Terms of Business
Thank you for choosing Asset Management Financial Advisers Limited (AMFA).
AMFA is a trading style of Asset Management Financial Advisers Ltd and we are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Our reference number is 172274.
About Us
We pride ourselves in offering a forward thinking and innovative approach to financial planning, underpinned by independent financial advice. We are based in Hampshire with offices in Southampton, Winchester and Bishops Waltham and for over 36 years our number one priority has been, and continues to be, ensuring that our clients are in the best financial position to secure their long-term goals and objectives.
About these terms
This document sets out the general terms governing our relationship. Our “Terms of Business” as set out herewith alongside our “Services & Charges” document form the legal agreement between you, the client, and AMFA. We encourage that you read these carefully and speak with your Financial Adviser should you have any questions.
The documents referenced above alongside your personalised Suitability Report detail the services that we have agreed to provide as well as the associated cost.
Your agreement to these terms is confirmed upon your signed return of our “Services & Charges – Client Consent Form”.
Our Commitment
We pride ourselves on the provision of a high level of quality financial planning and advice services which aim to help you achieve your goals and objectives. In doing so we employ a highly qualified team of professional Independent Financial Advisers (IFA’s). In the spirit of the FCA’s ‘Treating Customers Fairly’ principle we want to ensure that you are able to make an informed decision about the service we provide and how these meet your needs as well as the associated costs you will incur.
Our Services
AMFA can facilitate advice in the following areas:
- Investment
- Personal Pensions
- Retirement Planning
- Estate Planning
- Corporate Services
- Protection
- Tax-Efficient Savings
- Mortgages
- Equity Release
Our Advice Status
Independent Advice –
We are independent for Pension and Investments business. This means we will assess a sufficient range of relevant products available on the whole of the market. These are in terms of product type and provider to ensure that your investment objectives can be suitably met. We are not limited in the type of product, or provider, or having any close links, or any contractual relationship with a third party that may impair the independent basis of our advice to you.
We will offer you the opportunity of paying by fee directly yourself or via Adviser Charging through the product provider recommended (please refer to details on our charging structure).
When looking to address your protection needs, we will provide advice based on a fair and personal analysis of the market.
As part of our service, we offer an no commitment initial discussion, in which we can go through all available services as well as agree an ongoing charging structure. Further to this discussion, and with your agreement, we can then work with you to review your circumstances and requirements in greater detail to help in building your financial plan. Our typical advice journey is as follows:
- Gather and analyse the personal information you have provided, relative to those areas where you require advice, assessing your future financial requirements as well as your attitude towards investment risk and capacity for loss.
- Undertake research to ascertain the suitability of your existing policies and consider alternatives that may offer greater potential to aid in meeting your financial aims and objectives
- Recommend and discuss any action we think you should take in those areas and with your agreement, arrange relevant solutions for you. In certain situations, where it can provide benefit we may also provide recommendations on additional areas we feel are relevant in consideration of your financial plan as a whole
- Implement an agreed review schedule to ensure that your financial objectives remain on track
No Advice –
You will not receive advice or a recommendation from us. We may ask some questions to narrow down the selection of products that we will provide details on. You will then need to make your own choice about how to proceed.
Should you choose to follow the ‘No Advice’ route and you consequently wish for us to arrange a transaction for you, we will do so subject to your classification as an ‘execution only’ client. If this service is undertaken, we may receive renumeration from the provider, details of this will be provided, either by us or the product provider, prior to completion.
We will require your acknowledgement and acceptance that you understand we make no representations as to the suitability of the contract for your circumstances, and that the consumer protection measures offered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) may not apply.
Regulatory Authorisation
Asset Management Financial Advisers Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA regulates the financial services industry in the United Kingdom and its address is 12 Endeavour Square, London, E20 1JN.
You can check this on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA’s website https://register.fca.org.uk or by contacting the FCA on 0300 500 0597. Our Financial Services number is 172274.
Our permitted business is advising on and arranging investments, pensions, protection & insurance, equity release & mortgages. Additional services may also be provided in relation to non-investment insurance contracts for which we are also regulated. Separate documentation will be provided should you require advice in these areas.
