Advice Terms and Conditions

IWM provide advice to new customers and people who have been referred to us through our 'Solutions' service. Regulations require that disclosure of the following matters occurs before any advice is offered.

Authorisation for investment business

Independence Wealth Management Ltd. is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority ['FSA']. Independence holds a MIFID permission to meet and give 'investment advice' to individuals in most EU countries. Such advice given within Jersey is permitted under the authority of an FSC exemption. Where meetings in the USA discuss investment business regulated by the SEC, we are accompanied by an SEC-registered adviser.

Professional Standards

Wealth management combines tax, financial planning and asset management disciplines. Broadly, the FSA sets regulations for asset management, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Board of Standards Inc. (CFP Board) has professional standards for financial planning, and the Chartered Institute of Taxation has professional standards for tax advice. IWM works within these three sets of rules and standards.

IWM has CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals who are professionally trained and dedicated to providing clients with objective and unbiased advice. Many people assume that all financial planners are 'certified' but this is not the case. Anyone can call himself or herself a 'financial planner'. Only those who have fulfilled the certification and renewal requirements of CFP Board can display the CFP™ certification marks. The planners at IWM have earned their CFP™ certification, so you may feel confident that the team you work with is competent and ethical.

Avoiding conflicts of interest due to commission

The greater the advisor's dependence on commission income, the greater the conflict. We believe there is significant conflict of interest if an advisor stands to gain financially from any recommendations you may follow. Examples of conflicts of interest between a planner and a client include:

• Commissioned-based individuals working for banks/IFAs/brokers/dealers and insurance agencies
• Planners compensated by commissions on products that they recommend or sell
• Fee-based or fee-offset arrangements that allow a planner to earn both fees and commissions

IWM never takes commission. IWM is fee-only in the normal sense of the phrase, and not the usage given to it in the United Kingdom (which would normally be termed 'fee-offset').

IWM charges a fee for projects, and our private client service fee is based on the client's assets under management.

Contact

Please feel free to contact us by telephone, fax or email as provided in detail on our Contact page on this web site.

Languages

We can accept documents in English Italian and Bulgarian. We normally converse with clients in English or Bulgarian, and we can arrange for Italian, Spanish, French and German translators.

Dealing instructions

On our introductory 'Solutions' service, any security that is recommended for selling or buying will be transacted through the client's own brokers, and at the client's own risk and the client's separate instruction. The Solutions service is a financial planning service comprising of a meeting and report, and no annual services are provided.

Private Client services

Many people become Private Clients after the 'Solutions' servce, but there is no sales expectation or pressure from us to do so. Private clients benefit from annual services on asset management, and taxation, and are welcomed with a separate Client Agreement containing slightly different terms to the above.

Fees

The fee for the Second Opinion service is £450+VAT, with a Guarantee of Satisfaction. We ask our customers to pay at the end of the service if they agreed they have experienced value for money. Should you decide to undertake transactions with your own broker as a result of our advice, you will incur transaction costs of an amount which you have already agreed to with your broker, and which IWM are not party to.

Compensation Scheme

IWM is a firm within the Financial Service Compensation Scheme in the UK. Cover from the scheme may be available on some of your investments, depending upon how they were originally bought.