Terms of Business – Version 2020-4 Effective from 31^st March 2020

Pearce Financial Ltd t/s Pearce Financial Planning

These terms of business set out the general terms under which our firm will provide business services to you and the respective duties and responsibilities of both the firm and you in relation to such services.  Please ensure that you read these terms thoroughly and if you have an

y queries we will be happy to clarify them.  If any material changes are made to these terms, we will notify you.

Authorisation with the Central Bank of Ireland

Pearce Financial Ltd t/a Pearce Financial Planning (Central Bank Registered Number 111690) is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an Insurance Intermediary registered under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018; as an Investment Intermediary authorised under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995.  Copies of our regulatory authorisations are available on request.  The Central Bank of Ireland holds registers of regulated firms.  You may contact the Central Bank of Ireland on 1890 777 777 or alternatively visit their website at www.centralbank.ie  to verify our credentials.

Codes of Conduct

Pearce Financial Ltd  t/a Pearce Financial Planning is subject to the Central Bank’s Consumer Protection Code, Minimum Competency Code and Fitness & Probity  Standards which offer protection to consumers.  These Codes can be found on the Central Bank’s website www.centralbank.ie.

Our Services

Pearce Financial Ltd t/a Pearce Financial Planning is a member Brokers Ireland.

Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to life & pensions products.  A full list of insurers and product producers with which we deal is available on request.

Fair and Personal Analysis

The concept of fair and personal analysis describes the extent of the choice of products and providers offered by an intermediary within a particular category of life assurance, general insurance, mortgages, and/ or a specialist area.  The number of contracts and providers considered must be sufficiently large to enable an intermediary to recommend a product that would be adequate to meet a client’s needs.

The number of providers that constitutes ‘sufficiently large’ will vary depending on the number of providers operating in the market for a particular product or service and their relative importance in and share of that market.  The extent of fair analysis must be such that could be reasonably expected of a professional conducting business, taking into account the accessibility of information and product placement to intermediaries and the cost of the search.

In order to ensure that the number of contracts and providers is sufficiently large to constitute a fair and personal analysis of the market, we will consider the following criteria:

the needs of the customer,

the size of the customer order,

the number of providers in the market that deal with brokers,

the market share of each of those providers,

the number of relevant products available from each provider,

the availability of information about the products,

the quality of the product and service provided by the provider,

cost, and

any other relevant consideration.

Investment Intermediary Services

Pearce Financial Ltd t/a Pearce Financial Planning is remunerated by commission for its investment intermediary services.

Insurance based Investment Products

We are remunerated by commission for the advice we provide on insurance based investment products.

Life & Pensions/Deposits & Life Wrapped Investments

ABC Ltd. provides life assurance and pensions on a fair and personal analysis basis i.e. providing services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available on the market to enable us to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, regarding which contract would be adequate to meet your needs.

We will provide assistance to you for any queries you may have in relation to the policies, or in the event of a claim during the life of the policies and we will explain to you the various restrictions, conditions and exclusions attached to your policy.  It is, however, your responsibility to read the policy documents, literature and brochures to ensure that you understand the nature of the policy cover, particularly in relation to PHI and serious illness policies.

Specifically on the subject of permanent health insurance policies it is our policy to explain to you a) the meaning of disability as defined in the policy; b) the benefits available under the policy; c) the general exclusions that apply to the policy; and d) the reductions applied to the benefit where there are disability payments from other sources.

For a serious illness policy, we will explain clearly to you the restrictions, conditions and general exclusions that attach to that policy.

Statement of Charges

We are remunerated by commission and other payments from product producers or lenders on the completion of business.

A summary of the details of all arrangements for any fee, commission or other reward or remuneration paid or provided to us which have been agreed with product providers is available in our office or on our website www.pearce.ie

Ongoing Suitability

Investments 

The firm’s services do not include ongoing suitability assessments.

Disclosure of Information

Any failure to disclose material information may invalidate your claim and render your policy void.

Pearce Financial Planning is remunerated by commission and other payments from product producers or lenders on the completion of business. Where we receive recurring commission, this forms part of the remuneration for initial advice provided.

We reserve the right to charge additional fees if the number of hours relating to ongoing advice/assistance are excessive.

