Updated August 19, 2026. Quick answer: Private wealth management fees are usually quoted as a sliding AUM schedule that falls well below the headline 1% as assets grow: blended rates commonly land around 0.50%–0.85% at $5,000,000 (about $25,000–$42,500/year, drawn from commonly published RIA and private-bank schedules, 2026), roughly 0.30%–0.65% at $10,000,000, and lower still above $25,000,000 — while family offices and some UHNW advisors quote flat annual retainers instead. Every serious quote at this level is negotiable, so get the schedule, the breakpoints, and the first-year total in written dollars before you compare anyone.
Fast routes: Average wealth management fees | Fees by portfolio size | $3M portfolio example | Advisor minimums | Advisor fee calculator
What a private-wealth schedule costs at your balance
This page says the comparison discipline out loud — put the retainer next to the percentage schedule in dollars — but a schedule quoted in bands at $5,000,000, $10,000,000 and $25,000,000 does not tell you what your own balance costs. Enter it and this does the comparison for you, using only the figures published on this page.
Without a balance, the comparison is the schedule table below: a blended 0.50%–0.85% ($25,000–$42,500 a year) at $5,000,000, 0.30%–0.65% ($30,000–$65,000) at $10,000,000, and 0.20%–0.50% ($50,000–$125,000+) at $25,000,000 and above — against a flat family-office retainer of $60,000–$300,000+ a year, and a measured median of $8,750–$10,000 a year at $1,000,000.
What that rate costs you, in your own dollars
Percentages are hard to feel. The same rate that sounds small as a number is a specific amount of money leaving a specific account every year, and it compounds against you because the dollars taken out stop earning. Enter your balance and the rate you pay or have been quoted, and this converts it into dollars.
Every schedule at this level is negotiable.
This page puts blended private wealth rates at roughly 0.50% to 0.85% on $5,000,000, which is about $25,000 to $42,500 a year. A second written quote is the cheapest leverage you have against the one in front of you. The matching service below introduces you to advisers who pay to meet you.
Before you start, what actually happens. The form is run by Kapitalwise, our advisor-matching partner. Kapitalwise sends your details to advisers who pay for the introduction, so expect calls and texts. Clear Money Guide is paid when you submit the form, whether or not you ever hire anyone. This is free to you and there is no obligation to hire anyone.
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What is the fee structure for wealth management?
Almost always a tiered percentage of assets, falling as the balance rises: around 0.50%–0.85% at $5 million and 0.30%–0.65% at $10 million. Two things decide what you actually pay: whether the rate is blended or top-tier, and whether billing is by-slice or on all assets. Ask which, in writing.
Compare a written private-wealth quote before an intro call
At $5 million and above, small percentage differences are five-figure annual dollars. Ask every candidate for the full fee schedule with breakpoints, what is billed by-slice versus on all assets, what services are inside the fee, and the first-year total in dollars — then compare structures, not adjectives.
Private wealth management fees: typical schedules by asset level
These are educational ranges for blended, all-in advisory fees (before fund expenses and trading costs), drawn from commonly published RIA and private-bank schedules. Any specific firm’s numbers live in its advisory agreement and Form ADV, which you can check free at the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site.
| Asset level | Commonly quoted blended range | Annual dollars | What to verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000,000 | ~0.50%–0.85% | $25,000–$42,500 | Blended vs top-tier rate; which services are inside the fee. |
| $10,000,000 | ~0.30%–0.65% | $30,000–$65,000 | Breakpoint placement; by-slice or all-assets billing. |
| $25,000,000+ | ~0.20%–0.50%, or flat retainer | $50,000–$125,000+ | Whether a flat family-office retainer beats any percentage. |
Ultra-high-net-worth wealth management fees: what changes above $5 million
Three things separate UHNW pricing from the standard schedules on our average wealth management fees page. First, breakpoints matter more than the headline rate: a schedule that drops to 0.40% above $5 million can beat a “discounted” flat 0.75% by tens of thousands of dollars a year. Second, structure varies: private banks often bundle lending and custody relationships into pricing, independent RIAs quote tiered AUM schedules, and multi-family offices lean toward retainers — the same portfolio can be priced three different ways. Third, nearly everything is negotiable at this level, including which assets are excluded from billing (concentrated stock you will not sell, cash, private holdings). If part of the portfolio sits in layered programs, unstack those costs with the UMA platform cost guide before comparing totals.
