FSP Registration, (FAP) Disclosure Statement

 

Who are we?

Name of Financial Advice Provider: Freedom Financial Limited
Financial Advice Provider Number: FSP769995
Telephone Number: +64 21 617 776
Email: nick@freedomfinancial.co.nz
Address: Level 1, 86 Parnell Road, Auckland 1052

 

It is important that you read this information

It will help you (the Client) make an informed decision whether Freedom Financial Limited and our Adviser’s financial advice and products are suitable for your needs and whether to seek, follow or accept the financial advice. This Disclosure Statement is required under the Financial Markets Conduct (Regulated Financial Advice Disclosure) Amendment Regulations 2020.

What sort of Advisers are we?

We are a Financial Advice Provider, by the name of Freedom Financial Limited, authorized by the Financial Market Authority of New Zealand (FMA) https://www.fma.govt.nz/. The Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act 2019 requires us to hold a current license for our Advisers to provide Financial

Advice Services to our Clients.

To view our license go to the Financial Service Providers Register https://fsp-register.companiesoffice.govt.nz/ and search our Financial Service Provider (FSP) number: FSP769995. We have Standard Conditions on our license, these conditions are not specific to us and does not limit or restrict Advice that may be given. As Licensed Financial Advice Providers, we have no Specific Conditions on our license that limit and restrict the advice we may give.

Our Advice and Product Providers

We provide advice to our clients in the three following categories: a) home loans; commercial and consumer lending products; b) insurance products limited to fire & general insurance; life, medical and trauma insurance; c) KiwiSaver products.

In relation to category (a) products, we only provide advice about products from certain providers, which are ANZ, ASAP Finance, ASB, Avanti Finance, Bluestone, Basecorp Finance, BNZ, CFML, Cressida Capital, The Co-operative Bank, DBR Finance, Fifo Capital New Zealand, First Mortgage Trust, Liberty Financial, NZCU, Prospa, Resimac, Select Home Loans, Southern Cross Partners Finance, Sovereign Home Loans, SBS Bank, TSB, and Westpac.

In relation to category (b) products, we only provide advice about products from certain providers, which are AIA Insurance, Partner’s Life, Fidelity, NIB and Southern Cross. When we recommend an insurer, we will provide you with their financial strength rating. If you wish to search for the financial strength rating of any insurer listed above, please follow the links provided: https://web.ambest.com/home; https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/.

In relation to category (c) products, we only provide advice about products from certain providers, which are Generate Wealth and Booster.

Commission

In relation to products in category (a), upon settlement of a loan, we usually receive commission from the applicable product provider. The commission is generally of an upfront nature, but may also include a renewal or trail commission. We also receive a fixed rate roll over fee from some product providers if we assist in refixing your loan. Our commission is usually between 0 – 2% and we will confirm the actual figure to you at the time of presenting a Loan Offer to you, should we proceed to do so.

In relation to products in category (b), upon binding of a policy, we usually receive commission from the applicable product provider. The commission is generally of an upfront nature, but may also include a renewal or trail commission. Our commission is usually between 0 – 200% and we will confirm the actual figure to you at the time of presenting a product offering to you, should we proceed to do so.

In relation to products under category (c), we receive an initial commission of between $50 – $100 per KiwiSaver profile placed, and earn an annually renewable commission of approximately 0.02% of the KiwiSaver fund value.

These commissions are used to remunerate the financial adviser that provides the advice, and to pay the expenses associated with running our business including any rent, staff costs and IT resources.

We take steps to ensure that the receipt of commissions does not influence the advice we give to you and that our advisers prioritise your interests by recommending the best product for your purpose regardless of the type and amount of commission we or they may receive. We do this by:

  • Ensuring our advisers follow an advice process that ensures they understand your needs and goals
  • Ensuring our advisers receive regular training on how to manage conflicts of interest.
  • Providing you with a schedule showing commission amounts and types by product provider. This schedule is contained within each Financial Adviser’s personalised Disclosure Guide. A Financial Adviser will provide you with more information about commissions during the advice process.

Fees and Expenses

Generally, we don’t charge you any fees for the financial advice and transactional solutions that we provide to you for category (a), (b) or (c) products. There are two exceptions to this general position which are explained below.