For Your Protection
Unless explicitly stated otherwise we will classify you as a ‘retail client’ for investment and pension advice and as a ‘consumer’ for protection advice. This entitles you to the highest level of protection under the rules of the FCA and have the right to take any complaint to the FOS. Further details of the protections afforded to you are contained within this document.
Data Protection & Privacy
Our current Privacy Notice and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) statement can be found on our website as below:
www.assetmanagement.co.uk/privacy-policy/.
It is important to point out that we may occasionally amend our Data Protection and Privacy Notice. The most up to date version will always be published on our website and accessed via the link above.
The notice and statement set out how AMFA uses and protects the information provided by you. We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected and any data we hold will only be held in accordance with this policy.
We will need to collect, store and use personal information about you such as your name, age, date of birth, and address (‘Personal Data’) for the purpose of providing our services. We understand and recognise that the lawful and correct treatment of your personal data is paramount. As such, we will continue to ensure that the appropriate safeguarding measures are in place to protect your data and comply with our obligations as defined by data protection law.
Anti-Money Laundering
In compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations we are required to obtain satisfactory evidence of the identity of our clients. We will do this by obtaining evidence of your identity and address as soon as practicable. We are grateful in your collaboration and ask that any verification documentation is provided in as timely manner as possible, so as not to effect the timing or implementation of your financial plan.
In your provision of this documentation, we will perform a background check via our electronic verification tool. This is a ‘soft inquiry’ returning basic information (such as home address and date of birth) performed on your credit report but not effecting your credit history.
Conflicts of Interest
We do our utmost to avoid conflicts of interest wherever possible and have robust procedures in place to support this. However, as with the nature of doing business, sometimes such conflicts are inevitable. Should conflicts of interest arise, we are duty bound to ensure that you are made completely aware of the relevant situation and aim to resolve this as promptly as possible.
Our aim is to fulfil our duties to you fairly and in operating with the due integrity, in line with the rules of the FCA. It is our duty to ensure that any conflict arising will not influence our recommendation in relation to the most suitable product or provider.
Communication
In the provision of our services, we will communicate with you using the contact information provided. This could be via telephone or by other means such as, email, post, or a collection of the aforementioned means all of which will have the same status as written documents or those sent by post. However, if we are legally obliged according to specific regulations in the UK to issue specific documents to you directly by post, we shall do so. All communications will be in English.
Remuneration
It is incumbent upon us to agree with you and confirm in writing the services we are offering and the fees we have agreed before proceeding. Fees can either be paid directly to AMFA, or platform/provider facilitated. There may be implications on taking fees on certain products and some providers may not provide the option to facilitate the payment of an adviser fee.
Please note that for protection business we will continue to receive commission from the insurance company as payment for our services.
Documentation
We will endeavour to forward all policy documentation to you as soon as practicable in the instance that we receive them. If there are a number of documents relating to a series of transactions, we will normally hold each document until the series has been completed prior to forwarding them to you.
When possible, we will venture to plan to ensure for your investments to be registered in your name.
Your Commitment
In order to ensure that we are able to provide you with the best possible service, it is important that you provide us with the information we request. In doing so it is your commitment that the information provided is complete and accurate. Failure to do so, or failure to inform us of any subsequent changes, may effect that overall quality of the advice you receive.
Any advice or recommendation offered to you will be based on your stated investment objectives, agreed acceptable level of risk, and any instructions you may wish to make regarding the type of investments or policies you are willing to consider. In order to provide your services, we must receive all necessary and relevant information relating to your personal and financial circumstances. You must provide us promptly with any information that we ask for. We will work with you throughout the information gathering process, and where we have to obtain information from one of more third parties (for example pension policy information) you should be aware that this could lead to delays beyond our control.
We will work under the assumption that you do not wish to place any limitations on the advice we give you unless stated otherwise. Where you request our advice to be limited to specific areas or issues, we will confirm our understanding of that limitation to you in writing.
Under the rules of the FCA, we are required to consider whether it is in your best interests for us to act for you should you refuse to provide the information necessary for us to provide you with suitable advice. We can decline to act for you if we believe that you have not provided adequate information.
Complaints
We have a commitment to a level of quality in the provision of our financial advisory services however if you have any concerns about the service you are receiving, please let us know immediately so that we can deal with these promptly.