How much does it cost to have a private bank manage your money?
Private-bank and trust-company wealth management is quoted the same way as the schedules above: a sliding percentage of assets that starts near the top of the published range on the first $1,000,000–$2,000,000 and steps down at each breakpoint, consistent with the blended rates shown earlier on this page. Two things differ from an independent advisor quote. First, access: private-banking tiers typically require $1,000,000–$10,000,000 in investable assets before the wealth-management fee schedule even applies. Second, bundling: custody, lending, and banking services ride along with the advisory fee, so the advisory percentage alone understates the relationship cost — ask for every fee line in writing, not just the AUM schedule.
For an independent yardstick, our 2026 advisor fee benchmark measured the actual fee disclosures of 176 SEC-registered firms: median measured cost $8,750–$10,000/year at $1,000,000. A private-bank quote materially above that range should come with a written explanation of what the premium buys.
Private wealth management minimums
Published minimums commonly run $1,000,000–$5,000,000 for private-bank and bank-brand wealth programs, $2,000,000–$10,000,000 for many UHNW-focused RIA groups, and $20,000,000 or more for multi-family offices — though many firms quote a minimum annual fee instead of a strict asset minimum. Our advisor minimums guide covers how to read those thresholds and what to do when you sit between tiers.
Family-office and retainer pricing
Flat retainers for comprehensive UHNW planning and investment oversight are commonly quoted anywhere from $60,000 to $300,000+ per year depending on complexity: entities, trusts, real assets, concentrated positions, bill pay, and coordination with outside CPAs and attorneys. The comparison discipline is the same as at every other asset level on this site: put the retainer next to the percentage schedule in dollars, list what each includes, and make the more expensive option justify itself line by line.
Five copy/paste questions to ask a private wealth manager
- What is my first-year all-in cost in dollars — advisory fee at each tier, platform or program fees, estimated fund expenses, and any custody or reporting charges — itemized?
- Is the schedule billed by-slice or on all assets, and exactly where are the breakpoints?
- Which assets can be excluded from billing, and is the rate negotiable at my asset level?
- What specific services are inside the fee — tax coordination, estate coordination, entity accounting, bill pay — and what costs extra?
- Can you price the same scope two ways: your AUM schedule and a flat annual retainer?
Calculator line: Run any private-wealth quote through the Financial Advisor Fee Calculator, then stress-test it against a flat quote with the Flat Fee vs AUM Break-Even Calculator.
What settlement costs at this asset level
At the balances this page covers, the cost of settling the estate can exceed a year of advisory fees, and unlike the advisory fee it is set by statute rather than negotiated. Seven jurisdictions publish an actual percentage schedule, and in those the fee is computed on gross value — the full value of a house, not the equity in it: California, Florida, Nevada, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Wyoming. Full comparison: probate cost by state, or price a specific estate with the probate cost calculator.
Methodology
This page was materially reviewed on August 19, 2026. Fee and minimum ranges are commonly quoted educational figures from public disclosures and industry pricing conventions; they are not quotes, and firm pricing varies. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.
When the money arrives from selling the business
The price is not one number to the tax law — it is split across the assets, and the split decides what you keep:
- How the price is allocated — a §1060 waterfall in which goodwill is the residual
- Receivables are Class III — and they do not come out as capital gain
- Recapture lands in year one — §453(i) does not let you spread it
- What to hold back for tax — the §6654 safe harbour is the figure that actually protects you
At this asset level the settlement cost is the bigger number. Advisory fees compound against the portfolio; estate tax, probate and the elective share act on the whole estate at once. The estate planning front door prices each of them by state.
The full 2026 report: State of Advisor Fees 2026 — what advice costs at five portfolio sizes, and the finding underneath it: 61.4% of firms cannot give a $250,000 household a usable price at all.
At this level the estate side usually matters more than the fee. The structures that decide what actually reaches your family are set out at estate planning, and the gap-first version is the checklist.
Looking for the minimum instead of the price? If your question is how much money you need to have before private wealth management will take you on, that is a different number from the fee — and it is on the advisor minimum-assets page. This page is about what the service costs once you are a client.
If the schedule above is the reason you are weighing a move, the number that decides it is a payback period rather than a rate, and what leaving costs and when it pays back returns the one-off cost, the annual saving and the months between them from your own figures.