Client Agreement (Retail and Professional Clients) - Internet Version

CLIENT AGREEMENT (Retail and Professional Clients)
Internet Version

Roberts Clark IFS Limited
Head Office:
Prosperity House, Water Street, Burntwood,
Staffordshire, WS7 1AN
Telephone: 01543 677444 (Burntwood) / 020 8144 7620 (London)
Facsimile: 0870 051 0015 / 01543 672555

A. Terms Applicable Where You Require No Advice From Us

Suitability Of Transactions Where Specific Advice Has Not Been Received From Us
Where you purchase guides, leaflets, regulated investments, pensions, mortgages, policies of insurance and equity release products through Roberts Clark IFS Limited after having received information from us, either from our newsletters, publications, surveys, direct marketing (financial promotion) or in response to a telephone enquiry or written request for details on specific products, or where you have received such information following a telephone conversation with one of our advisers or administration personnel or from one of our web sites, Roberts Clark IFS Limited cannot accept responsibility as to the suitability or otherwise of those purchases.

You should (and are encouraged to) request an initial consultation with one of our advisers so that you can be advised on an informed basis as to whether or not a contract is suitable to your needs, objectives, risk profile, risk tolerance and personal circumstances.

Under the terms of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and our Regulator, The Financial Services Authority, we must take reasonable care to ensure the suitability of our advice when recommending financial products to you. To comply with this, we are usually required to obtain sufficient information about you, as a private customer, to enable us to meet our responsibility to give you suitable advice. The term for this is called ‘know your customer’. The ‘know your customer’ stipulations do not apply where the transaction is applied for without advice. If you decide to arrange transactions in this way, where the ‘know your customer’ procedure has not been followed at all or not in full, then our obligations to provide you with suitable advice do not apply.

If you invest directly and do not take advice, you are responsible for your choices and decisions. If the product turns out to be unsuitable you will be unable to complain about us or the product provider, as the decision was your own and not after receiving our advice regarding suitability in your own personal circumstances.

Section A does not apply to Execution Only transactions or transactions we have been asked to process without advice. It only applies to transactions we have brought to your attention by one of the mediums mentioned above.

Payment For Services
Our proposed fee and any commissions reinvested into the transactions are detailed in the relevant product information and will be confirmed to you in writing, in the form of a quotation.

If you have not received advice from us in connection with financial contracts and/or policies, Section B below does not apply.  Please refer to Section C.

B. Terms Applicable Where You Require Advice From Us

After our initial contact you will be issued with a formal Client Agreement that specifically relates to the advice we give. Before any advice and recommendations are given, you will be required to sign and returna copy of the Client Agreement to us, acknowledging you have received the document, read the contents and understand it is the basis upon which we will deal with you as our client.

Payment For Our Services
We offer all initial discussions free of charge. We will fully describe our services and explain how we get paid. If you believe our services could be right for you, we will then offer an initial consultation, also without charge, provided you agree to the terms of our Initial Consultation Agreement. If you require a consultation at your home or in the evening or at weekends, we reserve the right to make a charge for the meeting to cover the cost of our additional time and/or expenses. The cost will be agreed with you and based on your individual circumstances.

During the consultation we will gather and analyse personal information about you, your finances, your needs and objectives, your attitude towards risk, your tolerance towards risk and your previous investment experience and then discuss any action we think you should consider. If you are happy with our discussions and wish to proceed further we will provide you with a written quotation detailing fully our suggested works and the costs involved. The quotation is generally broken down into specific tasks, as you may wish to proceed in stages, rather than all at once. The choice about which tasks to proceed with is yours and the quotation has space for you to indicate this.

The quotation will be sent to you so that you can decide in private which route is best for you, without pressure. You will need to sign your authority for us to start work for you. We will not do any work unless you instruct us to do so.

Dealing with you in this way helps you to understand our proposals, confirm you are happy with how we will work for you and how we will be paid. This helps you to make informed decisions and understand the costs involved.

