Our Process
Two of the most common questions we are asked in an initial inquiry are “What is your process?” and “What do you charge?”
Below is an outline of the steps in our engagement process and the potential charges that might be incurred with each stage.
An initial consultation allows us to understand the scope of work required and to determine if we are able to assist you with your personal financial situation. We don’t usually charge a fee for this initial consultation.
Following this meeting, if you wish to proceed we prepare an email confirming the ‘scope of work’, which is sent through for your approval. This email outlines our understanding of your personal financial situation, the types of advice you require and the proposed costs for us to prepare this advice.
Typically we charge between $3,5000 to $5,500 for the preparation of complex recommendations. Our written Statement of Advice (SOA) averages between 30 to 50 pages in length and includes a range of analyses and modelling to produce our SOA. Turnaround times are about 4 weeks depending on our internal workflow demands.
Following the preparation of the SOA, we then arrange to meet with you again to go through the detailed recommendations and obtain further feedback from you.
We then invite you to take away this detailed SOA to review and consider the information and recommendations provided. Any adjustments that might be required following your feedback are then incorporated into the report.
You have the option to implement our recommendations yourself; alternatively, you can engage us on an ongoing basis. The scope of this ongoing engagement is included in our SOA. Typically this ongoing engagement fee is $5,500 - 10,100 p.a.
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FAQ
Here are some questions we are often asked about our process:
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Typically we require you to have at least $1 million of investments and or super to work with us. These investable funds might be a combination of superannuation, cash and or shares that are held outside of super. An example of this might be $1 million in combined super balances or $500,000 in superannuation plus $500,000 in cash or shares in your personal name.
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We would love to be able to do this, but unfortunately the Australian Government has a different view. The Corporations Act 2001 Chapter 7 Volumes 4 and 5 is 1,000-plus pages long and a lot of this relates to financial planners and what we can and cannot do. Section 946A (1) in particular states that any advice we provide has to be in writing and in a prescribed format called a Statement of Advice (SOA). Unfortunately the old days of providing verbal advice in a meeting are long gone – our industry these days is incredibly regulated.
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None of the products or investments we recommend are linked to the financial solvency of our organisation. In fact, we hold the view that to produce a product and then recommend others invest into this product, is a conflict of interest. Unfortunately, many superannuation funds and other financial groups think otherwise. When we are evaluating the options for superannuation and investments, we recommend what we believe is the most suitable for your personal situation.
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If you engage us on an ongoing basis, we will provide you with access to view your portfolio in real time. This will allow you to quickly and easily see how each component is performing and gives you total transparency.
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Those days are long gone too. In 2012, the Australian Government essentially banned commissions on investments for financial planners. This was detailed in the Corporation Amendments (Future of Financial Advice Act 2012 No 67, 2012). We like the fact that all our fees are clear and transparent, and our clients appreciate this as well.
