1. Dentons Investment Services Limited (DIS) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The registration details can be checked on the FSA Register by visiting www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234 and quoting Reference Number 194538.
2. Your acceptance of this Agreement and Terms of Business document will bring it into effect immediately, with it continuing to be applicable until being cancelled or replaced by an updated version which is acceptable to you. You, or we, may terminate this Agreement at any time without penalty. If provided verbally, notice of termination must be confirmed in writing. Such termination will not affect the completion of any transaction already initiated on your behalf. Remuneration due for such transactions (whether by way of fee or commission) will remain liable for payment to us either from you or a product provider, as appropriate. We will provide you with an initial discussion, without charge, and will explain to you the different methods by which we can be remunerated.
3. Not all firms charge for advice in the same way. Remuneration for advice or services provided to you can be by way of a predetermined fee or by the payment on your behalf of commission from a product provider or by an agreed combination of the two methods. We will discuss the options available to you and answer any questions you might have.
4. Fees: If you choose to pay by fee, you agree to pay the appropriate amount for the advice provided regardless of whether or not a product is recommended to you. The level of any such fee will be agreed with you before you commit to taking any particular course of action. A fee could be based upon our current hourly rate of £96.50 for an Administrator and £209.50 for an Adviser. These rates are subject to regular revision. It could also be expressed as a percentage of any sums invested. If you choose to pay by way of a fee, and commission is also received from a product provider, we will account to you for this commission and pass on its full value to you. This could be achieved by a reduction in product charges, an increase in investment allocation or, in the case of a regular premium contract, by reducing the net amount due from you. Alternatively, where Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs regulations permit, a direct refund could be made to you.
5. Commission: If you accept our advice to purchase a financial product, and have not selected the fee option, we will normally receive commission directly from the product provider. This does not mean that our services have been provided to you free of charge. The commission payment will be reflected in the establishment costs associated with the setting up of your investment, pension or contract of insurance and will have an impact upon the future value of any such investment or pension or on the premium level for a contract of insurance. If you buy a product directly, without taking advice from us, the product charges could be the same, lower, or higher than if you had sought advice with commission being paid to us. In respect of fees and/or commission, once the payment route has been established, we will confirm details in writing.
6. To avoid possible disputes, we normally ask our clients to give us instructions regarding their requirements in writing. We will accept oral instructions provided they are subsequently confirmed in writing. When we have arranged any investments, or other contracts, for which you have given us instructions, we will not give you further advice unless otherwise agreed but will be glad to do so at any time should you wish us to do so.
7. We offer independent financial advice but occasions could arise where we, or one of our other clients, may have some form of interest in business which we are transacting for you or might have some other conflict of interest that could give rise to concern. If this happens, or we become aware that our interests or those of one of our other clients conflict with your interests, we will inform you in writing and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions.
8. It is a requirement of the FSA that all our clients are categorised into one of three categories. Unless otherwise agreed, you have been categorised as a “Retail Client”. This gives you the highest level of regulatory protection. You are able to request a different categorisation and we would advise you of any limitations to your regulatory protection that there might be with a different category.
9. DIS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dentons Pension Management Ltd (DPM) which is authorised and regulated by the FSA as a provider of Self Invested Pension Plans (SIPP). Should we recommend that you implement a SIPP, we will only provide specific advice about the DPM SIPP but we will advise you that there are alternative SIPP providers should you wish to seek separate advice. For all other aspects of advice relating to investments, pensions (excluding SIPPs) and unit trusts we will act on your behalf and provide advice on products available from the whole market. Advice on insurance products such as term assurance, income protection assurance and critical illness cover will be provided in respect of products from a range of insurers.
10. We keep records of all our business transactions for at least six years and, in some cases, indefinitely. All your investments (other than those necessarily using nominee accounts) will be registered in your name unless otherwise agreed in writing. We will forward to you all documents showing ownership of your investments or other contracts as soon as practicable after we receive them. The information we hold about you can be held both electronically and in paper form. This information will only be disclosed to third parties for the purposes of processing investments, pensions or other contracts of insurance or for the purposes of compliance verification or upon request by any statutory regulatory authority. You (or your agent) may inspect copies of any papers of computer records which relate solely to your own investments or contracts of insurance. Unless you notify us otherwise, we are able to use the information provided to contact you by telephone, post, facsimile or e-mail to bring to your attention products or services that might be suitable for you or to assist in the servicing and administration of existing investments. All data held is subject to the provisions and requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998, as determined by the Information Commissioner with whom we are registered.
11. In order to advise you properly, we must obtain certain information from you about your financial and personal circumstances and your objectives, to assess your suitability for particular products and services. If you do not disclose relevant information, this might impact upon the appropriateness of advice given to you. We will advise and make recommendations only after we have assessed your circumstances and needs.
12. Dentons Investment Services Ltd does NOT handle clients’ money and will never accept cash, a cheque, or payment by electronic means from you unless it is in settlement of charges or disbursements for which you have been invoiced.
13. A copy of a summary of our ‘Complaints Procedure’ is available on request at any time. Should you ever have a concern or a reason to complain about the advice we have given or the service we have provided, please write to the Compliance Department at the business address, shown overleaf. In the event that we are unable to agree a resolution to a complaint made against us, you may be entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service for their independent review.
14. As a client of an authorised firm, you might be able to receive compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the event that we are unable to meet our obligations to you. Bank and Building Society deposits are covered to a maximum of £85,000. Most types of investment and long-term insurance (e.g life assurance) business is covered to a maximum of £50,000. Claims in respect of non-investment insurance business (e.g home and general) are covered for 90% of the claim with no upper limit.