Whether you buy a product or not, you will pay a fee for our advice and services. Where we also receive commission from the product provider when you buy a product, we will pass on the full value of that commission to you in one or more ways. For example, we could reduce our fee; or reduce your product charges; or increase your investment amount; or refund the commission to you in full.

Our hourly rates are:
Director £150 per hour plus VAT, Financial Adviser £110 per hour plus VAT, Administration £75 per hour plus VAT. We charge £250 per hour plus VAT for international financial advice and planning.

You may ask us for an estimate of how much in total we might charge for particular work. You may also ask us not to exceed a given amount without checking with you first. We may also agree a different hourly rate with you, based on the work you wish us to undertake. This will always be confirmed in writing.

Invoiced fees should be settled in full within 14 days of the invoice date by cash, credit or debit card, bank transfer, PayPal or cheque, made payable to Roberts Clark IFS Limited. Payment should be made at the stage where advice has been completed or products implemented. We reserve the right to ask for staged or part payments whilst we are providing services to you, dependent upon the amount of work involved and the time taken with you or on your behalf. If you require mortgage advice (including lifetime mortgages and home reversion plans) we will ask you for a payment before we conduct any research on your behalf. Our hourly rate includes the cost of travelling, postage and telephone calls. There will be no additional charges made unless they have been previously agreed with you in writing. Where you choose to settle our invoice by card or PayPal then there will be a surcharge of 5% of the invoice amount to cover our additional charges and expenses for those methods of payment.

Where you agree for us to work on a fee basis, we will discuss our proposed fee with you and confirm it in writing in the form of a quotation, with an agreement for you to sign. If the fee to be charged is on an hourly basis, you will be given at least 24 hours to read and agree to the terms. You may choose to sign the agreement sooner, if works are to commence immediately.

We do not make additional charges for clients that deal with us exclusively at a distance by means such as telephone, post, email or fax.

Where a fee is agreed with you and any commission received is to be offset, you should contact your local Inspector of Taxes to determine whether or not the application of commission for your benefit generates a personal tax liability. You should also be aware that other taxes or costs may exist that are not imposed by us or paid through us.

Investment Objectives
Following the issue of this Client Agreement, any subsequent advice or recommendations offered to you will be based on your stated investment objectives, acceptable level of risk and any restrictions you wish to place on the type of investments or policies you are willing to consider. Details of your stated investment objectives will be included in any Suitability Report we issue to you to confirm our recommendation or your transaction. Unless confirmed in writing to the contrary, we will assume that you do not wish to place any restrictions on the advice we give you.

Ongoing Reviews And Advice From Us
We automatically enroll all clients that instruct us to work for them onto our Bronze Review Service to maintain your client file with transaction documentation and statements received. Roberts Clark IFS Limited also offers three additional levels of service for you to choose from. The level of service chosen will remain current until you sign an updated Client Agreement or you notify us otherwise in writing.

You can choose to pay for our ongoing service fees at the end of the review year or via product provider commission, where this is available. Where you choose to pay personally for the service fees we offer a monthly standing order option, as well as a lump sum payment option at the end of the review year.

Bronze Review Service
Under the Bronze Review Service we will not give you any further advice unless you request it. However, we will be pleased to advise you at any time you ask us to do so. We will maintain your file as stated above and you may contact us with any queries you have about products we have arranged. There may be an additional charge if significant works are required or where we do not receive a sufficient amount of ongoing commission from your product providers. Our normal hourly rates will apply. As a client you will also receive our newsletters periodically and membership of Need An Adviser.com at a discounted rate. You will need to ask us for a discount code in order to receive the discounted rate.

Silver Review Service
Choosing the Silver Review Service means that in addition to the benefits received by the Bronze Review Service we will provide you with a written valuation of the transactions made on our advice and will provide you with a report containing the performance/investment returns received during the year. We will not provide advice in this report but you will be able to see how your particular products have performed when compared to others. You may also contact us with unlimited questions on any finance related matter throughout the year without additional charge. Opting for the Silver Review Service also gives membership of Need An Adviser.com at no extra charge.

