“Wealth Managers Too Costly”

Though the investment returns enjoyed by wealthy investors in Europe and elsewhere have dropped, the charges and fees levied by their investment advisers have not. So reports the Financial Times:

An “unsustainable” 40 per cent of wealthy investors’ expected portfolio returns are being swallowed up by fees and other charges, according to research by Royal Bank of Scotland.

European private banks and other wealth managers have maintained their cost base over the past two years, despite plunging investment returns and declining assets under management, RBS found, eroding returns for their clients.

Do wealthy U.S. investors also have reason to feel overcharged?