Version 7
Date: 1 July 2024
Important Information about our Licensee
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Financial Services Guide This Financial Services Guide (FSG) is designed to clarify who we are and what we do, and help you decide whether to use our services. To make things simple, this guide explains: · the services and types of products we’re able to offer you · how we and our associates are paid and any other benefits we may receive · any potential conflicts of interest we may have · how we protect your privacy and handle your personal information · how we resolve disputes, and what you should do if you have one. Please read through the whole FSG, as it’s full of useful information – and is also worth holding on to for future reference. The Privacy Notification on page 11 is worthwhile reading as it gives you further clarity on how we handle your personal information. And of course, if you ever have any questions, please contact us.
Other documents you may receive In addition to this FSG, if we provide you with financial advice, we will also present you with a written Statement of Advice (SOA).
This will describe:
After that, any time you receive further financial advice from us, we will either provide you with another SOA or give you (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. Please refer to the “Contact us” section of this FSG for our contact details.
To help you make an informed decision about a financial product you generally will be given a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) which outlines the product features and costs in detail. In certain circumstances it is not a requirement that you be given a PDS (including, for example, where you already have one).
Giving us instructions If you want to make changes to your financial plan or provide other instructions, please contact us. Please refer to the “Contact us” section of this FSG for our contact details.
Generally, you will need to give us instructions in writing (e.g. fax, email or letter) or another method agreed with us.
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About us
We are authorised representatives of Consultum Financial Advisers Pty Ltd ABN 65 006 373 995, Australian Financial Services Licence Number 230323 (“Consultum”) of Suite 3, Level 8, 309 Kent St Sydney NSW 2000.
Consultum works closely to support advisers to build an end to end integrated solution so they can help clients to achieve their financial needs and objectives. All Consultum financial advisers have a legal obligation and an ethical duty to act with integrity and in the best interests of you, their clients.
Approved Product List
Our Approved Products List (APL) is a list of what we consider to be sound quality, fully researched products, but doesn’t include all possible products available in the market. Only products and services that have been examined by our experienced research team are placed on our APL.
When selecting products for you, we are generally limited to the range of investment products and a selection of 12 insurance providers on the APL.
Your adviser will first source from the APL before providing any recommendations. They will only recommend a product or service after considering its appropriateness in relation to your individual objectives, financial situation, needs and best interests. Where your strategy requires products and services other than those on the APL to act in your best interests, our research team will be consulted and we will seek to find an alternative solution.
Consultum Financial Advisers is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rhombus Advisory Pty Limited (Rhombus Advisory). Rhombus Advisory provides various services and support to Consultum Financial Advisers to enable it to operate its business and support its clients.
About us
Who we are
The Financial Services we offer are provided by Planning for Life Pty Ltd ABN 52 601 002 082 trading as Planning for Life Authorised Representative No. 464366
The following financial advisers are authorised to provide the financial services referred to in the ‘What we do’ section of this FSG to you on behalf of Consultum:
Rachel Schumann
Authorised Representative No. 242618
Benjamin Beveridge
Authorised Representative No. 1270093
Consultum has authorised us to provide you with this Financial Services Guide.
What we do
We are authorised by Consultum to provide financial advice in relation to:
- Wealth Accumulation
- Income & Asset Protection
- Tax Strategies
- Superannuation
- Retirement & Redundancy Planning
- Estate Planning
- Government Benefits
- Debt Management
and to provide financial advice and deal in the following financial products:
- Basic Deposit Products
- Non-basic Deposit Products
- Non-cash Payment Products
- Life Products – Investment Life Insurance
- Life Products – Life Risk Insurance
- Superannuation
- Retirement Savings Accounts
- Managed Investment Schemes, including Investor Directed Portfolio Services (IDPS)
- Government Debentures, Stocks or Bonds
- Securities
- Standard Margin Lending Facilities
Planning for Life is not authorised by Consultum to provide financial product advice in the following financial products:
- General Insurance Products
We are not authorised to provide any other financial services or financial products on behalf of Consultum.
Where we are unauthorised to provide you with a financial service or financial product that you are interested in, we will advise you of this and refer you to an alternative source of advice.
