Important information about our business.
Licensing information
We operate as a Financial Advice Provider under a current licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority in the name of NZ Financial Services Group Limited (FSP286965).
There are no conditions attached to this licence on the advice that may be given.
Our advice and Product Providers
We provide advice to our clients about home loan products. We provide advice on products for a number of lenders which are disclosed in the Financial Advisers Disclosure Guide. With your consent we may also refer you to a specialised Insurance Adviser to assist in your risk insurance requirements.
Commission
On settlement of a loan we usually receive commission from the applicable lender. The commission is generally of an upfront nature but may also include a renewal or trail commission. We also receive a fixed rate rollover fee from some lenders if we assist in re-fixing your loan.
This commission is used to remunerate the financial adviser that provides the advice, and to pay the expenses associated with running our business including any rent, staff costs and IT resources. From this commission we also pay NZ Financial Services Group Limited for services they provide to us in connection with our authorisation under their license from the Financial Markets Authority.
We take steps to ensure that the receipt of commissions does not influence the advice we give to you and that our advisers prioritise your interests by recommending the best product for your purpose regardless of the type and amount of commission we or they may receive. We do this by:
● Ensuring our advisers follow an advice process that ensures they understand your needs and goals and that their recommendations on insurance cover meets those needs and goals.
● Ensuring our advisers receive regular training on how to manage conflicts of interest.
● Providing you with a schedule showing commission amounts and types by product provider. This schedule is contained within the Financial Adviser’s personalised Disclosure Guide. A Financial Adviser will provide you with more information about commissions during the advice process.
Fees and Expenses
Generally we won’t charge you any fees for the financial advice provide to you. This is possible because, on settlement of a loan, we usually receive commission from the lender [which is explained in the commission section of this Disclosure Guide]. Any exceptions to this general position are explained below. If these exceptions will apply to you, I will let you know.
One-off fees
We may charge you a one-off fee if the following occurs:
(a) When I don’t receive commission from the lender: If you request that I provide financial advice and I do not receive a commission from the lender, I may charge you a one-off fee. Any such fee would be agreed and authorised by you in writing before I complete the services, and would be based on an estimate of the time spent providing the advice. This may arise in the rare event that you request that I provide services in relation to either a product that is offered by a lender that I do not hold an accreditation with, or a product that is outside my usual arrangements with my approved lenders.
(b) When we have to repay commission to the lender: : In the event that, in the 28 month period following drawdown of your loan, your loan is fully or partially repaid or the terms materially changed, and a lender requires that I repay the applicable commission to them, we may charge you a one-off fee. Any such fee would be no more than $2,500 (plus GST, if any) and would be calculated based on a rate of $250 (plus GST, if any) per hour of my time spent providing financial advice to you in connection with the applicable loan. The fee charged will not exceed the amount of commission we have to repay to the lender. You will be invoiced for any one-off fee and will be given 30 days to make payment.
Commissions & incentives
On settlement of a loan we usually receive a commission payment from the applicable lender.
The commission is generally of an upfront commission payment but I may also receive an ongoing trail
commission payment. The upfront commission is calculated as a percentage of the loan at drawdown. A
trail commission is calculated as a percentage of the loan outstanding at the relevant time
We may also receive a fixed rate roll over fee from the applicable lender if we assist in refixing your loan.
Conflicts of Interest
If there are any conflicts of interest apart from commission that could potentially influence the advice that we give, these will be shown in your Financial Adviser’s Disclosure Guide.
Complaints
If you have a complaint about our service you need to tell us about it. You can contact our internal complaints service by phoning me on 0800 327 736 or emailing richard@allanfinancial.co.nz with the heading Complaint – (Your Name). Please set out the nature of your complaint, and the resolution you are seeking. We will acknowledge receipt of this within 24 hours. We will then record your complaint in our Complaints Register and notify our Licence Holder. We may want to meet with you to better understand your issues.
We will then investigate your complaint and provide a response to you within 7 working days of receiving your complaint. If we need more time to investigate your complaint, we’ll let you know.
If we cannot agree on a resolution you can refer your complaint to our external dispute resolution service. This service is independent and will cost you nothing and will assist us to resolve things with you. Details of this service are:
Financial Services Complaints Limited
Phone: 0800 347 257
Email: complaints@fscl.org.nz
Our Duties
Anyone within our business giving advice is bound by and supports the duties set out in the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. These duties are:
– Meet the standards of competence, knowledge, and skill and the standards of ethical behaviour, conduct, and client care set out in the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Providers.
– Give priority to your interests.
– Exercise care, diligence, and skill.