frequently asked questions
1. Before you get our advice
- Who will be providing the financial service to me?
- What kinds of financial services are you authorised to provide me and what kinds of products do those services relate to?
- How will I pay for the service?
2. When you receive our advice
- Will you provide me advice which is suitable to my needs and financial circumstances?
- What should I know about the risks of the financial products or strategies you recommend to me?
- What information do you maintain in my file and can I examine my file?
- Can I provide you with instructions and tell you how I wish to instruct you to buy or sell my financial products?
3. If you have any complaints
BEFORE YOU GET OUR ADVICE
Who will be providing the financial service to me?
Licensee
Storm Financial Limited
ABN 11 064 804 691
Australian Financial Services Licence No 228905
Head office Townsville
Storm Building
382-432 Sturt Street Townsville
QLD 4810
Tel (07) 4772 5377
Fax (07) 4721 2192
info@stormfinancial.com.au
We have a great team of qualified financial planners spread throughout all our office locations. Click here for details specific to the office nearest you.
What kinds of financial services are you authorised to provide me and what kinds of products do those services relate to?
Storm Financial Limited is authorised to offer you the following services:
Provide financial product advice and to deal in a financial product by arranging for a financial product to be acquired, disposed of, or varied.
We can provide advice on the following products:
- Deposit and payment products including:
a) Basic deposit products:
b) Deposit products other than basic deposit products: and
c) Non-cash payment products - Debentures, stocks, bonds issued or proposed to be issued by the government:
- Life products including:
a) investment life insurance products: and
b) life risk insurance products:
- Interests in managed investment schemes including:
a) investor directed portfolio services:
- Retirement savings accounts ("RSA") products (within the meaning of the Retirement Savings account Act 1997): and
- Superannuation.
We can deal in the following products:
- Deposit and payment products including:
a) Basic deposit products:
b) Deposit products other than basic deposit products: and
c) Non cash payments - Debentures, stocks or bonds issued or proposed to be issued by a government:
- Life products including:
a) investment life insurance products: and
b) life risk insurance products: - Interests in managed investment schemes including:
a) investor directed portfolio services: - Retirement savings accounts ("RSA") products (within the meaning of the Retirement Savings account Act 1997): and
- Superannuation.
Portfolio Monitoring:
Internal databases are maintained detailing client's investments that were recommended by Storm Financial Limited. This does not constitute portfolio monitoring. Portfolios are reviewed on an annual basis, subject to the client's discretion.
How will l pay for the service?
Storm Financial Limited operates predominately on a fee-for-service basis. Fees will be charged in accordance with the schedule below. We, in turn, rebate managed investment initial fees, which are payable on products that have been approved by Storm Financial Limited.
After all investigations and analyses are completed, a written recommendation is given to you. Fees are fully disclosed in this document. Should you decide not to proceed with our recommendation, no fees are charged.
Fees are only payable if you accept our advice and implement the plan that has been designed for you. In general terms a fee scale is applicable.
This method of charging gives us the freedom to gain access to your time without you feeling the pressures associated with paying an hourly rate. It also allows us to demonstrate the quality of our services prior to you actually becoming a client.
Of course, there is a commercial risk to us in charging in this way. However it is a risk that we are prepared to take because of the potential benefits to ourselves and to you.
The issuers of the Managed Investment products we recommend pay Storm Financial Limited an ongoing commission. This commission, which can vary depending on the product and manager, is calculated in a range of 0.20% to 0.60% on the balance in your account. This commission is paid each month.
Fees for advice are paid by you on acceptance of the recommendations and implementation of the plan. These fees vary depending on your individual circumstances and may be reduced depending on risk assessment. In any event all fees are fully disclosed to you in our written recommendation. Once paid advisory fees are not refundable. The fees quoted will also include any ‘trailing commissions’ to be paid directly by the Fund Manager to Storm Financial Limited on an ongoing basis.
