Covenham Financial Services Limited. Service Proposition

Transcription

1 Covenham Financial Services Limited Service Proposition Covenham Financial Services Ltd T/A Libra Financial Consultants Harrison House, High Street, Bushey, Hertfordshire, WD23 3DH. Tel: Fax: Authorised & Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FCA Number

2 Proposition Service Levels Client Types Ethos We are independent financial advisers and provide a complete financial planning service, advising on and/ or arranging: pensions investments tax planning life assurance and family protection We can provide: a full financial planning review or a review of several areas of need advice restricted to a single area of need stand alone products or investments arranged either in accordance with our recommendations, or in response to your specific instructions known as execution-only dealing ongoing advice, reviews and management of arrangements access to employer-sponsored pension schemes via Direct Offer information packs, which allow you to make an informed decision. We provide our services to: individuals businesses and their owners/ managers Trusts Providing advice since 1974, our reputation is built upon our core values of integrity, trust and commitment. We take pride in our close, personalised service and building a friendly but professional relationship with our clients on a long-term basis. We listen to you in order to understand your circumstances and offer jargonfree advice and positive recommendations to help you build and protect your financial future. Wherever possible we will seek to find the simplest solution to your needs. Therefore, we commit to communicating fully and openly with you from initial contact onwards. By clearly setting out our processes we hope that your expectations are managed and your experience will be a positive one. A key area in ensuring client satisfaction is to agree a clear and fair remuneration structure so that you know exactly what you will be paying for, how much, and whether this will be paid directly by you or taken from the products or investment we arrange or manage. We will agree all costs before any chargeable work is carried out. We welcome input from our clients and from time to time will issue questionnaires to a random selection of clients. The questionnaire is an opportunity for our clients to provide feedback. We would encourage you to return these so that we can monitor our performance in client satisfaction and make improvements if appropriate. V VII 2

3 Engagement At initial contact we briefly explain our proposition and terms of engagement. For new clients, we provide an initial meeting without charge, where we will describe our services more fully and explain the payment options. Thereafter, we will seek to identify your aims and your views on the needs that require attention. We will also gather factual information so that we clearly understand your position. We will then present our initial view of the priority needs to be addressed and seek agreement to produce recommendations, and agreement to our remuneration to the work to be undertaken. This could be at the initial meeting or afterwards. The Advice Process* Fact finding Data gathering Analysis Agree remuneration Agreement Quantification of need Solutions research Investment services Market research Recommendation discussion questionnaire / fact find risk profiling review of files information from your other professional advisers, i.e. your Accountant or solicitor as required gathering information regarding your existing arrangements or benefits legislation, tax and benefit rules relevant to your situation analysis of the fact finding and data, in order to identify needs agree basis of remuneration. obtain client agreement to address each individual need area and agree a specific mandate for any funds to be invested calculate the actual amounts involved, i.e. cover needed, income required, affordability etc. research suitable products / actions, taking into account: tax status of client and tax treatment of possible solutions; features that will be mandatory or desirable in addressing the need; clients risk profile and mandate for pensions, savings and investments, the key to the recommendations will be how the monies are to be invested we offer two distinct services; advisory and multi managed research specific products and providers, based on mandatory and / or desirable features, the investment service being recommended, performance, service and costs recommend the most suitable solution or a selection of suitable solutions *Depending on the complexity of the enquiry, some or all of the processes above will be followed. V VII 3

4 Agreement to Proceed Our preferred service model is wholly advisory. Having delivered our recommendations we then require your acceptance, or alternative instructions. On the rare occasions where an execution only service is requested, by the client, we will proceed only on the strict understanding that no advice has been sought from or given by us. Proceeding This stage begins once we have received your instructions to proceed. We will: liaise with your other professional advisers where appropriate complete and submit all necessary paperwork deal with any Trust documentation required ensure all products and investments are established in line with agreed actions inform you of progress Investment Management We offer two core investment solutions: Advisory: Suitable for investors who have significant investments and/ or an interest in investments and desire a more active style of investment management from their advisers. Where agreed, regular reviews will keep you informed. Multi Managed: Suitable for investors who have smaller amounts to invest and/ or have little interest in investment matters and so require a well structured and cost effective solution. This means that your investments will only need to be reviewed from time to time. Investment Strategy and Philosophy After checking for affordability and your risk profile, we would ascertain the need for access to your funds over various periods. These could be classified as Short term typically 1-5 years Medium term typically 5-10 years Longer term - over 10 years Our investment recommendation would then be made taking these factors into account. Our Investment Philosophy is one that avoids frequent switches and rebalancing of funds, as we do not believe that short term fluctuations should be micromanaged for longer term investments. Rebalancing can often be better achieved by diverting new monies to different funds or sectors to diversify the overall portfolio. V VII 4

5 Ongoing Services Ongoing services Where we have arranged an investment or policy as a standalone transaction, we would not normally carry out regular reviews, unless specifically agreed at outset. Where it is agreed that we will provide you with an on-going service, we will review the arrangements under our management once a year or less frequently if appropriate. Our on-going services include: unlimited access to your own personal adviser we aim to reply to all telephone calls and s as quickly as possible and usually within two working days a review meeting (if required by you) with your personal adviser which includes a review of your financial plan taking into account any changes in your circumstances. reviewing your investment funds and the respective fund managers assistance with the paperwork you receive in connection with your finances. V VII 5

6 Costs We do not normally expect to charge for an initial meeting as this is an opportunity to establish common ground and jointly agree on the terms of any future engagement. Once we have been engaged and instructed to conduct specific tasks, we will agree the basis of our remuneration. You have the option of paying fees directly, or deducted from funds under management Whether paid directly as a fee, or taken from funds our standard charges are as follows: Advising on and arranging lump sum investments Advising on and arranging regular investments / premiums On-going services Minimum Fee 3% of the first 150,000 invested 2% of the next 250,000 invested 1% on any sums over and above 400,000 Minimum of 180 initial fee. A further 3% of each regular premium, paid yearly in advance if by fee or deducted from the investment and paid by fund manager, subject to client agreement 0.5% of funds under management per annum. We have a minimum fee of 350 for any Annuity or drawdown business, where funds are under 20,000 If the certainty of a fixed fee is preferred our minimum charge would be 500 If required to work on a time/cost basis our standard rates are 180 per hour and 60 per hour for paraplanning and administration plus disbursements. Where no ongoing review service is agreed, we will continue to hold your file on our records but will be unable to provide any further advice until alternative remuneration arrangements are made. The basis of any costs will always be agreed in advance. E&OE V VII 6