The short answer

The cost of investing comes in layers: the platform or wrapper fee, each fund's ongoing charge, dealing costs when you buy and sell, currency conversion when money changes currency, occasional performance fees and any adviser fee. The figure that matters is the total yearly cost of all of them together, as a percentage and in pounds. In 2026, a diversified portfolio of low-cost index funds can cost well under 0.5% a year before advice; many arrangements sold to expats cost 2–3%. Lower cost isn't the only thing that matters — good advice, the right structure and the discipline to stay invested are worth paying for — but you should always know what you pay and why. Lawrence will add up your costs for free.

The layers of cost on a portfolio

Every portfolio has some or all of these. The total is what you actually pay.

Fund charges from published 2026 examples: Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF 0.14%; iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF 0.20%.

Platform and wrapper fees

The platform fee pays for holding and administering your investments. It usually comes in one of three forms:

• A flat percentage of what you hold — simple, but it grows with your portfolio.
• A tiered percentage — a lower rate applies to larger amounts.
• A flat fee — a fixed amount, which can be excellent value on a large portfolio.

Insurance-based wrappers such as offshore investment bonds have their own charges instead, often a percentage of the bond value plus a fixed policy fee, and sometimes an establishment charge in the early years. They can offer valuable estate-planning features — such as being placed in trust — so the question is whether those features are worth the cost for you.

As a rule of thumb, compare platforms using your actual portfolio size. A percentage fee that's cheap on £50,000 can be expensive on £500,000, and a flat fee that's poor value on a small portfolio can be excellent on a large one. Our guide to international investment platforms shows a worked comparison.

Fund charges: the cost inside the price

Every fund has an ongoing charge — sometimes called the ongoing charges figure (OCF) or total expense ratio (TER) — covering the cost of running the fund. It's taken from the fund's value every day, so you never see a bill; the fund simply grows slightly more slowly than its investments.

Index funds and ETFs

Funds that track a market index are the cheapest way to diversify. In 2026, Vanguard's FTSE All-World UCITS ETF charges 0.14% a year and iShares' Core MSCI World UCITS ETF 0.20% — both based in Ireland, both holding well over a thousand companies. On £100,000, that's £140 to £200 a year for global diversification.

Actively managed funds

Funds whose managers pick investments in an attempt to beat the market usually charge more — often somewhere around 0.6% to 1% a year or above. Some managers add value; many don't consistently after costs. If you hold active funds, it's worth knowing what you're paying for and checking performance against a low-cost alternative.

Funds inside expat plans

Some insurance-based plans and bonds offer their own versions of funds, which can carry higher charges. In one offshore scheme analysed by Creveling & Creveling, fund charges ran as high as 3.35% a year, typically 1.5% to 2% — against about 0.25% for a diversified low-cost portfolio of exchange-traded funds.

Where the fund is based matters too

For non-Americans, low-cost funds based in Ireland or Luxembourg offer the same global diversification as US-listed funds, without the US estate tax exposure that applies above $60,000 of US assets. Cost and domicile go hand in hand.

Dealing and currency costs

Dealing costs

Some platforms charge each time you buy or sell. For a buy-and-hold investor making a few trades a year, these are small. For someone investing every month or rebalancing often, they can add up — so check the cost of regular investing specifically, and look for platforms that offer free or low-cost regular purchases.

There are also costs you don't see directly: the small difference between buying and selling prices (the "spread"), and the trading costs inside funds. For broad index funds, these are generally modest.

Currency conversion

For expats, currency is often the largest hidden cost. When you deposit pounds into a dollar-based fund, or withdraw to a Thai account in baht, a margin is usually built into the exchange rate. High-street banks' margins have been reported at about 1% to 3.55%; platforms vary. On a large deposit, converting through a specialist first can save more than several years of platform fees.

The costs you don't see on a statement

Some costs never appear as a line on your statement but still affect your returns:

• Spreads — the gap between the buying and selling price of a share or ETF, paid each time you trade.
• Transaction costs inside funds — the fund's own trading costs, which come out of its value.
• Cash drag — money sitting uninvested on a platform for months, earning little while the rest grows.
• Currency margins — built into exchange rates rather than shown as a fee.

