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Capstone Financial Planning
This Financial Services Guide (FSG) has been produced by Capstone
Financial Planning Pty Ltd (‘Capstone’, ‘we,’ ‘us,’ and ‘our’).
Capstone is a privately owned and operated financial planning
company. We are not owned by a fund manager, bank or other
financial institution. Capstone advisers are equipped to offer
clients holistic advice and solutions that are tailored to each client’s
individual needs, circumstances and advice requirements.
Who is my adviser?
Your adviser is an authorised representative of Capstone. Individual
details of your adviser will be provided to you in their adviser/
company profile which includes details of the adviser’s authorised
representative number, their experience, qualifications, charging
methodology and the specific services they are authorised to
provide. The adviser profile forms part of the FSG and is to be read
in conjunction with this document.
Your adviser acts on behalf of Capstone and we are responsible for
any advisory services your adviser provides.
Purpose and content
This FSG contains important information to help you decide whether
to use any of the services offered by Capstone. It contains details of:
• The financial services and products we offer
• Our fees
• How we are remunerated
• Any interests, associations or relationships that could affect our
advice
• Our complaints handling procedures and how to access them
• Our privacy policy
What other documents might I receive from
Capstone?
When we provide you with personal advice you will receive a
written report called a Statement of Advice (SoA). The SoA
will state your relevant personal circumstances, outline
the advice being provided, the basis on which the advice
is given, information about any fees, commissions,
and associations relevant to the provision of the
advice.
It is important to note that we can only
provide personal financial advice after
making reasonable enquiries and
after giving consideration to
your current personal and
financial circumstances.
Advice Fees
The Advice Fees you pay to Capstone may comprise one or more of
the following:
• A percentage fee based on the value of your holding in a financial
product
• A fixed dollar amount
• An hourly rate
These fees may include:
• Statement of Advice Fee - for the preparation of a Statement
of Advice
• Initial Advice Fee - for initial advisory services
• Implementation Fee - for the implementation of financial
products
• Ongoing Service Fee - when your adviser provides you with
ongoing advice and service
These fees are payable by you and may be paid either directly from
you or from your financial product/s.
How will I pay for the services provided?
Prior to providing any service we will mutually agree on the method
of our remuneration. We offer a variety of service levels and fee
structures that can be tailored to suit your individual circumstances.
Please refer to the adviser/company profile provided to you for
specific details of your adviser’s charging methodology.
Licensee advice fee
Capstone may receive a licensee advice fee (or similar from you),
when you decide to implement a recommended product that
applies this type of fee.
A licensee advice fee is an annual ongoing fee that contributes
to preferential product pricing and professional related support
services, for as long as you hold the product and may be based on:
• A percentage fee based on the value of your holding in the
product; or
• A dollar amount.
Where a percentage fee applies, this fee may range from 0.00% to
0.20%. For example, an investment of $10,000 in a product that
applies a licensee advice fee of 0.20%, Capstone will receive a fee of
$22 per annum ($20 plus GST). The fee will be retained by Capstone
and not passed on to your adviser.
This fee is payable by you directly from your financial product. If
applicable, this payment will be disclosed to you prior to you
purchasing the product.
Commissions
Capstone does not generally receive commissions. We can only
accept commissions where it occurs under an existing arrangement
between Capstone and the product issuer entered into before 1 July
2013. Accordingly, investment based products will not be subject to
commissions unless they are already held by you.
We may also accept commissions from the product issuer in
circumstances where you implement life risk insurance products
(excluding group life risk policies held within superannuation
as well as individual life insurance policies held within a default
superannuation fund).
If applicable, any such payments will be disclosed to you before you
purchase the product. Below are examples of how commissions apply.
From time to time, the employees of Capstone may receive noncash benefits with a cash value less than $300. A register listing the details of any non-cash benefits between $100 and $300 is maintained. These non-cash benefits do not influence the financial product recommendations provided by our advisers to you. If you would like more information, you can request a copy of the register.
Requesting further information
You have a right to request further information in relation to the remuneration, the range of amounts, rates of remuneration and benefits received by Capstone and/or your adviser.
This includes remuneration that may be generated from services other than personal advice. Any request for further information should be made before any service is provided and within a reasonable time frame.
Relationships or associations with a product issuer Capstone is the distributor of:
• C-wrap SuperWrap and C-wrap InvestmentWrap, which is operated by BT Portfolio Services Limited (BTPS) ABN 73 095 055 208, a wholly owned subsidiary of Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 451 141; and
• c)smsf which is operated by SuperIQ Pty Ltd ABN 27 147 105
164.