For the Silver Review Service we make a charge depending on the number of policies/plans (excluding bank/building society accounts) to be included in our annual report.

  • £240 pa (including VAT) – 3 policies/plans or less
  • £360 pa (including VAT) – 4 policies/plans or more

An invoice will be enclosed with the valuation and report document. Invoiced fees should be settled in full within 14 days. Any further advice you require as a result of the Silver Review Service will be charged in accordance with our normal Client Agreement agreed with you. Any renewal or trail commission received from product providers will be offset from the amount due under the Silver Review Service. This may result in a reduced amount or no fee becoming payable. At the point of the Silver Review we will inform you of the actual amount payable.

Gold Review Service
In addition to the benefits of the Bronze and Silver Review Services, the Gold Review Service means that we will review the investments looked after under the Gold Review Service. We will arrange a meeting with you (where necessary and by either telephone or face to face) and provide you with a full written report that includes a written valuation of the policies and an overview of the performance/investment returns received during the year. The report will also contain our views on whether or not the investments made are still suitable for you, based on your disclosed circumstances, and whether or not we feel any changes should be made. Any fund switches recommended are included in the cost of the Gold Review Service.

For the Gold Review Service we make an annual charge, depending on the number of policies/plans (excluding bank/building society accounts) to be included in our annual report*. These are as follows:

  • £240 pa (including VAT) – 1 policies/plans or less
  • £480 pa (including VAT) –  3 policies/plans or less
  • £600 pa (including VAT) – 6 policies/plans or less
  • £1,200 pa (including VAT) – 7 policies/plans or more

You will not be invoiced for the Silver Review Services in addition to this charge as all of the benefits are encompassed within the Gold Review Service. Opting for the Gold Review Service also gives membership of Need An Adviser.com at no extra charge.

Any renewal or trail commission received from product providers will be offset from the amount due under the Gold Review Service. This may result in a reduced amount or no fee becoming payable. At the point of the Gold Review we will inform you of the actual amount payable.

*Note that more complex policies that require a higher level of administration and advice, such as unsecured and alternatively secured pensions will be charged at the rate for either 6 policies/plans or 7 policies/plans, depending on the complexity of the product and our level of involvement and advice during the year. We will agree the ongoing cost with you first.

Platinum Review Service
For clients with larger portfolios or for those who require more personalised attention and service, we offer the Platinum Review Service. We will agree a bespoke ongoing review package with you, including the benefits of 7-day call out, appointments and contact arranged around your specific requirements, including availability at weekends and public holidays.

Included in the Platinum Review Service are the benefits available from the Bronze, Silver and Gold Review Services including membership of Need An Adviser.com at no extra charge. However, the cost of the Platinum Review Service will depend upon the level of our involvement and the nature of your requirements. We guarantee that this service will be charged at a lower amount than if you had opted for our hourly advisory rate.

Any renewal or trail commission received from product providers will be offset from the amount due under the Platinum Review Service. This may result in a reduced amount or no fee becoming payable. At the point of the Platinum Review we will inform you of the actual amount payable. There is a minimum annual fee for the Platinum Review Service of £300 per quarter, invoiced on a quarterly basis.

C. General Terms Applying To All Transactions Whether On An Advised Or Non-Advised Basis

Our Regulations And Permitted Business
The Financial Services Authority is the independent watchdog that regulates financial services. Roberts Clark IFS Limited is an Independent Intermediary and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to give such advice and is bound by their rules. Our FSA Register number is 192598. Our permitted business is advising on, making arrangements in and arranging (bringing about) savings, investments, non-investment insurance contracts, regulated mortgage contracts (including lifetime mortgages and home reversion plans) and pensions, including the specialist activities of pension transfers and pension opt outs. We may also undertake certain business that is not regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Where this is the case, we will tell you.  You can check this on the FSA’s Register by visiting the FSA’s web site www.fsa.gov.uk/register/ or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234. Their address is 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HS.