Contact us
For more information on anything you have read in this FSG, to obtain a copy of our privacy policy or if there is anything else we can help you with, please contact us at:
First Floor, 141A Beverley Street
Doncaster East
VIC 3109
Phone: 03 8841 3111
Email: Rachel.schumann@planningforlife.com.au
Website: planningforlife.com.au
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.
Our complaints procedure
If you’re unhappy with the advice you receive, or other aspects of our service please follow the steps outlined below.
- Please let your financial adviser know in the first instance. You can also raise your complaint at any time by contacting us at:
Dispute Resolution Team
Consultum Financial Advisers Pty Ltd
Suite 3, Level 8, 309 Kent Street,
Sydney NSW 2000
Email: advicecomplaints@rhombusadvisory.com.au
Phone: 02 9127 7699
- If your complaint isn’t resolved within 30 days or to your satisfaction, then you may refer the matter to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA):
Website: https://www.afca.org.au
Email: info@afca.org.au
Telephone: 1800 931 678 (free call)
In writing to: Australian Financial Complaints Authority Limited
GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001
AFCA provides fair and independent financial services complaint resolution that’s free to consumers.
Time limits may apply to lodge a complaint with AFCA, so you should act promptly. You can check the AFCA website to find out if a time limit applies or when the time limit relevant to your circumstances expires.
Consultum holds professional indemnity insurance that satisfies the requirements of section 912B of the Corporations Act. This insurance also covers the conduct of our advisers who were authorised by Consultum at the time of providing the advice but are no longer authorised representatives of Consultum at the time of your complaint.
Payments and benefits we receive
You can pay for the services you receive on a fee for advice 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:
- by direct invoice from us;
- in some circumstances, where possible, as a fee for advice that will be deducted from your investments as a one-off payment or in instalments;
- where applicable, via commission we may receive from a financial product provider when you commence an investment and ongoing commission during the life of the investment;
- where applicable, via commission we may receive from a financial product provider when you commence an insurance contract and ongoing commission annually during the life of the insurance contract; or
- a combination of the above.
If you are not already on a fee for advice package, you can move to this payment at any time.
Please refer to the “How we charge for our services” section of this FSG for further information.
Other payments we may receive
We will provide you with details of all fees, commissions 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 and professional development seminars that have a genuine education or training purpose. Consultum, or our employer, may pay for the costs of our travel and accommodation, and events and functions held in conjunction with the conference or seminar.
Non-monetary benefits
We maintain a public register outlining the alternative forms of remuneration that are payable to, and by us, e.g. benefits valued between $100 and $300, and those that relate to genuine education or training and technology software or support.
You can view an extract of the register by contacting us. Please be aware that Consultum may charge you for the cost of providing this information to you.
Sponsorship
Consultum receives cash payments from product providers who sponsor and attend training presentations, conferences and/or professional development days. Amounts vary between product providers and Planning for Life do not directly share in the sponsorship payment; however, we may indirectly benefit as these payments subsidise the costs associated with these training and professional development events.
Referrals
Referrals from a third party
At present we do not have any referral arrangement in place to pay a third party referrer a referral fee, commission or other benefit. If this changes, we will make you aware of this prior to providing advice, or further advice, to you.
Referrals to a third party
At present we do not have any referral arrangement in place to provide referrals to third parties in return for payment or other benefit. If this changes, we will make you aware of this prior to providing advice, or further advice, to you.
Please note that Consultum is not responsible for the advice and services provided by these providers.
Death & TPD Succession/Estate planning
In the event of our death or permanent disablement, Consultum may acquire our client servicing rights. This helps manage the transition of ownership to ensure you continue to receive advice.
In addition, we are part of a corporate structure and have a succession agreement in place to manage the transition of ownership should we leave the business.
The value of any sale is based on an independent valuation of the business.
How we charge for our services
Fees are calculated based on the level of service needed and the complexity of the advice given, to provide value to you. All fees and commissions are inclusive of GST and the fees could be greater than those disclosed below in complex cases. In these instances, we will inform you of the exact fee payable promptly in writing.
| Initial consultation | At our expense | |||||||||||||||
| Advice preparation | If you elect to pay us a fee for advice the following fees will apply. The fees will depend on the size of the investment portfolio and the complexity of the advice:
The minimum fee charged is $3,300 while the maximum fee is $12,000 For example, complex advice that contain multiple goals, strategies and/or tax structures including but not limited to; self-managed superannuation Funds, family trusts and companies, are likely to be charged closer to the maximum. Less complex advice that addresses limited goals, strategies and tax structures are likely to be charged closer to the minimum. |
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| Implementation | If you elect to pay us a fee for implementing the advice, then the fees can range from $3,300 to $12,000.
