Your Financial Services and Credit Guide
Download the Financial Services and Credit Guide Part 1 in PDF format
Download the Financial Services and Credit Guide Part 2 in PDF format
The Documents You Will Receive From Us
This Financial Services and Credit Guide, which includes the Representative Profile presented with it, is designed to clarify who we are and what we do, and help you decide whether to use our services. It also contains information on how you can pay for our services and how we ensure your satisfaction with the quality of our advice.
In addition to this Financial Services and Credit Guide, when we provide you financial advice, we will also present you with a written Statement of Advice [SoA]. This will describe the strategies, products and services we recommend and outline any fees or commissions we will receive and any associations we have with financial product providers or other parties that have not already been disclosed in this Financial Services and Credit Guide.
If you receive further financial advice from us, we will present you with either another SoA or keep our own written Record of Advice [RoA]. You can request a copy of this by contacting us any time up to seven years from the date of the advice provided.
We will also provide you with a Product Disclosure Statement [PDS] or offer document for all financial products we recommend, where applicable, to help you make informed decisions.
Credit Assistance
In some circumstances, we may provide you with credit assistance: that is, we may suggest that you apply for a particular contract or increase your credit limit in a particular contract.
We must not provide you with credit assistance where the recommended contract is unsuitable for you. Our assessment of suitability will be detailed in your SoA.
To make this assessment, we must make reasonable enquiries about your requirements and objectives for the credit contract or credit limit increase. We must also make reasonable enquiries about your financial situation and take reasonable steps to verify this information.
Giving Us Instructions
If you want to make changes to your financial plan or provide other instructions please contact us using the details in the Representative Profile. Generally, you will need to give us instructions in writing [eg, fax, email or letter] or another method as agreed with your adviser.
About Us
Garvan Financial Planning, with MLC Financial Planning, is recognised as one of Australia's leading financial advice networks, with over 450 experienced advisers across Australia managing over $11 billion of investments.
Our advisers work with a range of clients, from individuals starting out their careers and families seeking to build and protect wealth for today and for the future, to busines owners, companies and superannuation trustees.
Our network was awarded Core Data's Major Financial Advice Group of the Year by researcher Core Data in 2007 and again in 2008. This award recognises the quality of customers' experiences when seeking financial advice.
Garvan Financial Planning is a principal member of the Financial Planning Association, the professional body representing qualified financial planners in Australia, and therefore adheres to set standards in terms of ethics, conduct and continuing professional development.
Our Associations and Relationships
Our advisers are authorised representatives of GWM Adviser Services Limited ABN 96 002 071 749 trading as Garvan Financial Planning, Australian Financial Services Licensee Number 230692.
As a member of the National Australia Group of companies, GWM Adviser Services Limited is responsible for the advice and financial services we provide. We support your adviser with essential services and resources to ensure you receive sound financial advice.
A number of companies within the National Australia Group - including MLC Investments Ltd, Navigator Australia Ltd, NULIS Nominees [Australia] Limited, MLC Ltd, NAB OnLine Trading Ltd, Jana Investment Advisers Pty Ltd, Plum Financial Services Ltd and National Australia Bank Ltd - are financial product providers whose products we may recommend.
Our advisers can also recommend appropriate products from a broad range of financial product providers outside of the National Australia Group to help you realise your goals and objectives.
How We Manage Your Personal Information
To give you appropriate advice, our advisers will need to ask you about your current financial situation, what you are looking to achieve and other personal information. Without this information, your adviser may not be able to provide you with advice relevant to your circumstances.
Collecting Your Personal Information
We need to collect your personal information for a variety of purposes, including to provide you with the financial services you have requested and to contact you about other products and services that may be relevant to you.
Protecting Your Privacy
Protecting your privacy is essential to our business. Your file, containing your profile, personal objectives, financial circumstances and our recommendations, is kept securely by your adviser.
You are entitled to obtain access to the information we hold about you, or any preliminary assessment about the suitability of a credit contract by contacting your adviser. In some circumstances, permitted by law, we may deny you access and in that event we will explain the reason why.
