Quilter pension charges on a Collective Retirement Account started after 18 December 2012 begin with a tiered Product Charge of 0.35% to 0.15% a year, then add fund costs and any adviser fee.
What are the Quilter pension charges on a Collective Retirement Account?
The pension on Quilter's investment platform is the Collective Retirement Account (CRA), a registered personal pension. Quilter's cost guide, Making the cost of investment clear (published June 2026, print code QIP18035/206), splits what you pay into layers: any adviser fee, a discretionary manager's fee if one is used, Quilter's own charges, and the charges of the funds you hold. An FCA-authorised adviser can total these layers for your own pot; the call comes free once this page's form is submitted.
- Adviser fees, agreed between you and your adviser, which Quilter can pay out of the account on your instruction.
- Manager fees, if a discretionary investment manager runs your investments, or the Managed Portfolio Service charge if you use Quilter's portfolios.
- Quilter's charges: the Product Charge, a dealing charge on exchange traded investments, and a share of the interest on cash.
- Fund charges, which fund managers deduct inside the fund.
The guide covers the CRA on what Quilter calls Charge Basis 3: every CRA started after 18 December 2012, plus older ones that converted. An account opened before 1 January 2013 may sit on Charge Basis 1 or 2, according to Quilter's platform page; your statements show which. More on the product is in the Quilter pension key features.
How much is the Quilter pension platform charge?
The Product Charge is 0.35% a year on the first £50,000 you hold with Quilter, falling to 0.15% on anything above £750,000, according to the June 2026 guide. It pays for providing and administering the pension.
| Total held with Quilter | Product Charge each year |
|---|---|
| First £50,000 | 0.35% |
| From £50,000 to £250,000 | 0.25% |
| From £250,000 to £750,000 | 0.20% |
| More than £750,000 | 0.15% |
The bands "work like tax bands". Quilter looks at the combined value of everything you hold with it, including any linked family accounts (relatives must share your financial adviser), to set one rate, then applies it to this account. The charge is calculated daily and, under the October 2026 terms for the CRA, deducted monthly in arrears. Charges are exclusive of VAT where it applies.
As an illustration of the arithmetic (this site's working, ignoring cash, funds and adviser fees): with £100,000 held at Quilter, £50,000 × 0.35% = £175 and £50,000 × 0.25% = £125. That gives £300 a year, or 0.30% of the pot, about £25 a month.
Cash is treated differently. No Product Charge applies to money held as cash, but Quilter keeps part of the interest its banking partners pay, and the terms say the amount it keeps could be more or less than the Product Charge would have been. Cash still counts towards which band you fall in.
What fund charges come on top of Quilter's charge?
Fund charges are separate from Quilter's and vary with what you hold. You never see them as a payment: managers take them daily from the fund's value, so they show in the price. Quilter's fund lists print each fund's Total Expense Ratio (TER) or Ongoing Charge Figure (OCF), the first including any performance fee and the second leaving it out.
Fund managers also pay Quilter a rebate on some funds, which Quilter passes on as extra fund units, unless the amount is under £1, when it stays as cash. Its own illustration shows why this matters: a fund with a 1.60% TER and a 0.75% rebate costs an effective 0.85%, the same as an unbundled version of that fund at 0.85% with no rebate. These are Quilter's example figures, not a real fund. Exchange traded funds, commodities and investment trusts carry an annual charge but pay no rebate. Values can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you put in.
How do adviser fees come out of a Quilter pension?
If you agree a fee with your financial adviser, you can pay the adviser directly or ask Quilter to pay it from your pension. The CRA terms list four kinds:
- an initial fee, taken from the gross amount before it is invested, though Quilter does not offer it where funds are moved in unchanged from another scheme;
- an initial regular fee, for advice on regular payments, taken monthly for a maximum of 24 months;
- an ongoing servicing fee, an annual amount or a percentage of the account value, deducted monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly;
- an ad hoc fee, a one-off sum.
Only advice or services relating to the CRA can be paid this way. Future ongoing fees can be cancelled, but a fee already taken cannot. When fees or the Product Charge fall due and cash is short, Quilter sells units worth six times the amount owed, subject to a minimum of £25 and a maximum of 0.75% of the account value, and holds the rest as cash for later bills. For how worthwhile advice is, see whether pension advisers are worth it. What a particular adviser charges is something to ask when the adviser phones after you leave your number through the form here.
What do dealing, switching and withdrawals cost?
Buying or selling exchange traded funds, commodities or investment trusts attracts a dealing charge, per the October 2026 terms: £1 for a trade inside a model portfolio; outside one, £3.50 for £10,000 or less and 0.035% above £10,000, capped at £15. Buying units in certain of these also brings 0.5% stamp duty, and a £1.50 levy applies to trades worth more than £10,000.
Quilter's key features say it does not currently make an administrative charge for switching unit trusts or OEICs, but reserves the right to introduce one. A withdrawal paid by CHAPS costs £23.00 from your account, and Quilter's platform page, last reviewed July 2024, says there are no hidden extras and no charge for changing investments or taking income. Quilter does not charge for regular valuations and reports.
Does Quilter charge to transfer a pension out or close it?
Quilter lets you move the whole account to another registered pension scheme whenever you like (how a transfer works, transfer fees). The terms set out several deductions for a transfer or closure. If Quilter incurs costs moving the holdings, it may, with your agreement, deduct them. If exchange traded investments have to be sold as part of the move, the dealing charge applies. And on closure it deducts any fees and charges accrued but not yet taken, plus the £23.00 CHAPS charge if the proceeds are paid by CHAPS. Whether your own move would cost anything beyond these can be cleared up free by an FCA-authorised adviser, in the phone call that follows the enquiry form here.
Where can you see the charges on your own Quilter pension?
Quilter's platform page says the actual cost depends on the amount involved, the investments you choose and any fees you have agreed with your adviser. Your figures are in the personalised Key Features Illustration given before you invest, and afterwards in an annual Costs and Charges Statement covering the previous 12 months. For typical costs across providers, see pension charges and fees.
More on Quilter pension fees
Are Quilter pension fees the same as the platform charge?
No. The platform charge is the Product Charge, one layer among several. Adviser fees, fund charges, dealing charges and the interest Quilter retains on cash are separate.
How can I calculate my Quilter pension charges?
The Product Charge is a banded sum you can do yourself. With £300,000 held at Quilter: £50,000 × 0.35% = £175, £200,000 × 0.25% = £500 and £50,000 × 0.20% = £100, giving £775 a year, or about 0.26% (this site's working, before cash, funds and adviser fees). Your illustration gives the figure for your own case.
Can Quilter change its charges?
Its terms call them current rates that may change, and say it will tell you in advance.
Four cost layers are easy to lose track of. Submitting the short call-back form gets you an FCA-authorised adviser, free, who can total them for your pot by phone.