This document sets out the terms under which we agree to act for you and contains our regulatory and statutory responsibilities. It also sets out some of your responsibilities.
Commencement/Termination
The provisions of this Client Agreement will take effect immediately that they are provided to you and will continue in force until they are cancelled by you or us, or they are replaced by an updated Client Agreement.
Investor Profile Ltd
Our registered address is: 230 Acre Lane, Northampton, NN2 8DX. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). We are listed on the FSA register and our Registration Number is 481396. You can check this, and our address, on the FSA’s Register by visiting the FSA’s website www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234.
Our permitted business is advising on and arranging investment and pension products. We operate independently and therefore provide investment services from the whole market.
Client Classification
We have classified you as a “retail client”. This means that you are afforded the greatest level of protection available under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA).
Communicating with you
We will normally communicate with you by post, e-mail or telephone. This may include proactive communication.
We may communicate with you by e-mail, which may include electronic data. By consenting to this method of communication we and you accept the risks involved regarding unauthorised access, interception, corruption, and the risk of viruses or other harmful devices although we and you will be responsible for taking all reasonable steps to mitigate such circumstances.
Please note that you cannot assume instructions sent to us by e-mail have been processed until you receive our confirmation.
We may retain details of communications with you for our records and regulatory purposes. In the case of any dispute we may rely these.
Our Services
We offer a modern independent financial advice service that aims to assess your personal needs and identify your financial goals. Our advice will focus on arriving at a solution that best meets your needs and circumstances.
Our predominant service will therefore be to arrive at a solution and set of products, accounts and underlying investments that best meet your needs. In this our aim will be to effectively intermediate between you and the product provider, once your needs have been fully established through our financial planning process.
This will continue on an ongoing basis where ongoing services are provided. That is, our philosophy of getting to know you and continuing to understand your needs on an ongoing basis will ensure we can effectively intermediate and provide services that will continue to meet your needs.
Any recommendations made are based purely on the information discussed with you and disclosed by you.
Product recommendations shall be made and implemented by us only once they have been expressly agreed with you.
If you do feel that your personal and financial situation has materially changed then you will be responsible for informing us.
Conflicts of Interest
Occasions can arise where we, or one of our other clients, will have some form of interest in the business that we are transacting for you. If this happens, or we become aware that our interests conflict with your interests, we will inform you in writing and ask for your consent before we carry out your instructions.
We maintain a Conflict of Interest Policy which enables us to identify and manage conflicts and potential conflicts of interest. The policy is designed to ensure that you are provided with an appropriately independent level of service by putting in place appropriate procedures, supervision and monitoring techniques. Further details of the policy are available upon request.
Risk factors
We will write to you separately regarding any specific risk factors that apply to the service we provide for you. You should be aware that the past performance of investments is no indicator of future performance and that the value of investments can go up or down, which means you may not get back the full amount invested.
Remuneration – Advisory
We want to be as open as possible on the charges we make so that you may decide for yourself more easily whether our service is right for you. For this reason we set out in plain terms what we charge. Details can also be found on our website:
http://www.investorprofile.co.uk/our-fees
Initial Advice Fees:
£40 – Investment Surgery
£250 – Investment/Retirement Planning Report
£500 – Investment/Retirement Planning Report Plus
£750 – Financial Planning Report
£1,500 – Cashflow Planning Report
£2,500 – Lifetime Planning Report
These fees will be agreed with you and are payable in advance of us starting work on your plan. We normally accept cheques or bank transfer. Depending on your financial position and preference we may agree with you to receive this fee directly from your investments if appropriate.
Administration/Implementation Fees:
0.50% – initial fee
For example if you invest £10,000 the administration/implementation fee would be £50. This fee is payable upon investment of your assets or completion of transfer. The fee will be taken from your invested assets.
Portfolio Management Fees:
0.50% per annum.
0.75% per annum.
For example if you invest £10,000 the portfolio management fee would be £50 per annum. This fee is normally payable monthly and is taken directly from your investments.