For a buy-and-hold investor in broad index funds, the first two are usually small. The last two can be large for expats — especially uninvested cash after a deposit, and currency margins on every transfer. Both are easy to fix once you know they're there.

Costs when you leave or move

Before choosing where to invest, check what it costs to leave. Some platforms charge per holding to transfer investments out; some insurance-based wrappers have exit charges in their early years; and selling everything to move as cash means paying dealing and currency costs twice and spending time out of the market. A platform that's cheap to join but expensive to leave can cost more over time than one with a slightly higher yearly fee and no exit charges.

Where to start

Someone to add up and cut your costs, and the right way to convert money when you invest or withdraw.

Adviser fees — and what good advice is worth

If you use an adviser, their fee is part of your total cost. Advice is usually paid for through an initial fee, an ongoing fee (often a percentage of your portfolio) or both — sometimes through commission built into a product.

Good advice can be worth far more than it costs. For expats, much of its value lies in things a low-cost fund can't do: choosing the right structure across two countries, managing currency, joining investments up with pensions, tax and estate planning, and — perhaps most valuable of all — keeping you invested through falling markets when instinct says sell. The question isn't simply "how cheap?" but "what am I getting, and is it worth it?"

• Know how your adviser is paid and what it costs in pounds each year.
• Know what you get — reviews, rebalancing, tax and estate planning.
• Make sure the underlying funds and platform are competitively priced.
• Review the value of the service every year.

Adding it up: your total yearly cost

To find your total yearly cost, add every layer together as a percentage of your portfolio:

1. Platform or wrapper fee — convert flat fees into a percentage of your portfolio.
2. Weighted fund charges — each fund's ongoing charge multiplied by its share of your portfolio.
3. Dealing costs — your typical yearly trading costs as a percentage.
4. Currency costs — the margin on any conversions in a typical year.
5. Any ongoing adviser fee.
6. Multiply by your portfolio value to see the figure in pounds.

The chart at the top of this page shows why the total matters. On £300,000, total costs of 0.4% a year are about £1,200; 1.2% is about £3,600; 3% is about £9,000 — every year, rising as the portfolio grows. Over twenty years at 8% a year before costs, the same £300,000 could become about £1.30 million at 0.4%, £1.12 million at 1.2% or £796,000 at 3%.

Three ways to hold £300,000

Illustrative cost breakdowns for three common set-ups. Your own costs will differ — this shows how the layers combine.

Illustrations, not quotes. The advised column assumes low-cost funds with ongoing advice; the right choice depends on how much help you want and what it's worth to you.

How costs compound over time

Costs are taken every year from a pot that's growing, so their effect builds on itself. It helps to think of them as a reduction in your growth rate. If your investments grow 8% a year before costs, total costs of 0.4% leave you 7.6%; costs of 3% leave you 5%. That's the difference between doubling your money roughly every nine and a half years and roughly every fourteen.

Over a long investing life — which for most expats includes decades of retirement — that gap is enormous. It's also the most predictable part of investing: you can't know what markets will return, but you can know exactly what you'll pay. That's why a cost check is one of the first things Lawrence does in any portfolio review.

Costs in retirement

Costs matter just as much once you stop saving and start drawing an income. Every pound of charges is a pound that can't be paid to you. On a £400,000 retirement portfolio, the difference between 1% and 2.5% a year in total costs is £6,000 a year — money that could top up a frozen State Pension, pay for health insurance or help the family.

In retirement, it's also worth checking the cost of taking your income: some platforms charge for regular withdrawals, and converting each payment to baht at a poor rate quietly reduces your income every month.

Costs and saving for education

Costs matter especially for goals with a fixed date and a fixed price, such as school and university fees. Every percentage point of cost is a percentage point less growth working towards the bill. Keeping an education pot in low-cost funds, on a sensibly priced platform, and converting currency at a good rate means more of the growth goes towards the fees — and less of the bill comes from your own pocket.