Please note that while trailing commissions on debt are common in the industry, our current practice is not to retain any such commissions, and in fact, we rebate such commissions to our clients in the form of a reduced interest rate.
Storm Financial Ltd does not charge on-going monitoring fees. This means that the fees you pay on your investments entitle you to financial advice on those investments whilst you remain a client of Storm Financial Limited (i.e. while Storm Financial Limited receives trail commissions from the Fund Managers on your account). Of course any new monies being invested after the initial deposits will also attract our usual advisory fees.
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WHEN YOU RECEIVE OUR ADVICE
Will you provide me advice which is suitable
to my needs and financial circumstances?
Yes. But to do so we need to find out your individual objectives, financial situation and needs before we recommend any financial products or services to you. You have the right not to divulge this information to us, if you do not wish to do so.
In that case, we are required to warn you about the possible consequences of us not having your full personal information.
You should read the warnings carefully. Please note that in most circumstances, Storm Financial Limited will not make a recommendation with these limitations.
What should l know about the risks of the financial products or strategies you recommend to me?
We will explain to you any significant risks of financial products and strategies that we recommend to you. This will be done verbally during our meetings, and will also be explained in our written recommendation. If we do not do so, you should ask us to explain those risks to you.
What information do you maintain in my file and can l examine my file?
We maintain a record of your personal profile, which includes details of your objectives, financial situation and needs. You will receive a summary of these details from our file when we present you with our recommendation report.
We also maintain records of any recommendations made to you, file notes on review appointments or telephone conversations and any other details we deem relevant to ensure a high quality of advice and client service.
We have a privacy policy that will ensure the privacy and security of your personal information. A copy of our privacy policy is available for your information upon request.
If you wish to examine your file, we ask that you make a request in writing and we will endeavour to respond to any request for access within 14-30 days depending on the complexity of the information and/or the request. If your request is urgent please indicate this clearly.
We will not provide you access to personal information which would reveal any confidential formulae or the detail of any in house evaluative decision making process, but may instead provide you with the result of the formulae or process or an explanation of that result.
We may charge a fee to cover the cost of verifying the application and locating, retrieving, reviewing and copying any material requested. If the information sought is extensive, we will advise of the likely cost in advance and can help to refine your request if required.
Can l provide you with instructions and tell you how
l wish to instruct you to buy or sell my financial products?
Yes, although we prefer that you and your adviser reach these decisions jointly, you maintain full control over your investments. Storm Financial Limited will accept written instructions (including facsimiles) from you to buy or sell your investment.
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IF YOU HAVE ANY COMPLAINTS
Who can l complain to if l have a complaint about the provision of the financial services to me?
Storm Financial Limited is a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service.
If you have any complaint about the service provided to you, you should take the following steps:
- If your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved within 3 days, please contact The Compliance Manager of Storm Financial Limited on 07 4772 5377, or put your complaint in writing and send it to PO Box 5066, Townsville QLD 4810. We will seek to resolve your complaint quickly and fairly.
- If the complaint cannot be satisfied to your satisfaction you have the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). They can be contacted on 1300 780 808. This service is provided to you free of charge.
STAGE 1 of the FOS process is where FOS facilitates discussions and negotiations between the parties. All relevant documents are exchanged and the issues in dispute are identified.
STAGE 2 is conciliation and the parties come face to face with a conciliator from the FOS national panel. The role of the conciliator is to assist the parties to explore options for settlement of the dispute and to help parties to agree on their own outcome.
STAGE 3 is where the independent adjudicator is requested to make a decision ‘on the papers’ taking into account the relevant law, fairness and reasonableness. If you accept the adjudicator's decision it is binding on the member.
If your concerns involve ethical conduct you may wish to consider raising your concerns in writing with the Financial Planning Association of Australia. They can be contacted at PO Box 109, Collins Street West, Melbourne Vic 8007.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) also has a freecall infoline on 1300 300 630 which you may use to make a complaint and obtain information about your rights.