Our Services
Roberts Clark IFS Limited offers advice and products from the whole market and is not tied or linked to any one company or their products. We are independent and we act impartially when giving advice and arranging products. We work on your behalf when giving advice and arranging products. We do not operate panels of products or providers when giving advice but instead select from the whole market. We will act honestly, fairly and professionally in our dealings with you and in accordance with your best interests. We will always take reasonable care to ensure the suitability of our advice. We will obtain sufficient personal and financial information about you to enable us to meet our responsibilities to give suitable advice, relevant to the services we provide. Where you decline to provide relevant personal or financial information, you must understand that the lack of such information may adversely affect the quality of advice and service we can provide.

Whilst we offer independent financial advice, financial products transacted with you on an Execution Only basis or where you do not require advice from us will be transacted without such advice. In the case of Execution Only or no advice transactions, the merits of the transaction and suitability in your personal circumstances will not be entered into with you. We will offer you advice but you can still choose not to receive it.

Execution Only
If you invest directly on an Execution Only basis and do not take our advice, you are responsible for the choices and decisions you make. If the product turns out to be unsuitable you will be unable to complain about us or the product provider, as the decision was your own and not after receiving our advice regarding the suitability in your personal circumstances. If you are in any doubt regarding the suitability of products, you should ask us for advice. We may make a charge for that advice. If you receive any advice from us, including limited or focused advice, the resultant transaction will not be classed as Execution Only because you will have received advice from us.

Our Dealings With You
If you are a private individual without professional knowledge of the financial services industry, we have categorised you as a Retail Client and you will be afforded all of the client protection associated with this categorisation. As a non-professional client you will receive the highest level of client protection, including access to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if we cannot resolve disputes and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), where applicable. Further details are provided later in this document. Please also understand that other client categories may mean a lower level of client protection. If you are a professional within the financial services industry or have professional knowledge of it, we have categorised you as a Professional Client. Please understand that you will receive a lower level of client protection than if we had categorised you as a Retail Client. If you believe we have categorised you incorrectly, please ask us to review our decision. We prefer our clients to give us instructions in writing, to avoid possible disputes. If any instructions are given orally they should subsequently be confirmed in writing. We may refuse, at our discretion, to accept certain instructions, although such discretion will not be exercised unreasonably.

Client Instructions
We prefer our clients to give us instructions in writing, to avoid possible disputes. If any instructions are given orally they should subsequently be confirmed in writing. We may refuse, at our discretion, to accept certain instructions, although such discretion will not be exercised unreasonably.

Termination
You, or we, may terminate instructions or this Client Agreement at any time, without penalty. Notice of such termination must be given in writing and will take effect from the date of receipt. In terms of termination by Roberts Clark IFS Limited, you will be deemed to be in receipt of our notice of termination two working days after posting. Termination is without prejudice to the completion of any transactions already initiated, which will be completed according to this Client Agreement, unless otherwise agreed in writing by us. We shall be entitled to remuneration from you for work undertaken prior to such termination and any fees that may be outstanding and payment should be within our usual timescales detailed in this document. This Client Agreement will remain relevant to any transactions, whether initiated or completed, before notice of termination was given, where Roberts Clark IFS Limited remains the servicing agent for the transaction.

Client Money
We never handle cash or accept a cheque or other method of payment made out to us unless it is in settlement of charges or disbursements for which we have sent you an invoice.

Policy Ownership
We will make arrangements for all your investments to be registered in your name unless you first instruct us otherwise in writing. We will forward to you all documents showing ownership of your investments as soon as is practical after we receive them. Where a number of documents relating to a series of transactions is involved, we will normally hold each document until the series is complete and then forward them to you.

We cannot accept responsibility for delivery of any applications, cheques or other documents once they have been entrusted to Royal Mail or any other delivery service.

We act as your agent in advising you and arranging transactions. We never own the investments that you buy through us.

