IDEAL ADVICE

inclusive fee of 1.65% of their invested assets (minimum of €900), €150 per hour of advice, or €75 per month and 20% of the profit. However, the bank, which was founded in 2006, has not yet reached profitability. Independent of these German initiatives, we believe that the RDR in its current form would be very difficult to introduce into continental Europe without severely affecting the current banking networks and their distribution structures. Furthermore, many argue that investors should be given the freedom of choice, the possibility of choosing between a commission-based or advice-based fee model as long as they are aware of the remuneration source and the amount the financial advisor will receive. Hence, as a first step we would recommend ensuring much greater levels of transparency as well as understandability of fees received by distributors for the investor. We will elaborate on this concept in the rest of the report.

17