Financial Services Guide

Direct Advisers Pty. Limited

  (ABN: 82 056 697 342)

Australian Financial Services License No: 236855 

PRINCIPAL MEMBER

FINANCIAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

106 William Street, Port Macquarie, Australia, 2444

P.O. Box 269, Port Macquarie, Australia,  2444

Phone: (02) 6583 7588,   Fax: (02) 6583 7123

Email enquiries@directadvisers.com.au  

The purpose of providing a Financial Services Guide to you is to enable you to compare our services with similar providers and to give you important information about the services we offer, how we charge for those services, how we disclose any potential conflicts of interest and how we manage client complaints.

As part of our ongoing relationship we may provide you with other documents, namely a Statement of Advice as well as Product Disclosure Statements.

 In the Statement of Advice we will tell you about:

If we recommend a particular Financial Product to you, we will give you information about the particular Financial Product - a Product Disclosure Statement - to help you make an informed decision about the Financial Product.

What kinds of financial services are you authorised to provide me and what kinds of Financial Product/s do those services relate to?

 Direct Advisers Pty Limited is the holder of an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) No: 236855,which became effective on January 10, 2004. 

Our Australian Financial Services Licence authorises us to carry on a financial services business to retail clients by providing financial product advice and allows us to deal in a financial product by applying for, acquiring, varying or disposing of a financial product on behalf of another person in respect of the following classes of products:

1.  deposit and payment products limited to:

(A) basic deposit products;

(B) deposit products other than basic deposit products;

2.  debentures, stocks or bonds issued or proposed to be issued by a       government;

3.  life products including:

(A) investment life insurance products; and

(B) life risk insurance products;

4.  interests in managed investment schemes including:

(A) investor directed portfolio services;

 5.  retirement savings accounts ("RSA") products (within the  meaning of the Retirement Savings Account Act 1997);

6.  securities; and

7.  superannuation;

In other words: we are licensed to deal in and to apply for, acquire, vary or dispose of financial products on behalf of another.  The relevant products are as follows:

Please note that whenever these services are provided by us, we will be acting on your behalf and not on behalf of any product issuer.

As we believe that advice on home loans is relevant to some financial planning clients, we also offer mortgage broking services.

Business Overview

Direct Advisers Pty Limited is independently owned and not aligned to any financial institution.

The business, founded in 1986 is a relatively small boutique financial planning practice.  In addition to the principals, the business operates with two administrative support staff from its office in Port Macquarie, .

Our typical client is either retired or close to retirement with an average investment portfolio value of $250,000.  These clients use our Active Investment Management Service (AIMS), which charges a mixture of flat dollar and asset based fees and rebates commissions.  AIMS clients receive a minimum of two formal financial planning reviews each year, plus unlimited adviser access as determined by the client.  These client relationships are typically very long term and many of our clients have relationships with us that extend beyond a decade.

Portfolio construction is based upon the allocation of investments across the asset classes of cash, fixed interest, shares and property according to the client’s risk tolerance and investment time frame and is relatively conservative, with a typical balanced portfolio being approximately 50% invested in cash and interest producing investments.   Active Investment Management and Diversified Investment Service clients incur no additional fees when changes are made to their investments.

No monies are held by us on your behalf and we do not seek discretion to operate your accounts, implement new investments, nor make changes to existing investments, without your written authority.  In practice this means that all investment recommendations will be given to you in writing and we will require your written authority prior to any implementation or change to your investments.  We will not seek, nor hold powers of attorney for you, nor ask you to sign blank documents.

We will only recommend an investment to you after considering its suitability for your individual investment objectives, financial situation and needs. 

As we will only include investments currently on our approved list in portfolios that we manage, this may mean the redemption of your existing investments if they are not on our approved list and you wish us to manage a portfolio on your behalf.

You may choose the type of financial service that you wish to obtain from us:

We can provide ongoing management of your investments via either our Active Investment Management Service or Diversified Investment Service

Who are my advisers?

Your advisers will be Peter Rodgers & Ursula Boorman

Peter Rodgers holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, is a Certified Financial Planner and has in excess of twenty years experience as a financial planner.

Ursula Boorman holds a Bachelor of Economics degree, a Diploma of Financial Planning and has in excess of eighteen years experience in the financial services industry.

Who will be responsible for the financial services provided?

Direct Advisers Pty Limited is responsible for the financial services provided including the distribution of this Financial Services Guide.

