Quilter

Quilter is a UK wealth management brand that sells ISAs, pensions, investment accounts and investment bonds, together with financial advice and protection insurance such as life assurance and income protection. It manages over £100 billion of investments for over 900,000 customers worldwide, and its products are held on an investment platform that you can view and manage online or through an app¹. It sits alongside other firms in the pension and investment provider market.

The defining feature of Quilter is that you cannot buy its products directly. Quilter states that all of its products are only available via a financial adviser², so every account is opened, and usually serviced, through an adviser who agrees a fee with you. Quilter also has its own advice business, Quilter Financial Advisers, which offers a free initial consultation³.

What Quilter offers: ISAs, pensions, investment accounts and bonds

Quilter's range covers the main ways a UK investor can hold wealth. Its stocks and shares ISA gives access to over 3,000 OEICs and unit trusts and over 800 exchange-traded investments, and Quilter also offers a Junior ISA for children's savings². Alongside the ISA and Junior ISA, the same part of the business provides the Collective Investment Account, a general investment account with no ISA or pension wrapper⁷. For retirement, Quilter provides the Collective Retirement Account, a pension, and the Collective Investment Bond, an onshore investment bond⁶.

Alongside the investment wrappers, each of the ISA, Junior ISA, Collective Investment Account and Collective Retirement Account has its own cash facility, and Quilter also offers a separate CashHub savings account that you can view with the same login but which sits apart from your investment products⁸. Cash in the platform's cash facility is held in a range of bank accounts rather than invested in money market funds, and it pays a set amount of interest each month⁸.

Quilter's ISA also includes practical features aimed at advisers and their clients: access to Exchange Traded Funds, Exchange Traded Commodities and investment trusts, an online Bed & ISA facility for moving funds across from a Collective Investment Account, and the ability to "gross up" contributions so adviser fees are included while making the most of the annual ISA allowance⁷. Through its advice arm, Quilter Financial Advisers, the firm also arranges protection products: life assurance, critical illness cover, income protection, accident, sickness and unemployment cover, home insurance and private medical insurance³. Where Quilter arranges insurance it does not itself underwrite, the cover is provided by the insurer named on your policy.

For background on each product type, see our guides to ISAs, pensions, investing and protection insurance.

Quilter works through financial advisers

Every Quilter product is bought through a financial adviser, and Quilter says it this plainly: "all of our products are only available via a financial adviser"². If you do not already have an adviser, Quilter provides an online search tool to find one in your local area⁴. Its own advice business, Quilter Financial Advisers, offers a free initial consultation, and it states it will not charge a fee for advice covering life assurance, critical illness, income protection, accident, sickness and unemployment cover, home insurance and private medical insurance³.

The adviser relationship continues after the account is opened. Quilter strongly advises customers to discuss any planned changes with their adviser before making them, because funds have different characteristics, and adviser fees are taken through the platform on whatever basis you and the adviser agree⁹. This is the main practical difference between Quilter and direct-to-consumer platforms: you get advice, and you pay for it, as part of the arrangement.

How Quilter's charges are built up

Quilter describes its platform pricing as one simple tiered charge that reduces as your investments and savings increase, with no hidden extras¹⁰. The charge is reviewed quarterly to keep it in line with market trends¹¹. Quilter's published figures for the effective charge at different account sizes are on its own website, and because pricing can change, its site is the place to check today's numbers.

Quilter frames its pricing around what it calls the total cost of ownership. Its own description of the elements is:

Two further points shape what you actually pay. First, for money held in cash in the Collective Investment Account, ISA and Collective Retirement Account, Quilter retains the difference between its published interest rate and the fluctuating rates paid by its banking partners¹⁰. Second, where fund manager rebates are due, Quilter says it has negotiated the best available and passes them back in full, in the form of fund units, to customers on Charge Basis 3¹².

Dealing charges and third-party costs

On top of the platform charge, the other costs are the charges of the assets you hold and the fee you pay your adviser. Quilter is explicit that nothing else sits in between: "Asset charges and adviser fees are the only costs in addition to Quilter's charges"¹².

Quilter does not make additional charges for wrappers or transactions such as withdrawals, re-registration, or switching unit trusts and OEICs¹⁰. Where possible, it has also arranged for the removal of fund manager initial and exit charges for unit trusts and OEICs available through the platform¹². Adviser fees are flexible in shape: they can be taken upfront, ongoing or ad hoc, specified as a percentage or a monetary amount, and VAT can be added to the servicing fee¹⁰.

In practice, this means the main levers on your total cost are the platform tier your account value falls into, the ongoing charges of the funds you choose, and what you agree with your adviser. Your adviser should set all of this out before you invest, and the figures for your specific arrangement will be in your documentation.

Managing your Quilter investments online and in the app

When you become a Quilter platform customer you automatically get access to your own online account¹³. There are two ways in: the Quilter app on your mobile, or the online Customer Centre on a computer, laptop or tablet, and once activated the same username and password work for both¹³. The Customer Centre is Quilter's dedicated portal for managing your wealth on the platform⁴.