Started early and invested for growth, an education plan can pay a large share of the cost. Keeping charges low helps it do even more.

Ten ways to cut your costs

1. Use low-cost index funds for the core of your portfolio.
2. Choose funds based outside the US — same diversification, no US estate tax exposure.
3. Match the platform fee structure to your portfolio size.
4. Consolidate scattered accounts to avoid paying several minimum fees.
5. Convert large sums through a specialist rather than the platform or a bank.
6. Invest in the currency you hold to avoid unnecessary conversions.
7. Trade less — buy and hold, and rebalance with new money where possible.
8. Check fund choices inside plans and bonds — switching funds is often free.
9. Make sure advice fees match the service you actually receive.
10. Review your costs every year, because fees change.

Cheapest isn't always best value

Low costs are one of the most reliable ways to improve your long-term results — but cost is only one part of value. A slightly higher cost can be well worth paying for:

• A structure that suits you — such as an investment bond that can be placed in trust for your family.
• Advice that joins everything up across two countries, currencies and tax systems.
• Regular reviews and rebalancing that keep you on track.
• Behavioural support that keeps you invested when markets fall.

The goal is simple: know exactly what you're paying, be sure you're getting something valuable for it, and make sure no part of your costs is higher than it needs to be.

Two worked examples

Keith: finding the hidden costs

Keith, 63, lives in Chiang Mai with £280,000 invested across a bond, a platform and an old UK account. He thinks he pays "about 1%". A free review with Lawrence adds up every layer: the bond's charges, active funds averaging 1.3%, a platform fee, and a 2.5% bank margin on every transfer to Thailand. His true total is close to 2.8% a year — about £7,800. Lawrence helps him switch to low-cost funds inside the bond (no exit charge), consolidate the two other accounts onto one platform and move his transfers to a cheaper route — cutting his costs by well over half while keeping the bond's estate-planning benefits.

Jenny and Dave: getting it right from the start

Jenny and Dave, both 41, are investing £250,000 from a business sale. Before committing, they ask Lawrence to compare costs on three set-ups. They choose a platform with a flat fee, a core of low-cost global index funds based in Ireland, a specialist to convert the money from baht, and ongoing yearly reviews — with the total cost agreed in writing, in pounds, before they start.

The mistakes we see most often

1. Knowing the platform fee but not the fund charges.
2. Ignoring currency conversion — often the biggest hidden cost for expats.
3. Paying active-fund charges without checking performance against a low-cost alternative.
4. Choosing a percentage fee on a large portfolio where a flat fee would be cheaper.
5. Holding several small accounts, each with its own minimum fee.
6. Trading too often, paying dealing costs each time.
7. Paying for advice without knowing what service it covers.
8. Never reviewing costs as fees and options change.

Questions to ask about costs

• What is my total yearly cost, as a percentage and in pounds?
• What is each fund's ongoing charge, and are there performance fees?
• How is the platform fee calculated for a portfolio my size?
• What do I pay to convert currency, and can I avoid it?
• What are the dealing costs for regular investing and rebalancing?
• How is my adviser paid, and what does the fee cover?

Keeping your accounts secure

• Use a password manager and a different strong password for every account.
• Turn on two-factor sign-in on every platform and bank account.
• Use a private, protected connection on hotel, café and condo Wi-Fi.
• Never act on unexpected calls offering "cheaper" investments — check independently.

How we researched this guide

We used Börse Express's report of Vanguard's cut to the FTSE All-World UCITS ETF ongoing charge (28 July 2026); BlackRock's iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF factsheet (September 2026); Creveling & Creveling's analysis of an offshore insurance-linked scheme; Wise's August 2026 review of UK bank exchange margins; and KPMG UK on US estate tax. Fund names are examples of published charges, not recommendations. Cost examples are illustrations, not quotes. Checked 13 October 2026. Investment values can fall as well as rise. This guide is general information, not personal financial advice.