Where your dealings through us also relate to another Professional and we have instigated or recommended those dealings, we will fully identify the Professional to you, together with the capacity in which he is acting and his full address and contact details.

Roberts Clark IFS Limited is a licensed credit broker. Our Consumer Credit License number is 568030.

Financial Promotions (Our Contact With You)
We shall be entitled to make an unsolicited telephone call or personal visit to you regarding products or services (including mortgages) that may be of interest, only if we have received your consent to do so. Your signature on this Client Agreement will evidence your consent. However, we will not contact you at times or places when or where you have advised us not to make such contact. If you decide you no longer want to receive financial promotions from us, please write to us at the address on the front page of this Client Agreement.

Charges For Late Payment
To cover costs for additional administration caused by late payment, we regret we must make additional charges. If our invoice is still outstanding after 30 days and we incur additional administration costs to issue reminders, a small administration fee of £25 including VAT will be added to the amount outstanding, plus interest charged at 2 percent above Bank of England Base Rate, chargeable from 30 days after the date of the invoice.

We automatically enroll all clients that instruct us to work for them onto our Bronze Review Service and will maintain your client file with transaction documentation and statements received. We will not advise you unless you ask us to and there will be a charge for that advice. Although maintaining records for you is a stipulation of the FSA, benefits for you include unnecessary duplication of information (such as us asking for information to comply with Money Laundering regulations), forwarding to you relevant documentation received from product providers and maintaining efficiency in our dealings with you.

Any renewal or trail commission we receive from product providers in respect of products serviced by and under the agency of Roberts Clark IFS Limited will be used to cover the costs of the Bronze review Service and other dealings we have with you throughout the year. If you have products with other advisers you can transfer them to us for servicing. You can choose at any time to move up to one of our other services and receive more input, contact and advice from us each year. You can also choose to cancel any of our ongoing review services.

Important Notice When Using Commissions To Reduce Or Cover Our Quoted Fees
Where you choose for us to be remunerated by product provider commission in respect of some or all of our agreed fee, and if you subsequently cease to pay premiums, cancel, surrender or any other event, and in consequence we are obliged to refund some or all of the commission that has been paid to us, WE WILL CHARGE YOU A FEE based on the agreed fee quotation for the work done by us, less the balance of any initial commission not refunded to the product provider in respect of your transaction(s).

In short, you must pay a fee for the works undertaken for you, less any commission not reclaimed by the product provider.

Additionally, if you exercise your right to cancel a policy in accordance with the cancellation notice sent to you by the product provider or just decide not to proceed at all and commission does not become payable to us WE WILL CHARGE YOU A FEE equal to the amount shown in the agreed fee quotation for the work done by us.

For mortgages (including lifetime mortgages and home reversion plans), if, after you have signed our quotation of fees and Client Agreement to assist you with the mortgage application, you decide that you no longer wish to proceed, your purchase falls through or a lender rejects your application due to non-disclosure of information, WE WILL CHARGE YOU A FEE OF £110 per hour plus VAT for the work done to the date of you not proceeding. Any fees you have already paid in respect of our charges for the application will be offset from any amount due.

These fees are payable within 14 days of the invoice date by cash, credit or debit card, bank transfer, PayPal or cheque, made payable to Roberts Clark IFS Limited. Remember there are extra charges for payment by card or PayPal plus late payment fees where invoices remain outstanding after 30 days.

Risk Warnings
For your information and protection, please take note of the following risk warnings. Not all will be relevant to individual contracts or policies but we will inform you of any risks specifically relating to you at the time we provide advice or arrange transactions for you and before you are bound by the terms of the advice or transactions:

For Investments

  • Past performance should not be taken as an indication of future performance.
  • You are not certain to make a profit and you may lose money.
  • If you cash in your investment you may not get back the full amount of your investment.
  • Where you opt to receive income from an investment that is not contractually fixed at a certain rate, that income could go up or down.
  • Where you have investments with contingent liabilities you could lose all the money you invested and you may have to pay more later.
  • If your investment contains higher volatility (higher risk) funds then your investment may be subject to sudden and large falls in value and you could get back nothing at all.
  • If your investment contains property funds then it could invest in physical property and land. This can be difficult to sell so you may not be able to sell or cash in this investment when you want to. The provider may have to delay acting on your instructions to sell your investment or the holdings in the property fund. This could be up to and in excess of 12 months.
  • The value of property is generally a matter of a valuer’s opinion, rather than fact. 
  • If your investment is known as one not readily realizable then you may have difficulty selling the investment at a reasonable price and in some circumstances it may be difficult to sell at any price. You should not invest in these types of investment unless you have carefully thought about whether you can afford it and whether it is right for you.
  • If your investment has charges at the start of the investment then if you cash it in or surrender it in the early years you may get back less than you invested. There could be a surrender penalty for cashing in any investment within the first five years (or more).
  • If your investment contains with profits funds then the value of the policy will depend on how much profit the provider makes and how they decide to distribute that profit. In times of poor stock market conditions the product provider could impose a Market Value Reduction (also known as a Market Value Adjustment) to the value of your investment, meaning a lower cash in value than its face value. This is to ensure you only receive your fair value from the fund.
  • If your investment is exposed to foreign currencies then the rates of exchange between currencies may cause your investment or any income from it to rise or fall.

For Life Insurance Policies

  • You should make sure you understand which benefits of the policy are fixed and which benefits of the policy are not fixed. Make sure the policy does what you need it to and that you are eligible to make a claim.

For Income Withdrawals And Short Term Annuities

  • The value of your fund may be eroded, especially if investment returns are poor and a high level of income is taken. This could result in a lower income in the future.
  • The investment returns may be less than those shown in the illustrations.
  • Annuity or scheme pension rates may be at a worse level in the future.
  • When maximum withdrawals are taken or the maximum short term annuity is purchased, high levels of income may not be sustainable.
  • The maximum income that can be withdrawn under an alternatively secured pension after age 75 is significantly less than the maximum that applies before age 75.
Taxation
  • You should be aware that levels, bases and reliefs of taxation can change and you should seek advice regarding your personal taxation circumstances in respect of any financial contract or policy.
Your Right to Withdraw
In the case of product recommendations, we will inform you in writing of any right to withdraw or cancel you may have or, if it is the case, we will inform you in writing that no such rights will apply. You will usually have 14 or 30 days in which to change your mind but this will depend on the product you take out. Where your investment buys units in a fund that fluctuates you may not get back the full amount of your initial investment if the fund has fallen in value.

Conflict of Interest and Material Interest
Occasions can arise where we or one of our clients may have some form of interest in business that we are transacting for you. If this happens, or we become aware that our interests or those of one of our other clients conflicts with your interests, we will inform you in writing and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions.

We promise to deal honestly, fairly and professionally with you at all times, including if any material interest or conflict of interest arises.

Professional Indemnity Insurance
As required by the Financial Services Authority, we maintain compliant professional indemnity insurance cover for the protection of our clients in the event of negligence by any employee.

Complaints Procedure
We maintain an internal complaints procedure and a copy is available to you upon request. If you should have any cause to complain about the services and advice we have provided, please contact the Compliance Officer at Roberts Clark IFS Limited, Prosperity House, Water Street, Burntwood, Staffordshire, WS7 1AN. Our telephone number is 01543 677444.

We promise to deal with your complaint in an honest, fair, professional and objective manner and in line with the regulations for handling complaints. If, following our subsequent investigation and response, you are still not satisfied, you may contact the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Full details of how we handle and investigate complaints are contained within our internal complaints procedure, which is available to you on request at any time. The address of the Financial Ombudsman Service is South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SR. Their telephone number is 0845 080 1800.

Their web site address is www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk. Their email address is complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

Compensation Arrangements
If you make a valid claim against Roberts Clark IFS Limited and we are unable to meet our liabilities in full, you may be entitled to redress from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Further information is available from the FSA and the FSCS.