Regular Reviews

It is in your best interests that you review, on a regular basis, the products which we have arranged for you.  As your circumstances change, your needs will change.  You should advise us of these changes and request a review of the relevant policy so that we can ensure that you are provided with up to date advice and products best suited to your needs.  Failure to contact us of changes in your circumstances, or request a review, may result in you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments.

Conflicts of Interest

It the policy of our firm to avoid conflicts of interest in providing services to you.  However, where an unavoidable conflict of interest arises we will advise you of this in writing before providing you with any service.

Default on Payments by Clients

Product producers may withdraw benefits or cover in the event of default on payments due under policies of insurance or other products arranged for you.  We would refer you to policy documents or product terms for the details of such provisions.

Complaints

Whilst we are happy to receive verbal complaints, it would be preferable that any complaints are made, in writing. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days and we will fully investigate it. We shall investigate the complaint as swiftly as possible, and, the complainant will receive an update on the complaint at intervals of not greater than 20 business days starting from the date on which the complaint is made.  On completion of our investigation, we will provide you with a written report of the outcome. In the event that you are still dissatisfied with our handling of or response to your complaint, you are entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO). A full copy of our complaints procedure is available on request.

Data Protection

We are subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.

Pearce Financial Ltd t/a Pearce Financial Planning is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We wish to be transparent on how we process your data and show you that we are accountable with the GDPR in relation to not only processing your data but ensuring you understand your rights as a client.

The data will be processed only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given and as outlined in our Data Privacy Notice, this will be given to all our clients at the time of data collection.

We will ensure that this Privacy Notice is easily assessible. Please refer to our website www.pearce.ie. If this medium is not suitable we will ensure you can easily receive a hard copy or a pdf by email.

Please contact us at info@pearce.ie, if you have any concerns about your personal data.

Third Party Presence at Meetings

The Firm recognises that some customers are experienced investors and may not want or require a third party at the meeting. The Firm is always agreeable to the attendance of a third party at a meeting for all customers and would advise a third party presence for investment products, particularly where the customer has no previous investment experience or in other circumstances such as ill health, age or bereavement.

Investment Compensation Scheme

We are members of the Investor Compensation Scheme operated by the Investor Compensation Company Ltd.  See below for details.

Investor Compensation Scheme

The Investor Compensation Act, 1998 provides for the establishment of a compensation scheme and the payment, in certain circumstances, of compensation to certain clients (known as eligible investors) of authorised investment firms, as defined in that Act.

The Investor Compensation Company Ltd. (ICCL) was established under the 1998 Act to operate such a compensation scheme and our firm is a member of this scheme.

Compensation may be payable where money or investment instruments owed or belonging to client and held, administered or managed by the firm cannot be returned to those clients for the time being and where there is no reasonably foreseeable opportunity of the firm being able to do so.

A right to compensation will arise only:

• If the client is an eligible investor as defined in the Act; and
• If it transpires that the firm is not in a position to return client money or investment instruments owned or belonging to the clients of the firm;
  and
• To the extent that the client’s loss is recognised for the purposes of the Act.

Where an entitlement to compensation is established, the compensation payable will be the lesser of:

• 90% of the client’s loss which is recognised for the purposes of the Investor Compensation Act,1998; or
• Compensation of up to €20,000.

For further information, contact the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. at

(01) 224 4955.

Brokers Ireland Compensation Fund

We are also members of the Brokers Ireland Compensation Fund. Subject to the rules of the scheme the liabilities of its members firms up to a maximum of €100,000 per client (or €250,000 in aggregate) may be discharged by the fund on its behalf if the member firm is unable to do so, where the above detailed Investor Compensation Scheme has failed to adequately compensate any client of the member. Further details are available on request.

 On-going Client Contact
Most consultations between the Client and Pearce Financial Planning will be by prearranged appointment, but the Client expressly authorises Pearce Financial Planning to make calls to the Client for the purpose of providing Pearce Financial Planning services, other than at Client’s invitation.  The Client may cancel this authorisation at any time, with immediate effect, by notifying Pearce Financial Planning in writing.

Pearce Financial Ltd  t/a Pearce Financial Planning is regulated by the Central Bank Reference No. 111690