We may charge you a one-off fee in the following situations:

  1. For category (a) and/or (b) products: Where we don’t receive commission from the lender/insurer: If you request that we provide services in relation to a product or service and we do not receive a commission, we may charge you a one-off fee. Any such fee would be agreed and authorised by you in writing before we complete the services, and would be based on an estimate of the time spent providing the advice. This may arise in the rare event that you request that we provide Services in relation to either a product that is offered by a provider that we do not hold an accreditation with, or a product that is outside our usual arrangements with our product providers.
  2. For category (a) and/or (b) products: Repayment of our commission to the lender/insurer: If a product or service provider requires that we repay commission within 28 months of settlement of your loan (category a) or if we are required to repay commission by the insurer within 24 months of the policy placement (category b), we may charge you a one-off fee. Any such fee would be no more than $3,000.00 (plus GST) and would be calculated based on a rate of $300.00 (plus GST if applicable) per hour of the financial adviser’s time spent providing services to you in connection with the applicable mortgage. The fee charged will not exceed the amount of commission we have to repay the lender.
  3. For category (c) products, we do not charge any fees.

Should we need to charge you a fee, you will be invoiced and will be given 30 days to make payment.

How do we act with Integrity?

To ensure that we and our Advisers prioritise your interests above our own, we follow an advice process that ensures recommendations are made based on your individual goals and circumstances. Our Advisers complete annual and ongoing training about how to manage conflict of interests and a register of interests is maintained. We monitor these registers and provide additional training where necessary. We perform an annual review of our compliance programme.

You should be aware there are potential conflicts of interest that you the Client may need to take into consideration when you decide to seek and accept financial advice from us or our Advisers, we will make you aware of any conflicts when giving advice.

How to make a Complaint?

If you have a problem, concern or you are dissatisfied with either a product or financial advice service that has been provided by us or one of our Advisers, and you require action to be taken, please tell us so that we can help and fix the issue. To make a complaint, please contact us and we will give details on our Complaints Process and how to make a complaint.

If you are not satisfied with our service or financial advice, please tell us as soon as possible. We invite you to email complaints@freedomfinancial.co.nz with the subject [Complaint – ‘Your Name’]. Your complaint will be received by our Complaints Manager.

When we receive a complaint:

  • We will consider your complaint and let you know how we intend to resolve it. Where possible, we try to resolve your complaint immediately.
  • If we are unable to resolve your complaint immediately, we will acknowledge your complaint within 2 business days. We may contact you to get further information about your complaint.
  • We aim to resolve complaints within 10 working days of receiving them. If we need more time to investigate your complaint, we will let you know when you can expect to receive a response to your complaint
  • We will contact you by phone, email or letter to let you know whether we can resolve your complaint and how we propose to do so.

What to do if you are not satisfied after making a Complaint?

If you feel your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction using our complaints process, or you are unsatisfied with the response or resolution, you can contact the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman, a dispute resolution scheme who we are a member of. This service will cost you nothing and is an independent service that will help investigate or resolve the complaint.

You can also contact FSCL at:
Postal Address: PO Box 5967, Wellington 6140.
Email: info@fscl.org.nz
Telephone: 0800 347 257
Website: https://www.fscl.org.nz/about-us/complaints/complaint-form/

Privacy Policy & Security

We will collect personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy and in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020. We regard client confidentiality as of paramount importance. We will not disclose any confidential information obtained from or about you to any other person, except in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Duties

Anyone providing financial advice under us are bound by and supports the duties set out in the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.

These duties are:

  • Meet the standards of competence, knowledge, and skill and the standards of ethical behaviour, conduct, and client care set out in the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Providers.
  • Give priority to your interests.
  • Exercise care, diligence, and skill.

Who licenses and regulates us?

The Financial Markets Authority. You can report information about us to the Financial Markets Authority at: https://www.fma.govt.nz/contact/ or email questions@fma.govt.nz but if you want to complain you should use our dispute resolution procedures described under How to make a Complaint? And What to do if you are not satisfied after making a complaint?

This disclosure statement was prepared on: 07 May 2024.