The FSCS also produce an explanatory leaflet “How We Handle Your Claim For Compensation – Deposit & Investment Claims” available from its web site or you can order a copy by telephone. The address of the FSCS is Financial Services Compensation Scheme, 7th Floor Lloyds Chambers, Portsoken Street, London, E1 8BN. Their telephone number is 020 7892 7300.  Their web site address is www.fscs.org.uk. Their email address is enquiries@fscs.org.uk.

Money Laundering Regulations, Data Protection and Disclosure of Personal Data
By law, we are bound to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations, as updated periodically, to assist in the reduction of financial crime. To comply with the Regulations we must obtain certain evidence of your identity and address. The purpose of the identification requirements is to ensure that we do not carry out financial business or provide investment advice for a client or potential client, without us being aware who you actually are.

The FSA make it clear that we must not carry out relevant regulatory activities unless we have taken reasonable steps to check your identity.

In the conduct of our business with you we will need to collect information about you that we will hold in paper and/or electronic format as data controllers under the Data Protection Act. We can use this information to analyse your current and future needs so that we can ensure that any advice is suitable to your particular circumstances.

The public register of data controllers can be found at www.ico.gov.uk. A helpline is also available on 01625 545740. Our Data Protection registration number is Z4965478.

The FSA requires us to keep records of all our business transactions for at least a set number of years, depending on the type of transaction. However, we will not keep records longer than is necessary.

You or your appointed agent has the right to inspect all records relating to yourself and your transactions through ourselves and, where appropriate, have it corrected or deleted (if the deletion would not be a breach of any known regulations).

All such requests for information must be referred to the Data Protection Officer at Roberts Clark IFS Limited.

We treat all our clients’ records as confidential, so we reserve the right to give you copies of your particular records rather than allowing access to files containing records about other clients.

We will supply the information to you within the required timescale of 40 days and we will charge a fee of £10 for the information.

Where other firms authorised under the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000 provide investment business services to Roberts Clark IFS Limited, then circumstances may arise which warrant the disclosure of more than just your basic contact details.

On these occasions you are aware that sensitive personal information (e.g. health details) held by us may be disclosed on a confidential basis to such authorised companies.

There may also be occasions when the FSA need to look at your personal information and records of transactions held by us, and they may need to contact you directly. In terms of our duty to treat our customers fairly we will not pass your details to any third party for the purpose of them marketing products and services to you.

All data will be maintained in-house but may need to be processed outside the European Economic Area, depending on the nature of business we are transacting for you.

Legal Information
This Client Agreement is governed by English Law and any dispute will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts in England and Wales. English Law will also govern any pre-contract relationship with us. All contracts and communications will be supplied to clients in English.

The terms contained in this Client Agreement are our standard terms upon which we intend to rely during our dealings with you. Please raise any questions or queries you have before instructing us to commence work.

D. Initial Consultation Agreement (Private Clients Only)

Trust - Choosing a Financial Adviser
It is difficult for any client to make a decision on who to appoint as their financial adviser. You are entrusting your financial affairs to someone else. It is important that you have complete trust in the person and firm that you deal with. This decision is perhaps one of the most important decisions anyone can make. We recognise that for you to be able to make such an important decision about your affairs you need to discuss at length your needs with a financial adviser before you make that decision.

Our Costs - We Have Bills Too
Like you, our staff have “bills” to pay. Our staff have children and our staff have mortgages. Roberts Clark IFS Limited also has its own bills to pay - salaries for staff, utility bills, rents, rates, National Insurances and Corporation taxes etc. Our costs also include five figure sums for Regulators fees, contributions to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to protect investors from insolvent financial advisers or investment companies, levies contributing to the overall running costs of the Financial Ombudsman Service and huge professional indemnity insurance costs to protect our clients should we ever be found to be negligent and cause our clients financial losses.

Time - Demand for our Time is High
Given our award winning approach to financial advice, our time is in great demand. Offering FREE initial consultations is a substantial burden on our time for which we do not get paid. However, we do recognise your need to talk at length with us before making that all-important decision about appointing us as your adviser. We do hope you will consider using our services.

