Client Agreement for Investments & Insurances
This document must be read in conjunction with our Service Proposition & Engagement
Authorisation Statement
Tailored Financial Planning Ltd is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulates financial services in the UK and you can check our authorisation and permitted activities on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA’s website www.FCA.org.uk/firms/systems-reporting/register or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.
Our services Tailored Financial Planning Ltd is able to act on your behalf in advising you on investments and non-investment insurance contracts. We offer products and services as follows:
- Investments – we offer an Independent advice service. We will consider a range of regulated products from the available market that can meet the investment objectives of a retail client but we will only provide a recommendation to you when we know the product is suitable for your personal circumstances.*
- Non-investment protection contracts – we provide advice and will make our recommendation after considering a range of insurers for term assurance, income protection and critical illness.
- General Insurance Contracts – we provide advice and will make our recommendation after considering a range of insurers for buildings and contents, private medical insurance & accident sickness and unemployment.
*You should be aware that investments carry varying degrees of risk and as their underlying value can fall as well as rise you may not get back the full amount invested.
Full details of the products we recommend will be confirmed in the product literature you will receive before it is arranged. We will inform you if any investment we recommend restricts future access to your capital.
We offer you an initial discussion (without charge) at which we will describe our services more fully and explain the payment options. If you decide to go ahead, we will gather and analyse personal financial information about you and your aims and objectives;
Your aims and objectives Unless we notify you in writing to the contrary, we will be treating you as a “retail client” for investment business. This means that you are afforded the highest level of protection under the regulatory system and should have the right to take any complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Any advice or recommendation(s) that we offer to you, will only be given after we have assessed your needs and considered your financial objectives, attitude to risk and capacity to bear any losses. We will also take into account any restrictions that you wish to place on the type of products you would be willing to consider.
With very few exceptions, we will confirm to you in writing the basis of our recommendations along with details of any special risks associated with the products recommended.
Full details of the products we recommend to you including, for example, the minimum duration of the product, information on your right to cancel or whether no right to cancel exists, and any other early termination rights and penalties, will be covered in the relevant product disclosure information you will receive before conclusion of any contract.
We will issue any documentation/recommendations and any other communication to you in English (unless agreed otherwise).
We may also, on occasion, advise on other financial products which are not regulated by the FCA under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme does not apply to any of these products. Under the terms of this agreement, we may, if appropriate, advise you on investments which are not readily realisable. We would draw your attention to the risks associated with these investments as there is a restricted market for them. In some circumstances it may therefore not be possible to deal in the investment or obtain reliable information about its value.
Our Ethical Policy
We are committed to providing the highest standard of financial advice and service possible. The interest of our clients is paramount to us and to achieve this we have designed our systems and procedures to place you at the heart of our business. In doing so, we will:
- be open, honest and transparent in the way we deal with you;
- not place our interests above yours;
- communicate clearly, promptly and without jargon;
- Seek your views and perception of our dealings with you to ensure it meets your expectations or to identify any improvements required.
Instructions
We only accept instructions in writing (paper or electronic means) to aid clarification and avoid future misunderstandings. Please note we will not act on oral instructions to avoid any possible misunderstandings.
Investment Services and Costs (including structured deposits)We provide you with an initial consultation free of charge. This helps us to understand your financial objectives and we will confirm how we can support you in working towards these. We will also discuss the cost, and levels, of our services both initially and throughout our relationship with you.
We charge our services by way of a fee. These fees are based on a percentage of the amount you invest, subject to a minimum fee. The 2 steps of this process are explained here:
Financial Review and Recommendation
This can be a continuation from the initial discussion, where agreed, or a further appointment. This process covers the:gathering of information about your existing financial arrangements and full personal circumstances;
understanding of your investment knowledge and attitude and tolerance towards investment risk;
recommendation of an asset allocation model that matches your risk profile and the subsequent assessment and suitability of any existing holdings;
preparation of our recommendations to you;
arranging a second appointment to explain and discuss our recommendations in detail.
Our charges for this service have minimum fees as stated below and is payable on provision of the report containing our recommendations to you. This fee will be waived wholly or in part should you decide to implement any of our recommendations.
| Initial meeting | Free of charge |
| Research and recommendation as per above | 50% of the fee |
| Implementation of recommendations | Balance of the fee |
To assist us with the delivery of our Investment Services we use a system called Dynamic Planner by Distribution Technology. Distribution Technology is the UK’s leading provider of financial planning and sales technology and has an excellent reputation for market-leading advice technology. Winner of both the European Wealth Briefing Award for Best Risk Profiling Tool and the Aberdeen Platform Award for Leading Integrated Planning Tool Provider in 2014. Their tool allows us to analyse our clients’ attitude to risk using a range of psychometric questionnaires, and providing clients with a view of the consequences
Policy Arrangement & Implementation – Lump Sum Investments or Transfers Should you instruct us to proceed with any of our recommendations we will act for you in the following ways:
- Handle all fund and policy administration on your behalf;
- Provide regular updates to keep you informed of progress;
- Ensure all your documents are issued in line with your expectations;
- Provide confirmation of all actions taken on your behalf in writing.