Through either route you can get an instant valuation of your investments 24 hours a day, seven days a week, track performance, check transactions, update your personal details and change your fund choice including for future contributions¹³. All of your Quilter platform investments and CashHub savings are available in one place¹³. If you want to switch funds, you can do it yourself: sign in, select "Change my funds" from the menu, and you will see the options to switch or redirect your funds, which you can do at any time⁹. Quilter still recommends talking to your adviser first, because funds behave differently⁹.

Quilter also points to a security benefit in managing things online: personal data does not have to be sent through the post¹³.

Transferring to or away from Quilter

Transfers work in both directions. Transferring an existing ISA to Quilter is described by the firm as straightforward, and it rewards larger holdings with a lower effective charge the more you have invested². On the way out, any transfer away from Quilter must be started with the receiving provider, who confirms the application process required¹⁴. If you hold an ISA, Collective Investment Account or Collective Retirement Account, you can transfer to another provider at no additional cost, although all outstanding charges will be deducted¹⁴.

Quilter states that it normally takes up to 20 working days for assets to be transferred, but transfers may take longer in some circumstances, for example if assets are held offshore or if queries with the other provider need to be resolved¹⁴.

When money is paid out rather than transferred, Quilter sends withdrawal funds only to a previously verified bank account¹⁵. That is a fraud-prevention measure, so expect to have a bank account verified before a withdrawal can be processed.

Help if your health or circumstances change

If your circumstances change, the people to tell are your adviser and Quilter, and Quilter commits to a specific safeguard here: it will always notify you if it receives a request to change your personal information, such as your mobile number, address or email address¹⁵. That is designed to stop a fraudster redirecting your contact details, so treat any unexpected notification of a change you did not make as a warning sign.

Changes in health or family circumstances often have wider money consequences. If you receive benefits, official guidance lists the changes you must report, including moving house, changes to your pension, savings, investments or property, going into hospital or a care home, and starting or stopping caring for someone¹⁶. If your health affects how you manage your accounts, firms are expected to make reasonable adjustments: official guidance cites bank statements and other documents in Braille, large print and audio formats as examples of support disabled customers can ask for¹⁷. Ask Quilter or your adviser what it can provide and have it noted on your account.

Complaints: Quilter's record and how to complain

Quilter publishes complaints data for its life and pensions business. For the six months from 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026, it recorded 781 opened and 836 closed complaints in its decumulation and pensions category, a rate of 2.70 per 1,000 policies in force, with 66.7 per cent of closed complaints upheld. The main cause was delays and timescales¹⁸.

To complain, start with Quilter itself: ask for a copy of its complaints procedure so you can see how it handles the matter and keep a record of what you send. If Quilter does not resolve the complaint to your satisfaction, you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free to consumers. If your complaint is about the advice you received rather than the platform, it is directed at the adviser firm that gave it.

Scams and account security

Quilter says it has a team of cybersecurity and fraud prevention experts and robust measures in place to combat fraud and cybercrime¹⁵. It also sets out clearly what it will never do: "Call or email and ask you to share your online account details, such as your password and memorable information"¹⁵. Any message that does this is not from Quilter, however convincing it looks.

Quilter's own security guidance covers the practical steps on your side¹⁹:

• Only download apps from official app stores
• Protect your phone with a password or its biometric features
• Do not change the factory security settings, as this leaves the phone vulnerable to malicious software
• Avoid public wi-fi when accessing financial apps, as it has minimal security
• Log out of your app when you are not using it

Be wary of texts and notifications claiming to be from your financial provider that ask you to log on via a link: this is a typical scam pattern¹⁹. Always reach the Online Customer Centre through Quilter's own secure website, checking the padlock icon in the address bar¹⁵. Quilter also uses security checks at login, such as a memorable picture and phrase, and two-factor authentication for transactions such as withdrawals¹⁵. If you receive a suspicious text, you can report it free of charge by forwarding it to 7726²⁰, and UK Finance publishes guidance on fraud and scams more widely²¹. If you are helping someone who may be targeted, the banking sector's 159 service connects you securely to your bank²².

How your money is protected with Quilter

Investments themselves can fall in value: that risk is yours, and no scheme covers it. What protection exists covers the failure of the firm. Quilter states that your money and assets are segregated and ring-fenced from the company's own money¹, which means they are not available to Quilter's creditors if the company fails. Cash in the platform's cash facility is held in a range of bank accounts rather than in money market funds⁸.

If all other protection fails, clients may be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)²³. The firm behind the brand is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, and you can check its status on the FCA Register⁶. It appears on the Bank of England's list of UK insurers authorised to carry out contracts of insurance²⁴, and it has traded previously as Skandia MultiFUNDS Assurance, Selestia Life, Selestia Life & Pensions and Old Mutual Wealth Life & Pensions⁵, names you may still see on older paperwork.

For an overview of the protections that apply across UK financial services, including the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and the Financial Ombudsman Service, see our guide to consumer protection.