Disclosure
Here is some general information about our business to help you decide if you want to seek our advice.
Licensing information
We operate as a Financial Advice Provider under Link Financial Group 2022 Limited (FSP1004590) holds a licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority to provide financial advice. Paramount Partnership Limited (FSP1005509) trading as NZ Insurances is authorised by that licence to provide financial advice.
Our advice and Product Providers
We provide advice about:
- Personal insurance (risk), including health insurance.
- Business Risk Insurance (Key Person, Shareholder Protection benefits, Business Overheads/Expenses)
- ACC advice.
We provide advice in relation to the following insurance products:
- Life Insurance
- Trauma Insurance
- Total and permanent disability insurance
- Income Protection insurance
- Mortgage and household expenses cover
- Health/medical insurance
We provide advice in relation to products provided by the following companies:
- AIA
- Asteron Life
- Chubb
- Fidelity Life
- Nib
- Partners Life
Commission
On issuance of an insurance 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.
This commission is 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. From this commission we also pay Link Financial Group 2022 Limited for services they provide to us in connection with our authorisation under their licence from the Financial Markets Authority.
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 and that their recommendations on insurance cover meets those 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 do not charge you a fee for our services. This is because we are usually remunerated by way of commission by the providers of the products we recommend. However, there are some situations where fees may apply.
- On occasion, some providers may not pay a commission. In this situation, we may charge a fee. The fee payable will be a fair reflection of the time required to provide advice and obtain that offer of cover on your behalf.
- Where we have obtained an offer of cover from an insurer who does pay commission, but you decide not to proceed, we may charge you a fee based on a fair reflection of the time required to obtain approval for you.
- Should you proceed with a policy implementation after advice from your adviser, and then cancel, amend, or change your policy within 25 months of premium payments, we may charge you a fee for the time spent to provide advice and obtain approval on your behalf.
Any fees relating to advice that may apply will be discussed and agreed with you prior to obtaining loan approval. Where a fee is charged, you will be issued with an invoice. This will be payable within 14 days or as otherwise agreed to with your adviser.
Conflicts of Interest
For life insurance and health insurance, we receive commissions from the insurance companies whose policies we can recommend. If you decide to take out insurance that we recommend, the insurer will pay a commission. The amount of the commission is based on the amount of premium associated with your cover; specific commissions will be advised to you when advice is provided.
From time to time, product providers may also reward us for the overall business we provide to them. They may give us tickets to sports events, hampers, or other incentives.
NZ Insurance and its advisers may receive or pay referral fees for financial advice products/services referred. These referrals are completed with third parties, including (but not limited to) NZ Mortgages and Squirrel Mortgages. Nathan Miglani is a shareholder and director in our sister company Squirrel Mortgages Limited - NZ Mortgages.
To ensure that our financial advisers prioritise the client’s interests above their own, we follow an advice process that ensures our personalised recommendations are made on the basis of the client’s goals and circumstances, as advised to us. We complete regular training, including how to manage conflicts of interest. Each adviser has a regular compliance review of their advice process.
Complaints
If you are not satisfied with our financial advice service you can make a complaint by emailing complaints@lfg.co.nz, or by calling 0800 466 784. You can also write to us at: 1/1 Antares Place, Rosedale, Auckland. When we receive a complaint, we will consider it using our internal complaints process:
We will consider your complaint and let you know how we intend to resolve it. We may need to contact you to get further information about your complaint.
We aim to resolve complaints within 10 working days of receiving them. If we cannot, we will contact you within that time to let you know we need more time to consider your complaint.
We will contact you by phone or email to let you know whether we can resolve your complaint and how we propose to do so.
If we cannot resolve your complaint, or you are not satisfied with the way we propose to do so, you can contact Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL). FSCL provides a free, independent dispute resolution service that may help investigate or resolve your complaint if we have not been able to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction. You can contact FSCL by phone on 0800 347 257 or by emailing complaints@fscl.org.nz
Our Duties
Paramount Partnership Limited, and anyone who gives financial advice on our behalf, has duties under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 relating to the way that we give advice. We are required to:
- give priority to your interests by taking all reasonable steps to make sure our advice is not materially influenced by our own interests (431K)
- exercise care, diligence, and skill in providing you with advice (431L)
- meet standards of competence, knowledge and skill set by the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services (these are designed to make sure that we have the expertise needed to provide you with advice) (431I)
- meet standards of ethical behaviour, conduct and client care set by the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services (these are designed to make sure we treat you as we should and give you suitable advice).
This is only a summary of the duties that we have. More information is available by contacting us, or by visiting the Financial Markets Authority website at www.fma.govt.nz