Direct Advisers Pty Limited ABN: 82 056 697 342, Australian Financial Services Licensee, no: 236855 of 106 William Street, Port Macquarie NSW

Direct Advisers Pty. Limited is a Principal Member of the Financial Planning Association of Australia.

What information should I provide to receive personalised advice?

You need to provide us with a list of your personal objectives, details of your current financial situation and any relevant information, so that we can offer you the most appropriate advice possible.

You have the right not to tell us, if you do not wish to.  However, if you do not, the advice you receive may not be appropriate to your needs, objectives and financial situation.

You should read the warnings contained in the Statement of Advice carefully before making any decision relating to a Financial Product.

What information do you maintain in my file and can I examine my file?

We maintain a record of your personal profile including details of your objectives, financial situation and needs. We also maintain records of any recommendations made to you.

We are committed to implementing and promoting a privacy policy, which will ensure the privacy and security of your personal information.

If you wish to examine your file please ask us. We will make arrangements for you to do so.

How can I give you instructions about my Financial Product/s?

You may tell us how you would like to give us instructions. For example by telephone, fax or other means such as e-mail.

How will I pay for the services provided?  

You will usually pay us a fee.  However is some cases, we may receive a payment called brokerage, which is paid to us by Financial Product issuers.

We will give you a Statement of Advice containing details of our fees and any payments made to us by Financial Product issuers.

Depending upon the services provided to you, we will receive remuneration in one or more of the following ways:

Our Current Fee Schedule – Financial Planning

Details of the fees are provided in the fee schedule.  The fees are payable at the time that our services are rendered to you.

Please note:  The fees paid by existing clients may vary from the above.

Notes

1.    We do not accept any commissions under our Active Investment Management Service, as it is entirely fee based.

2.    Under our Online Investment Account we will receive commissions from product providers, including on-going (trail) commissions. 

3.    Asset based fees are calculated as a percentage of your investment funds as per the above table.

4.   Time based fees apply for providing specific services (like financial plans, portfolio reviews, advice, etc) as per the above table.

5.   We may receive benefits in the form of technical assistance, professional development training, access to software or other non-pecuniary support from Financial Product issuers.

 Our Current Fee Schedule – Model Share Portfolios

Your adviser will tell you in writing in the Statement of Advice what fees we may charge you, when you have to pay, and what payments we may receive from Financial Product issuers

Will anyone be paid for referring me to you?

Where you have been referred to us by someone else, if we pay them a fee or commission in relation to that referral, we will tell you in the Statement of Advice who will receive that fee or commission and the amount they will receive.  

Disclosure of “soft dollar” benefits

Our preferred managed fund investment platforms are the Asgard master trust and wrap accounts.  Asgard may provide us with the following benefits:

If applicable, these “soft dollar” benefits will always be disclosed in the Statement of Advice that you receive from us prior to making any investment decision.

What should I do if I have a complaint?

If you have any complaints about the service provided to you, you should take the following steps.

1. Contact us and tell us about your complaint.

2. If your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved within 45  days, please contact Peter Rodgers on 02 6583 7588 or put your complaint in writing and send it to us at Direct Advisers Pty Limited’s address, noted at the beginning of this Financial Services Guide. We will try and resolve your complaint quickly and fairly.

3. If the complaint can’t be resolved to your satisfaction you have the right to refer the matter to the Financial Industry Complaints Service Limited

They can be contacted on 1800 335 405 or you can write to them at PO Box 579, Collins Street West, Melbourne 8007.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) also has a toll free Infoline on 1300 300 630 which you may use to make a complaint and obtain information about your rights.   

Instructions from you

We will always seek to act on your specific instructions in a timely and efficient way, however you must provide your instructions to us in writing (mail, fax or email).

Privacy of your information

In providing our services to clients we collect personal information about them, including sensitive information (e.g. about a client’s state of health for insurance purposes).  Please note we treat all information you provide to us in confidence and will take all reasonable steps to ensure non-disclosure to anyone other than for the purpose of fulfilling your instructions.  We treat all client information in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act 1988.

If you have any further questions about the financial services Direct Advisers Pty Limited provides, please contact Peter Rodgers or Ursula Boorman on 02 6583 7588.

Our contact details:

Direct Advisers Pty Limited

106 William Street Port Macquarie NSW 2444

PO Box 269 Port Macquarie NSW 2444

Telephone: 02 6583 7588

Facsimile: 02 6583 7123

Internet: www.directadvisers.com.au

Email: enquiries@directadvisers.com.au

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Contact us:  enquiries@directadvisers.com.au

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