Our charge for this service is based on a percentage of the amount you invest and/or transfer. These charges are applied as follows:
Pension &/or Retirement Advice
| Financial Review | £1,500 |
| Pension &/or Retirement Advice | 2% of combined value and subject to a minimum fee of £1,500 and a maximum of £5,000. |
| Pension | £50,000 | £75,000 | 150,000 | £200,000 | £250,000 | £500,000 | £1m |
| Calculation | £50,000 @ 2% £1,000 | £75,000 @ 2% £1,500 | £150,000 @ 2% £3,000 | £200,000 @ 2% £4,000 | £250,000 @ 2% £5,000 | £500,000 @ 2% £10,000 | £50,000 @ 2% £50,000 @ 2% £900,000 @ 2% |
| Charge applicable | £1,500 (Minimum charge applies) | £1,500 (Minimum charge applies) | £1,500 | £2,000 | £5,000 | £5,000 (maximum charge applies) | £5,000 (maximum charge applies) |
Investments
| Obtaining provider information, assessment of needs and researching the market for suitable products with provision of a recommendation report. | 2% of fund value with a minimum fee of £1,500 and a maximum fee of £5,000. Payable if all work has been completed whether you decide to proceed or not. |
| Investment Amount | £50,000 | £75,000 | £150,000 | £200,000 | £250,000 | £500,000 | £1m |
| Calculation | £50,000 @ 2% £1,000 | £75,000 @ 2% £1,500 | £150,000 @ 2% £3,000 | £200,000 @ 2% £4,000 | £250,000 @ 2% £5,000 | £500,000 @ 2% £10,000 | £50,000 @ 2% £50,000 @ 2% £900,000 @ 2% |
| Charge Applicable | £1,500 (Minimum charge applies) | £1,500 (Minimum charge applies) | £1,500 | £2,000 | £5,000 | £5,000 (maximum charge applies) | £5,000 (maximum charge applies) |
Payment can either be taken from your investment upon receipt by the policy provider or paid directly by you. Where we receive such a payment we will waive our ‘financial review and recommendation’ fee by the same amount.
If our recommendation is to retain your existing policy/ies or you decide to not take our recommendation the minimum fee will be payable as detailed above. Payments are due on acceptance of our recommendation and/or set up of a new contract.
Non-Investment Protection and General Insurance contracts
When we arrange the sale of a protection or insurance contract, we will not charge you a fee, as we will receive a commission from the provider. The amount of this will be disclosed to you in the product literature.
Ongoing Services
It is important to review every investment you hold and at regular intervals. At the time of, or prior to, our recommendation to you we will discuss our on-going service proposition. This is confirmed in our ‘service proposition and engagement’ document which will be sent to you separately from this agreement. If we have agreed to provide an ongoing review service we need to make contact with you at least annually to assess whether the information we hold about you remains accurate and up to date.
Ongoing Reviews and Changes to Existing Investments
We will discuss the full range of our on-going services during our initial consultation. These services include, but are not limited to, providing you with:
- structured reviews to give you peace of mind;
- an assessment of your circumstances and any changes to your plans that are needed;
- regular updates and information regarding your holdings;
- a choice of differing levels of support depending on your needs;
- ongoing support with correspondence and administration issues.
Details of these are contained in our Service Proposition and Engagement document. We will agree separately the level of on-going services at the time of, or prior to, making our recommendation(s) to you. Typically our cost is 1% per annum and are based on the value of your investment(s) at each 12 month anniversary, and are paid monthly in arrears.
It should be noted that if you choose any of our ongoing management services they are subject to a minimum and maximum fee per annum.
Transactional only: Nil
Premium Service: 1% Minimum £1500 Maximum £10,000
Starter Service: 0.75% Minimum £500 Maximum £5,000
*Where we agree to provide ongoing services you can choose to cancel this at any time by providing us with written confirmation of your decision. Payments would then cease within 7 business days or after collection of any due proportion of any period charges if later.*The charges listed above can be deducted from your investments or paid directly by you*
Our Insurance and Protection Services and CostsSimilar to our investment services above, we will provide you with a personal and financial review prior to making our recommendation(s) to you. Should you accept our recommendation(s) we will arrange the implementation of this/these for you. The reasons for our recommendations will also be provided to you in a written report.
