, even though the percentage levy remains unchanged.

Beware of special offer investments which waive the initial charge but have an annual fee at the top end of the scale - you won't be saving yourself any money!

See Also: Investment Centre Current Account Comparison Service Deposit Account Comparison Service Cash ISA Comparison Service

Last Updated: March 2007 © Moneyextra.com

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