Our services

We give advice in a range of different financial areas - complete financial plans or specific areas such as personal insurance, savings, investments, pension transfers or mortgages. We work as a team but all have areas where we specialise. As a result you may have different staff advising you at different points in the planning process.

Products we advise on

• Personal insurance (e.g. life, trauma, income and mortgage protection, health);
• KiwiSaver investments;
• Investment portfolios including lump sum and regular savings;
• Personal lending including mortgages;
• QROPS investments (for UK pension transfers).
• Investments

Products we use

We are able to use the products of almost any provider operating in the NZ market. These are the ones we currently choose to use.

How we get paid

The initial discussion is without advice, charge or commitment.

Insurance

For providing a client with insurance advice and the work involved in setting up a new policy, Castle Trust is paid initial commission from the insurance company used. Servicing commission is also paid over the years for providing ongoing advice. So there is normally no need for Castle Trust to charge clients when a new policy is taken out.

However, where we are asked to look after existing policies, it may be necessary to make a small ongoing charge to the client, but this will be discussed and agreed beforehand. A list of commission rates can be seen at the end of this document.

Investment and savings advice

There is a lot of work involved in the initial planning and set up phase of lump sum investments therefore we charge an initial $595 flat fee towards some of these costs (when investing through a family trust, this increases to $795). The table below outlines the ongoing charges for investment advice. These are paid directly to Castle Trust by the product providers by deduction from the funds invested.

Lump sums	0.95% p.a. up to $1m; 0.75% next $1m; 0.5% over $2m
Regular savings	0.5% p.a.
KiwiSaver	0.25% p.a.
UK pension transfers	Castle Trust does not charge to transfer your UK Pension to NZ. There is an ongoing investment advice fee of 0.75% p.a.

The above fees exclude GST.

Mortgages

For providing clients with mortgage advice and the work involved in arranging or re-arranging a mortgage Castle Trust is paid commission or fee by the lender. In some cases a small renewal commission may also be paid. So there is normally no need for Castle Trust to charge clients for their mortgage advice. The amount of the commission is based on the amount of the mortgage and the rate of each lender – these can be seen at the end of this document. Where we arrange a mortgage with a non-bank lender there may be a fee charged to the client, however, this will be discussed and agreed beforehand. If a lending application is complex, we may charge an hourly rate for our time. This will be discussed and agreed before charges are incurred.

Hourly rate

There are sometimes occasions where we need to charge for our time. This will be agreed before hand. Our hourly rate is currently $250 +GST.

Fees are subject to change, however, this will be discussed and agreed in advance.

Conflicts of interest

We are here for our clients and to advise you as best we can. Your interests are our priority although we do have business relationships with product providers also. We also receive remuneration from some product providers such as commissions.

We manage these conflicts of interest by ensuring that we prioritise your interests above our own. The advice we provide is based on understanding your goals and circumstances and providing recommendations which are based on research.

To ensure that our financial advisers prioritise our clients’ interests above their own, we follow an advice process that ensures our recommendations are made on the basis of each client’s goals and circumstances. All our staff are paid on an hourly or salary structure. They are not paid commission.

Our complaints process

If you have a problem, concern or complaint about any part of our advice or service, please tell us so that we can try to fix the problem. Please contact the team member concerned or our internal complaints manager Kathryn Alborough who can be reached via email at kathryn@castletrust.co.nz or 03 528 4184.

If we cannot agree on how to fix the issue you can contact Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL). This service will cost you nothing and will help us to resolve any disagreements. You can contact FSCL by emailing info@fscl.org.nz or by calling 0800 347257. You can also write to them at PO Box 5967, Lambton Quay, Wellington 6145.

Our duty to you

All advisers are bound by the duties of the Financial Markets Conduct Act to:

1. Meet the standards of competence, knowledge and skill set out in the Code of Conduct;
2. Give priority to the clients’ interest;
3. Exercise care, diligence and skill; and
4. Meet the standards of ethical behavior, conduct and client care set out in the Code of Conduct.

Contact

You can contact us at:
Castle Trust Financial Planning
Phone: 03 528 4184
Email: info@castletrust.co.nz
Address: 217 High Street Motueka