How Does It Work?
Stage 1 - Free Initial Consultation
During the free initial consultation we will discuss the areas in which you need assistance and what we can do to help. We will not give you financial advice at this stage but will give you information to think about and consider. At the end of the free initial consultation you have two choices. You can either decide for us to take no further action. The initial consultation will be free of charge and nothing further needs to be done by yourself or Roberts Clark IFS Ltd. Or, you can move to Stage 2

Stage 2 - Contemplation, Initial Research and Quotation (This Stage is Chargeable)
You can ask us to consider your circumstances in more depth and provide you with more information about where we believe you need assistance. This will include a written quotation of our fees for that work. We make a charge if you opt for this choice but there are circumstances where that charge will be waived (for example, if you decide to proceed with the work we quote, we will waive the fee). Please refer to the information below that fully explains which parts of our dealings are not chargeable, and which parts are chargeable.

STAGE 1 - Free Consultation Agreement Only – No Further Action Required
Roberts Clark IFS Limited agrees to make no charge for the costs incurred for the initial consultation, regardless of how long that initial consultation takes. If you have decided not to ask us to consider your circumstances in more depth and provide you with more information about where we believe you need assistance, including a written quotation of our fees in Stage 2, you will not be charged for your initial consultation and there is no further action required by either yourself or Roberts Clark IFS Limited.

STAGE 2 - Contemplation, Initial Research and Quotation (This Stage is Chargeable)
If you have decided to ask us to consider your circumstances in more depth and provide you with more information about where we believe you need assistance, including a written quotation of our fees, please read the information below and confirm your understanding that Roberts Clark IFS Limited makes no charge for the initial consultation and of the charges we make for considering your circumstances and providing you with a written quotation. Please also sign your confirmation of no professional interest.
The Charge
We make a charge of £110 plus VAT to consider your circumstances in more depth, conduct initial research and provide you with more information about where we believe you need assistance, including a written quotation of our fees.
Waiving The Charge
If after considering our suggestions and quotation of our fees, you decide you would like to proceed with some or all of the work we quoted, we will waive the £110 plus VAT. If you decide not to proceed with any of the work we quoted for, and you let us know your decision within 6 weeks of the date of our quotation, we will also waive the £110 plus VAT because you have been courteous and saved us additional work in following matters up with you.
Invoicing The Charge
You will only receive an invoice from us if we have not heard from you after 6 weeks of issuing the quotation of our fees. Settlement terms within 14 days of invoice date.

No Professional Interest
In accepting this agreement, you confirm that the purpose of requesting more information and a written quotation of our fees is for genuine financial services needs with a view to engaging Roberts Clark IFS Limited and is not fictitious in order to gain possession of Roberts Clark IFS Limited’s documentation or other ideas or practices for professional reasons. The contents of the initial consultation meeting and the issue of any Roberts Clark IFS Limited materials or literature is entirely confidential and must not be released to outside parties without the express written permission of Roberts Clark IFS Limited. If our materials or literature are released to outside parties (with the exception of Law Enforcement, Regulatory or Governing bodies), Roberts Clark IFS Limited will consider this a serious breach of confidentiality that potentially compromises our future profitability or risks plagiarism or breach of copyright. In these events we will issue an invoice to you of £2,000.00 plus VAT as compensation for this breach. Settlement terms within 14 days of invoice date.

I confirm my wish to receive further information and a quotation of fees for the works involved. I understand the initial consultation carries no charge but that my request for further information and a quotation of fees carries a charge of £110 plus VAT. I understand the circumstances in which an invoice will be raised and also in which it will be waived. I confirm my dealings with Roberts Clark IFS Limited are for genuine financial services needs and that I have no professional interest.

I understand I will be asked to sign a paper version of this Initial Consultation Agreement where I move to Stage 2.

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Client Agreement Version: ONLINEWEB_CA_V7010909

 

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