We maintain internal complaints handling procedures for the reasonable and prompt handling of complaints. This adhere to the complaint handling requirements of the FCA. This can be made available upon request and/or automatically sent to you in the event of a complaint.
If you wish to register a complaint, please write to us at:
Head of Operations
Asset Management Financial Advisers Ltd
8 Gaters Mill
Mansbridge Road
West End
Southampton
SO18 3HW
Or by telephone on 02380 420 606.
If your complaint cannot be settled, or you are unhappy with any final response to a complaint, then you are entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
The FOS is in independent service set up by the UK parliament to resolve disputes between consumers and businesses providing financial services. This service is free to consumers and further information can be found out www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk or telephone 0800 023 4567. Standard procedure states that you have 6 months from the date of our final response to refer your complaint to the FOS.
Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), established under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, has been set up to provide protection to consumers if authorised financial services firms are unable, or likely to be unable, to meet claims against them.
We are covered by the FSCS. You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. However, this is dependent on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim.
Compensation for investment advice is provided at £85,000 per claimant per defaulting firm. Non-Investment Protection cover for compulsory insurance is 100% of the claim with no upper limit. For other non-compulsory insurances, the cover is 90% of the claim with no upper limit.
Further information about compensation arrangements is available from the FSCS. The FSCS may also provide awards if any third-party institution we may use is declared in default or insolvent. Amendment of Terms.
We reserve the right to amend these terms and will give you notice in good time prior to making any material changes.
Force Majeure
AMFA 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 to any circumstances beyond its control.
Delay in Processing
We will not be held responsible for any delay beyond our control, or as a result of a failure by any third party (including you, the client) to complete all the necessary steps to process a transaction.
Governing Law
These Terms of Business are governed and shall be construed in accordance with English Law. The parties shall submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
Termination
The agreement will remain effective and in force until such time that you, or we, wish to terminate the agreement. Either party may terminate our authority to act on your behalf at any time without penalty. Notice of this termination must be given in writing by first class post. It will be deemed to be received 2 business days after being posted.
Any business currently being conducted will be completed unless we receive your explicit instructions to the contrary.
Any fees outstanding at the date of termination will be due within four weeks of the termination date.
Third Parties
There may be occasions whereby we would refer you to a specialist for specific advice such as tax advice. Should you pursue our suggestion to use the third party introduced to you, you should note that we are not responsible for the advice that they give you. You will be subject to their terms and conditions. They will agree their charges for their advice directly with you.
Occupational Pension Transfer Advice
We will not actively review the suitability of any Defined Benefit (DB) Pensions that you may have accrued in previous or current employment. In such cases whereby a DB Pension requires review you will be referred directly to a third-party specialist.
You will be required to complete relevant Compliance Documentation according to the internal procedure of the third-party specialist, which is likely to consist of a Fact Find including client background and scheme information.
All fees will be outlined and agreed at engagement with the third party. AMFA will not be responsible for any advice provided by the third party.
We will include such benefits within any financial plan, cashflow analysis that we may do for you, but this will be based upon an estimate of the benefits you are likely to receive – we will not obtain up to date information from the scheme each time we update the financial plan/cashflow analysis.
Please note, in the event that the advice of the third party is not to transfer, we will not conduct any transaction on an insistent client basis.
Contact Us
If you would like to contact us, all of our relevant contact details can be found on our website at:
W: www.assetmanagement.co.uk/contact-us/
Or email us at:
Alternatively, you will find the appropriate details below for your convenience.
Southampton – Head Office
8 Gaters Mill
Mansbridge Road
West End
Southampton
SO18 3HW
Tel: 02380 420 606
Winchester Office
Chesil Mews House
Milland Road
Winchester
SO23 0QA
Tel: 01962 893 430
Bishops Waltham Office
Aspen House
12 Brook Street
Bishops Waltham
SO32 1AX
Tel: 01489 895 210
Legal Basis
This is our standard agreement upon which we intend to rely. For your own benefit and protection you should read these terms carefully before agreeing to them by signing our “Services and Charges- Client Consent Form”. If you do not understand at any point, please ask for further information.