We do not charge a fee for our insurance and protection services as we will normally receive commission from the policy provider. You will not be subject to VAT for this service.
VATUnder current legislation our services are not subject to VAT but should this change in future and VAT becomes payable, we will notify you before conducting any further work.
Cancellation rights
In most cases you can exercise a right to cancel by withdrawing from the contract. In general terms you will normally have a 30 day cancellation period for a life, pure protection, payment protection or pension policy and a 14 day cancellation period for all other policies. For investments this will typically start when funds are invested and for pure protection policies this will normally begin when you are informed that the contract has been concluded or, if later, when you have received the contractual terms and conditions. Instructions for exercising the right to cancel, if applicable, will be contained in the relevant product information issued to you.
If you cancel a single premium contract, you may incur a loss due to market movements. This means that, in certain circumstances, you might not get back the full amount you invested if you cancel the policy.
Client money
Tailored Financial Planning Ltd is not permitted to handle client money and we cannot accept a cheque made out to us (unless it is in respect of an item for which we have sent you an invoice) or handle cash.
Documentation We will endeavour to make arrangements for all your investments to be registered in your name unless you first instruct us otherwise in writing. All policy documents will be forwarded to you immediately after we have received them. If there are a number of documents relating to a series of transactions, we will normally hold each document until the series is complete and then forward them to you. We will issue all communications in English, unless agreed otherwise.
Material Interest
We will act honestly, fairly and professionally known as conducting business in ‘Client’s best interest’ regulations. Occasionally situations may arise where we or one of our other clients have some form of interest in business transacted for you. If this happens or we become aware that our interests or those of one of our other clients conflict with your interest, we will write to you and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions, and detail the steps we will take to ensure fair treatment. Where this cannot be achieved, we will not conduct the business.
Complaints
If you wish to register a complaint, please write to Tailored Financial Planning Ltd, 99 – 101 Corporation Street
St Helens, Merseyside, WA10 1SX or telephone 01744 757 648. A summary of our internal complaints handling procedures for the reasonable and prompt handling of complaints is available on request and if you cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk or by contacting them on 0800 023 4 567.
Compensation Scheme
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation scheme (FSCS) if we cannot meet our obligations. This is dependent upon the type of business and the circumstances of the claim. Most types of investment business are covered up to a maximum limit of £50,000, whereas Insurance business is covered for 90% of the claim, without any upper limit. For annuities, advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim, without any upper limit.Further information about this compensation scheme arrangement is available from the FSC at http://www.fscs.org.uk/what-we-cover/products
Anti-money laundering
We are required by the anti-money laundering regulations to verify the identity of our clients, to obtain information as to the purpose and nature of the business which we conduct on their behalf, and to ensure that the information we hold is up-to-date. For this purpose we may use electronic identity verification systems and we may conduct these checks from time to time throughout our relationship, not just at the beginning.
LawThis client agreement is governed and shall be construed in accordance with English Law and the parties shall submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
Force Majeure
Tailored Financial Planning Ltd shall not be in breach of this Agreement and shall not incur any liability to you if there is any failure to perform its duties due to any circumstances reasonably beyond its control.
TerminationThe authority to act on your behalf may be terminated at any time without penalty by either party giving seven days notice in writing to that effect to the other, but without prejudice to the completion of transactions already initiated. Any transactions effected before termination and a due proportion of any period charges for services shall be settled to that date.
DECLARATION
This is our standard client agreement upon which we intend to rely. For your own benefit and protection you should read these terms carefully before signing them. If you do not understand any point please ask for further information. I/We are aware of the costs of the Financial Review and Recommendation(s), and where appropriate, the Policy Arrangement and Implementation services and agree to the method and timing of these.
Why Choose Us?
25
Years of Experience
350+
Happy Clients
6
Experts
What our Clients Say
“I was recommended to Tailored Financial Planning ltd by a current customer and good friend. All avenues of investment were explained clearly. Retirement can be a very stressful and confusing time, but the independent advice was greatly appreciated.” – P Whitty, Newton Le Willows.
Netton Le Willows
“Excellent service from start to finish. The adviser is always helpful and finds the best deals and outcomes. I am a returning customer because of the exceptional experience I receive. All the stress is taken away from me and it makes life easier, knowing the deal I have is the best”
Wigan
“Fantastic service from everybody at Tailored Financial Planning. Even though Tommy and Chris are friends of mine, they showed how professional they are. They got me the mortgage I never thought I would be able to get. I would recommend to all to use Tailored Financial Planning. Thank you!”
St Helens