Borrowed funds – if we recommend you acquire investments using borrowed funds then your implementation fee will be a minimum of $5,500 and a maximum of $12,000. |
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| Client Service Agreements | You can elect to enter into a 12 month Client Service Agreement as part of your financial planning strategy so you can receive advice services such as a meeting to review your plan. Details of the services will be set out in your 12 month Client Service Agreement.
The fee can range from a minimum of $3,300 while the maximum is $12,000. The fee applied will be commensurate to the level of service needed and the complexity of the advice provided and will be outlined and agreed with you in the Agreement. Borrowed funds – if we recommend you acquire investments using borrowed funds then your annual fee will be a minimum of $7,700 and a maximum of $12,000 pa. |
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| Ad hoc advice | Where you do not wish to participate in a 12 month Client Service Agreement but require ongoing advice on an ad hoc basis, an hourly fee of between $1,100 and $2,000 may apply. | |||||||||||||||
| Execution only service | Where we provide a financial service to facilitate buying or selling of a specific financial product as instructed by you, a one-off minimum of $1,100 and a maximum of $10,000 fee may apply. | |||||||||||||||
| Insurance products | Where we arrange a life insurance product for you, the relevant insurer will pay an initial commission to us. The commission is calculated as a percentage of the premium paid (and may include health, occupational, frequency and modal loadings and policy fees, but excludes stamp duty).
Annual commission will also be paid when you renew your policy each year. The rates of initial and ongoing commission will depend on the date the policy is issued and are set out in the table below:
We may receive commission at pre 1 January 2018 rates if: · you increase your cover, add new cover or otherwise amend a policy purchased by you before 1 January 2018; and · that policy amendment results in commission receivable by us, and · that policy amendment is eligible for pre-1 January 2018 commission rates. Example (all figures include GST): You purchase the policy for $1000 on 1 December 2019. We may receive an initial commission of up to $770 ($1000 x 77%) in the first year and ongoing commissions of $330 per annum ($1000 x 33%) for as long as you continue to hold the policy. If you increase your cover on 1 July 2020 for a cost of $500, we may receive an initial commission of up to $330 ($500 x 66%). The ongoing commissions on the additional cover may be up to $165 ($500 x 33%). This is in addition to the ongoing commissions of $330 per annum when the policy was purchased. Total ongoing commissions payable to us may be up to $495 ($1500 x 33%). Please note that the initial and ongoing commissions on life insurance products are paid to us by the product provider and are not an additional cost to you. |
Privacy Notification
Your personal information will be handled in accordance with our privacy policy, which is located on our website. We will generally collect personal information directly from you. We may collect personal information about you from a third party if we believe you have authorised that third party to provide the information to us.
The main reason we collect, use and/or disclose your personal information, is to provide you with the services that you request. In addition, as a financial service provider, we are obligated to verify your identify and the source of any funds.
We provide financial services under the Australian Financial Services License of Consultum Financial Advisers Pty Ltd who monitors our compliance with the law and provides us with a range of support services, including the financial planning software we use. As a consequence, Consultum has access to your personal information and may use that information to facilitate the provision of financial services to you and to ensure we are complying with our obligations.
We may also disclose your information to external parties such as your accountant, banks, insurers, and product providers.
In order to keep our costs competitive, our Practice uses specialist business support resources that are located in the following country/countries: Philippines
Please refer to our Privacy Policy For more information about how we will handle your personal information, including how to access or correct your personal information.
Complaints
If you have a complaint about a privacy issue, please tell us about it. You can find out how to make a complaint and how we will deal these complaints, by reading our Privacy Policy (by contacting us) or by referring to the ‘Your confidence in our advice’ section of this FSG.
Further information
If you have any questions or comments about our Privacy Policy and procedures, please contact us by using the contact details set out in the ‘Contact us’ section of this FSG.
For more information about your privacy, you can also visit the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s website at www.oaic.gov.au
