Financial Advice Disclosure

Trustees Executors' Disclosure Statement for Financial Advice Services

The choice of a financial adviser is an important decision. The purpose of this Disclosure Statement is to give members of the public access to information that will help them to find a financial advice provider that meets their needs. This information is intended to help you by providing information about who we are, the types of financial advice and services we provide, how we work with clients and prospective clients and how we earn our income. You will also find information regarding conflicts of interest and complaints.

If you would like further information, our contact details can be found under the Contact Us section of the website.

About Trustees Executors

Trustees Executors was established in 1881 to help individuals and families build and protect their wealth. This important work continues today within its Private Wealth division where our financial advisers are employed. Trustees Executors also has Trust Managers and Trust Officers who carry out estate planning work, looking after Trusts, Estates, Wills, Powers of Attorney and Agency Services.

Today, Trustees Executors also operates in other parts of the financial services sector, including acting as a statutory supervisor, custodian and registry provider for managed investment schemes, such as those provided in KiwiSaver schemes.  

Licensing details

Trustees Executors Limited (FSP37383) holds a licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority to provide regulated financial advice.

Regulated financial advice is subject to licensing requirements under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (the ‘Act’).  This Act, together with other regulations and the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services, governs financial advice activity. Under the Act, Trustees Executors is deemed to be a Financial Advice Provider (FAP). It employs Financial Advisers who are authorised to provide you regulated financial advice under our licence.

Trustees Executors also holds a licence under the Act to operate a Discretionary Investment Management Service (DIMS) which is deemed to be a financial advice product under the Act.  Under this service, clients can authorise Trustees Executors to buy and sell assets across their investment portfolio within the parameters of the discretion level set. 

Some Private Wealth services are excluded from regulated financial advice. 

Generally, financial advice provided by Trustees Executors is regulated financial advice.  However, financial advice is excluded from regulated financial advice when Trustees Executors carries out its ordinary business as trustee, executor or attorney in relation to trusts, deceased estates, and under an enduring power of attorney. In such situations, other statutory and common law obligations apply.      

How our Financial Advisers Work: the nature and scope of our advice

Our financial advisers can assist with investment planning, and retirement planning (including KiwiSaver). If we are unable to assist you, we will recommend you seek advice from another suitably qualified professional.

Ultimately, the services provided to you will depend on your needs. Any advice will take account of your personal objectives, financial situation and needs. It will be clear and concise, with enough detail for you to make an informed decision about whether or not to act on it.

To become a client, you will work through a process with an adviser to ensure that any recommendations are, and remain, suitable for you. We will:

  • Have an initial discussion with you to understand your situation, your aims and objectives and what specific problems you may be seeking to address. We will clearly explain our services. This initial discussion is confidential, without obligation and at no cost to you.
  • Arrange a follow-up meeting  to gather additional information. This will include a discussion about investment risk. More than one meeting may be needed, depending on your circumstances.
  • Prepare a written Investment Proposal that confirms the nature and scope of our advice to you, your situation, objectives and makes specific recommendations about an investment portfolio.
  • The Investment Proposal will also contain information about DIMS, any costs to implement the recommendations, along with other information about investment risk and recommended assets.

Our Duties to You as Financial Advisers

Trustees Executors and its financial advisers who provide regulated financial advice on its behalf, have statutory duties under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. These include:

  • Giving priority to client interests.
  • Meeting the standards of competence, knowledge, and skill set out in the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services.
  • Meeting the standards of ethical behaviour, conduct, and client care set out in the Code of Professional Conduct. These are designed to make sure we treat you as we should and give you suitable advice.
  • Exercising care, diligence, and skill when providing financial advice services. These are designed to make sure that we have  the expertise needed to provide you with advice.

This is a summary of the duties we have to our clients. More information is available by contacting us or on the Financial Markets Authority website at www.fma.govt.nz.

How we select what we recommend to clients

Trustees Executors provides investment advice in relation to the following financial products: 

  • Managed funds
  • Listed Australasian and global direct equities, including exchange traded funds
  • Listed property
  • Global direct corporate and government bonds
  • Term Deposits
  • Discretionary Investment Management Services (DIMS) provided by Trustees Executors
  • KiwiSaver

Following extensive research of what is available locally and globally, the Investment team of Trustees Executors Private Wealth selects our preferred investments.

Trustees Executors has an Investment Committee that meets regularly to provide guidance and oversight to the investment activity.

