Client agreement
This agreement is issued on behalf of ParasolFinancials. ParasolFinancials is a trading name of Contractor Financials Ltd of Gainsborough House, 2 Sheen Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1AE who can be contacted at 0845 062 8888
Authorisation Statement
Contractor Financials Ltd is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Services Authority. The Financial Services Authority regulates the financial services industry in the UK and their address is 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HS. You can check this on the FSA’s Register by visiting the FSA’s website www.fsa.gov.uk/register FSA No. 207478 or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234.
Permitted Business
Our permitted business is advising on and arranging savings and investments products, pensions, mortgages and non-investment Insurance contracts.
Client Classification
Each client with whom the firm does business is categorised as to identify the level of regulatory protection. We propose to classify you as ‘Retail Client’ for Investment purposes.
Communications
We will communicate with you in English both verbally and written for the sending and reception of orders.
Scope of Service
We operate independently and therefore provide investment services from the whole market.
Services to be provided
With regards to investments which we have arranged for you, these will not be kept under review but we will advise you upon your request. However, we may contact you in the future by means of an unsolicited promotion should we wish to contact you to discuss the relative merits of an investment or service which we feel may be of interest to you.
On issue of this letter any subsequent advice or recommendation offered to you will be based upon your stated investment objectives, acceptable level of risk and any restrictions you wish to place on the type of investments or policies you are willing to consider. We will issue you a suitability report to confirm our recommendation. Unless confirmed we will not place any restrictions on our recommendations.
ParasolFinancials does not handle clients’ money. We never accept a cheque made out to us unless the cheque is in settlement of charges or disbursements for which we have sent you an invoice or handle cash.
We will also make arrangements for all your investments to be registered in your name unless you first instruct us otherwise in writing. We will forward you all documents showing ownership of your investments as soon as practicable after we receive them, where a number of documents are due involving a series of transactions, we normally hold each document until the series is complete, then forward them to you.
Paying for services
Not all firms charge for advice the same way. We will discuss your payment options with you and answer any questions you may have. We will not charge you anything until you have agreed how we are paid.
We can be paid by a fee:
You will pay us a fee for our advice and services. If we also receive commission from the product provider when you buy a product, we will pass on the full value of that commission to you in one or more ways. For example, we could reduce our fee; or reduce your product charges; or increase your investment amount; or refund the commission to you.
We can be paid by commission (or product charges):
If you buy a financial product, we will normally receive commission on the sale from the product provider. Although you pay nothing up front, that does not mean our service is free. You still pay us indirectly through product charges. Product charges pay for the product provider’s own costs and any commission. These charges reduce the amount left for investment. If you buy direct, the product charges could be the same as when buying through an adviser, or they could be higher or lower. We will tell you how much the commission will be before you complete an investment, but you may ask for this information earlier.
We can be paid by a combination of commission and fee:
In some circumstances, we also charge a fee on top of any commission we might receive.
Our fee option
We will agree the rate we will charge before beginning work. We will tell you if you have to pay VAT. Our typical charges are:
Personal/Stakeholder Pension £1500.00
Collective Investment £ 750.00
You may ask us for an estimate of how much in total we might charge. You may also ask us not to exceed a given amount without checking with you first.
Our commission option
Amounts vary according to: the type of product, the amount you invest, and (sometimes) how long you invest for, or your age when you start the product. We will confirm the actual amount to you before you buy a product. The table following demonstrates our normal rates of commission however if it is proposed that the amount to be charged is greater than this amount written confirmation will be provided.
| Regular Contributions | Based on payment by you of £100 per month |
|---|---|
| Collective Investment | £288.00 initially plus £48.00 per year |
| Personal and Stakeholder Pension | £306.00 initially plus £12.00 each year from month 28 |
| Lump Sums | Based on payment by you of £1000 |
|---|---|
| Collective Investment | £63.00 |
| Personal and Stakeholder Pension | £45.00 |
| Annuities | £10.00 |
Material Interest
We will act honestly, fairly and professionally known as conducting business in ‘Clients 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.
Rights 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 the Compliance Officer at ParasolFinancials, Gainsborough House, 2 Sheen Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1AE or telephone 0845 062 8888.
If you cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Compensation Scheme
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation scheme (FSCS) if we cannot meet out our obligations. This is dependent upon the type of business and the circumstances of the claim. Most types of investment business are covered by 100% of the first £30000 and 90% of the next £20000 so the maximum compensation is £48000. Further information about this compensation scheme arrangement is available from the FSCS.