Of course we do appreciate that not everyone is the same and there will be different situations that merit an alternative approach. We therefore reserve the right to charge non-standard fees. In this situation we would be happy to discuss alternative fee arrangements with you.
We will confirm if you have to pay VAT.
Refunds Policy
In the spirit of fairness we would always operate a relationship based on trust. If you feel a refund is due we will endeavour to satisfy your requirements. However we do reserve the right to retain any fees paid by you.
Client Money
Investor Profile does not handle client money. We will not handle cash or accept cheques made payable to us for money that is intended for investment by you.
Right to Cancel
We will inform you of your statutory right to cancel. The Distance Marketing Directive normally grants you 30 days in which you may cancel a life or pension contract. However there will be occasions where no statutory rights are granted, however this will be explained before any contract is concluded.
Complaints
If you wish to register a complaint please write to: Compliance Oversight Officer, Investor Profile Ltd, 230 Acre Lane, Northampton, NN2 8DX.
A summary of our internal complaints handling procedures for the reasonable and prompt handling of complaints is available on request. If you cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Are we covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)?
Yes we are, which means you may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we are unable to meet our obligations. This depends on 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
Further information about the compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS website at www.fscs.org.uk.
Money Laundering
We are required to verify your identity in accordance with the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group Guidance, no investment will be made until such verification has been obtained. If the required verification is not forthcoming within a reasonable period we will not arrange any investment for you.
We may use and search the records of credit reference or fraud prevention agencies to check your identity, such searches will not affect your credit rating. Where such searches prove unsatisfactory for this purpose, we may ask you to supply at least one document to verify your identity and/or address.
Documentation
All investments will be registered in your name unless otherwise agreed in writing. Unless you instruct us in writing to the contrary, we will forward to you all contract notes and documents showing ownership of your investments as soon as practicable after we receive them.
Data Protection
The information you have provided is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 (the “Act”). By signing this document you consent to us or any company associated with us for processing, both manually and by electronic means, your personal data for the purposes of providing advice, administration and management.
“Processing” includes obtaining, recording or holding information or data, transferring it to other companies associated with us, product providers, the Financial Services Authority or any other statutory, governmental or regulatory body for legitimate purposes including, where relevant, to solicitors and/or other debt collection agencies for debt collection purposes and carrying out operations on the information or data.
In order to provide services to you we may be required to pass your personal information to parties located outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) in countries that do not have Data Protection Laws equivalent to those in the UK. Where this is the case we will take responsible steps to ensure the privacy of your information.
We may from time to time use the information that we hold about you to contact you by post, telephone or e-mail to bring your attention to products, services or information that we feel you may benefit from.
The information provided may also contain sensitive personal data for the purposes of the Act, being information as to your physical or mental health or condition; the committing or alleged committing of any offence by you; any proceedings for an offence committed or alleged to have been committed by you, including the outcome or sentence in such proceedings; your political opinions, religious or similar beliefs, sexual life; or your membership of a Trade Union.
If at any time you wish us or any company associated with us to cease processing your personal data or sensitive personal data, or contacting you for marketing purposes, please contact The Data Protection Officer on 01604 211234.
You may be assured that we and any company associated with us will treat all personal data and sensitive personal data as confidential and will not process it other than for a legitimate purposes. Steps will be taken to ensure that the information is accurate, kept up to date and not kept for longer than is necessary. Measures will also be taken to safeguard against unauthorised or unlawful processing and accidental loss or destruction or damage to the data.
Subject to certain exceptions, you are entitled to have access to your personal and sensitive personal data held by us. You may be charged a fee (subject to the statutory maximum) for supplying you with such data.
All cheques, documents of title, etc, may be sent by post to your latest known address and shall be sent at your own risk. The Recorded Delivery service will not normally be used.
Future Changes
The latest version of our Client Agreement will always be available on our website at:
http://www.investorprofile.co.uk/terms-of-business
Force Majeure
Investor Profile 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.
Termination
The 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.
Law
English law will be the basis of this contract and the language in which this contract will be interpreted, and in which all communications will be conducted, will be English. The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 shall not apply to this Client Agreement.
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.