Fees, expenses, or other amounts payable

The exact costs will depend upon the type of service provided to you.  You will be provided details of the relevant fee structure for your unique circumstances prior to any financial advice being provided to you.  Below are some fees that may apply:

Discretionary Investment Management Services (DIMS)

Trustees Executors may charge an initial Investment Plan fee of up to $1,000 including GST. For more complex situations this cost could be higher, but this fee will be clearly disclosed and agreed upon before we proceed with the plan.

Should our recommendation be to invest in a DIMS portfolio, the standard ongoing annual fees (excluding GST) for the advice and management of a portfolio are as follows:

Tiers - Cumulative

Trustees Executors Management fee per annum

Platform fee per annum

Management fee including platform per annum

$0 - $500,000

1.00%

0.25%

1.25%

$500,001 - $1,000,000

0.80%

0.20%

1.00%

$1,000,001 - $3,000,000

0.60%

0.15%

0.75%

$3,000,001 +

Negotiable

0.15%

 

The management fee is paid to Trustees Executors to provide advice and manage your portfolio. The platform fee is paid to the external administration and custodial provider.

Both fees are calculated daily and charged at the end of the month according to the market value of your portfolio. The listed fees do not include any transaction costs or fund management fees which will depend on the strategy that we utilise. Fees will be confirmed in the Investment Proposal.

In the event we recommend a product within our DIMS such as a managed fund that pays a fee rebate/commission, we will refund this to you.

We may also carry out work of a project nature for clients. In this case we may charge an hourly rate and will provide an estimate, depending on the nature of the engagement.

KiwiSaver

Initial Costs: For KiwiSaver recommendations there may be an initial plan fee of $150 including GST.

Ongoing Costs: If you invest in a recommended KiwiSaver provider, a commission may be paid to Trustees Executors. This is detailed under the commissions section below.  

Conflicts of interest and commissions, or other incentives  

Commissions

For some KiwiSaver recommendations there may be an ongoing commission paid to Trustees Executors, calculated based on percentage of the value of your investment balance. The maximum this commission would be is 0.25% per annum. We will disclose this to you, prior to providing any advice in relation to KiwiSaver. 

Other potential conflicts

Trustees Executors receives income from the advice provided as described under the Fees, Expenses, or other amounts payable section above. This means the larger the value of a portfolio under our advice, the more fees Trustees Executors and its advisers will receive for providing that advice. Our advice process requires that we put your interests ahead of any remuneration we may earn.

Trustees Executors operates a diverse business, including acting as a statutory supervisor, custodian and registry provider for managed investment schemes.  This means the company earns fees from providing these services.   In some situations, Trustees Executors, through our Financial Advisers, may advise you to invest into managed funds or KiwiSaver products that Trustees Executors provides such services to. Our Private Wealth employees are not incentivised or encouraged to recommend such funds over any other fund to which Trustees Executors does not provide services.  

To ensure that our financial advisers prioritise a client’s interests above their own, we follow an advice process that ensures our recommendations are made in the best interests of clients.  All  written investment proposals are reviewed by our Investment Services team to ensure advice is appropriate.

All employees of Trustees Executors are required to disclose any conflict or potential conflict of interest as they arise, as well as formally attesting to this every six months. Should any conflicts arise, we will take steps to manage and disclose such conflicts. 

Complaints handling and dispute resolution

Our Internal Complaints Process

We strive to deliver the highest level of service to our clients. However, should you not be satisfied with any aspect of service you receive from Trustees Executors, we welcome you to contact us in the first instance. We have an internal complaints process and undertake to investigate your concerns promptly and fairly. We aim to acknowledge to all complaints within two business days. The investigation of the complaint and Trustees Executor’s response must be fully completed within 20 working days of receipt of the complaint.  We will advise you if it takes longer than this.

To make a complaint you can either fill out the contact form on the Complaints page found on our website or email us at [email protected]. Alternatively, you call us on +64 800 878 783 or write to us at:

Trustees Executors Complaints Register
PO Box 10-519
Wellington 6143
New Zealand

Our External Complaints Process

We are a member of an independent dispute resolution scheme operated by Financial Services Complaints Limited ("FSCL"), a Financial Ombudsman Service. If we cannot reach agreement on how to resolve your complaint or you are not satisfied by our response, you may refer the matter to FSCL by emailing [email protected] or calling FSCL on 0800 347 257. This is a free service to you.  Full details of how to access the FSCL scheme can be obtained on their website www.fscl.org.nz.

Contact Details

To get in touch with an adviser or if you have any questions about this disclosure, you can complete the form below, email us at [email protected] or call +64 800 878 783.

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