Disclosing Your Personal Information
We may provide your personal information to the following types of service providers:
- other advisers, paraplanners and organisations who work with us to provide the financial services you have requested;
- insurance providers, superannuation trustees and product providers related to the financial services you have requested;
- organisations that help us operate our business, such as those that provide administrative, financial, accounting, insurance, research, legal, strategic advice, auditing, computer or other business services;
- your representatives, service providers, or other organisations, such as your accountant, solicitor, tax agent, stockbroker or bank;
- organisations involved in a business restructure or a transfer of all or part of the assets of our business; and
- government authorities and other organisations when required by law.
Consent to Marketing Activity
We presume you consent to being contacted by us about suitable products and services via the contact details you have provided. We may continue to contact you for these reasons until you withdraw your consent. You can do this at any time by contacting your adviser.
If you would like to know more about our privacy policy please contact your aviser. For more information about privacy, you can visit the Federal Privacy Commissioner's website at www.privacy.gov.au.
How You Can Pay For Our Services
At Garvan Financial Planning you can pay for the servcies you receive on a fee for service basis. This allows you to know that you are paying for our advice irrespective of any product you use, clarifies the services you are entitled to, and ensures all recommendations are driven by your needs.
We will agree with you the amount you pay based upon:
- a flat dollar fee;
- an hourly rate;
- the amount you invest; or
- a combination of the above.
You can pay in the following ways:
- as a fee for advice that will be deducted from your investments as a one-off payment or in instalments;
- by direct invoice from us for initial and ongoing advice;
- via commission we may receive from a financial product provider when you commence an insurance contract or loan product; or
- a combination of the above.
Other Payments We May Receive
We will provide you with details of all fees, comissions or other benefits we may receive when we provide advice to you and, where possible, will give actual dollar amounts. If we cannot provide this accurately, we will provide worked-dollar examples.
Even if you don't receive personal financial advice from us, you can still request the details of any fees, commissions or other benefits we receive in relation to any other financial service we provide you.
Benefits We May Receive
Sometimes in the process of providing advice, we may receive benefits from product providers.
Conferences
We may attend conferences subsidised in whole or part by product providers. Eligibility to attend may be based on business revenue targets as well as achieving our internal quality standards and accreditations. Garvan Financial Planning may also receive sponsorship payments from product providers to subsidise conferences and professional development events.
The Representative Profile provides details of other benefits your adviser may receive.
Non-Monetary Benefits
Garvan Financial Planning and your adviser keep a register detailing any non-monetary benefit [greater than $300 value] that may be received from a product provider. You can view this register by contacting your adviser.
Referrals
If you have been referred to us or we refer you to someone else, we may have arrangements in place to receive a referral fee, commission or other benefit. This is generally:
- a fixed fee;
- a proportion of the initial and/or ongoing fees or commissions; or
- a combination of both.
Details of any arrangement will be provided in our advice to you.
Your Confidence in Our Advice
Your satisfaction is very important to us and we have procedures in place to resolve any concerns promptly and fairly. If you are unhappy with the advice you receive or other aspects of our service, please let us know so we can act on it immediately.
Our Complaints Procedure
If your adviser has not satisfactorily resolved your complaint, please put your complaint in writing or contact our Advice Dispute Resolution Team on 1800 611 950. Please address the envelope "Notice of Complaint" and send it to:
Advice Dispute Resolution Team
Garvan Financial Planning
PO Box 1086
North Sydney NSW 2059
If your complaint isn't resolved within 45 days or to your satisfaction, then you may refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service [FOS], an independent complaints handling body. We are a member of FOS which provides a free, accessible, fair and independent resolution service to consumers. You can contact FOS on 1300 78 08 08, at www.fos.org.au, by email to info@fos.org.au or in writing to:
The Manager
Financial Ombudsman Service
GPO Box 3
Melbourne VIC 3001
Garvan Financial Planning holds professional indemnity insurance that satisfies the requirements [Section 912B] of the Corporations Act. This insurance also covers the conduct of advisers who were authorised by us at the time of your complaint, but are no longer representatives of Garvan Financial Planning.
Representative Profile
This document forms part of the Financial Services and Credit Guide and is designed to clarify who we are, what we do, and aims to help you decide whether to use our services.
Who We Are
Your advisers are representatives of GWM Adviser Services Limited trading as Garvan Financial Planning.
Ronald Parker ~ Authorised Representative No. 242695
Zoë Phillips ~ Authorised Representative No. 242714
Craig Horley ~ Authorised Representative No. 242713
They offer their services on behalf of GWM Adviser Services Limited trading as Garvan Financial Planning. The Financial Services that the above advisers offer are provided by Parker Financial Services Pty Ltd, ABN: 88 010 783 285, Corporate Authorised Representative (CAR) No. 242984, 17-21 University Avenue, Canberra, ACT, 2600.
Garvan Financial Planning has authorised your advisers to provide you with this Financial Services and Credit Guide.
Quality Advice Program
Ronald Parker, Zoë Phillips and Craig Horley have been Quality Advice accredited by Garvan Financial Planning under our internal Quality Advice Program. The Program involves a defined set of standards for measuring quality of advice.
In order to receive Quality Advice Accreditation, they were required to meet a number of essential criteria in relation to financial planning principles and have a number of their financial plans assessed against the Quality Advice standards. Ongoing and regular assessment of the quality of advice provided to their clients is also an important element of the Program.
What We Do
We are authorised by Garvan Financial Planning to provide financial advice in relation to:
- Wealth accumulation;
- Income and Asset Protection;
- Tax Strategies;
- Superannuation;
- Retirement and Redundancy Planning;
- Estate Planning;
- Government Benefits;
- Debt Management;
- Credit Assistance;
- Basic Deposit Products;
- Non-basic Deposit Products;
- Non-cash Payment Facilities;
- Government Debentures, Stocks or Bonds;
- Superannuation;
- Securities;
- Life Products - Investment Life Insurance;
- Life Products - Life Risk Insurance;
- Managed Investment Schemes, including Investor Directed Portfolio Services [IDPS]; and
- Retirement Savings Accounts; and
- Standard Margin Lending Facilities.
Ronald Parker, Zoë Phillips and Craig Horley are not authorised by Garvan Financial Planning to provide financial product advice in the following financial products:
- General Insurance Products.
Contact Us
For more information on anything you have read in this document or if there is anything else we can help you with, please contact Parker Financial Services Pty Ltd on [02] 6249 6877.
How We Charge for Our Services
| Initial Consultation | This meeting is at our expense and there is no obligation on your part. |
| Initial Advice | The cost of a typical, comprehensive Financial Plan is $4,400. However, we will provide you with a quotation specific to your circumstances. |
| Entry Fees | There are no entry fees charged by us. |
| Implementation Fees | Implementation fees may be charged to recover costs for implementing our recommendations and advice in certain circumstances. These will be agreed with you prior to commencing any work. |
| Third Party Fees | There are fees [in addition to our ongoing service fee] charged by third party providers which may be incurred during the course of managing your portfolio and/or implementing our recommendations. The following examples do not represent an exhaustive list of additional fees:
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| Ongoing Fee for Service | Our ongoing Client Service Package provides ongoing review of your investment portfolio and financial planning strategy. Ongoing fees are generally calculated as a percentage of the portfolio under our advice and payable half-yearly or yearly in advance in line with the following: Portfolio Value Fee Payable First $500,000 1.10%pa All amounts thereafter 0.55%pa We can provide a quotation specific to your circumstances for larger portfolios. Where a fixed fee is in place, it will increase annually by a minimum of Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings [AWOTE]. Please note that the minimum fee for ongoing service is $5,500pa. Where we provide a full administration service for entities such as a Family Trust or Self-Managed Superannuation Fund, an additional administration fee per entity, will apply, per calendar year. The fixed fee will be indexed annually in line with AWOTE. Current fees on application. We rebate all ongoing commission, brokerage and placement fees which we receive on your investment portfolio. |
All commissions and fees are inclusive of GST.