Capstone receives a percentage of the administration fees charged from c)smsf. This fee contributes to preferential pricing and professional related support services. This fee is retained by us and not passed on to our advisers.
Other important information
How can I give you instructions?
You can give us instructions by telephone, email or other means agreed with us. Some financial products have their own rules about how to give instructions. Please refer to the Product Disclosure Statement of the relevant product for those details.
What is my personal information used for?
Your adviser will collect your personal details and conduct an analysis of your overall situation including investment needs, objectives and personal financial information before providing any advice. If you do not provide the personal information requested, we may not be able to provide you with the financial services you require.
Accessing and updating your personal information If you have concerns about the accuracy or completeness of the personal information we hold, you may request to access your personal information by contacting your adviser.
The Privacy Policy
We are committed to protecting your privacy. Your personal information will be handled in accordance with our privacy policy. This document outlines how the information we collect from you is used, stored and disclosed. A copy of our privacy policy will be provided to you and can also be obtained from our offices or from our website.
If you receive further financial advice from us and a SoA has been
previously provided, we may record details of that advice in a Record
of Advice (RoA) where certain criteria is met. The RoA will include
a summary of your relevant personal circumstances or state which
previous advice document contains this information, particulars of
the advice being provided, the basis on which the advice is given,
information about any fees, commissions, and associations relevant
to the advice. You can request a copy of any relevant RoA document
by contacting your adviser.
When we offer to issue, arrange the issue of or make a
recommendation to acquire a particular financial product (other
than securities) we will provide you with a Product Disclosure
Statement (PDS). A PDS contains information about fees payable,
risks, benefits and significant characteristics of the financial product.
These documents will assist you to make an informed decision in
relation to the acquisition of a financial product.
If you have entered into an ongoing service arrangement with us,
you will be provided with an annual Fee Disclosure Statement (FDS).
This statement provides details of the ongoing service fees you
have paid during the preceding 12 month period, the services you
were entitled to receive during that period, and those you actually
received.
You may also receive a renewal notice following every second
anniversary of your ongoing service arrangement. This will be
provided to you in writing and accompany your FDS. You must
complete the renewal notice in order to continue to receive ongoing
service and advice from your adviser. If you do not complete the
renewal notice or fail to respond, the ongoing service arrangement
ceases, meaning the adviser is not obligated to give ongoing service
and advice, and you are no longer obligated to continue paying the
ongoing fee.
Advisory Services
We are authorised to provide financial product advice and deal in
the following financial products to wholesale and retail clients:
• Deposit and Payment
Products
• Retirement Savings
Accounts
• Securities • Standard Margin Lending Facility
• Life Products • Superannuation
• Managed Investment
Schemes
• Government Debentures, Stocks
and Bonds
Remuneration
Capstone and your adviser are paid for the services they provide
through various methods of remuneration, including payments
made by you (service and advice fees), and payments received from
product issuers. These payments will be disclosed to you in your
advice/disclosure document. In circumstances where we cannot
determine the amount of remuneration we will disclose the method
of calculation.
Investment based financial products
For existing investments held by you and entered into before 1
July 2013, an upfront commission may range from 0.0% to 4% of
the amount you invest, depending on the product. For example,
for an additional investment of $10,000 in a product whose issuer
pays Capstone a 3% upfront commission, Capstone will receive
an upfront commission of $330 ($300 + GST). Capstone may also
receive ongoing commission, which may range from 0.0% to 1% of
the value of your holding in a product, for as long as you hold the
product. For example, for a holding of $10,000 in a product whose
issuer pays Capstone a 0.6% ongoing commission, Capstone will
receive an ongoing commission of $66 per annum ($60 + GST).
Insurance (risk) products
Capstone may receive an initial commission from the product issuer
when you decide to buy a risk product your adviser recommends
to you. This commission may range from 0.0% to 80% of the initial
premium amount, depending on the product. For example, a Term
Life base premium of $1,000 per annum in a product whose product
issuer pays Capstone an initial 80% commission, Capstone will receive
commission of $880 ($800 plus GST). Some product providers may
pay commissions on stamp duty and policy fees. Initial commissions
may also be payable to Capstone on any premium increases resulting
from increases in sums insured that you decide to make during the
time you hold the product. This initial commission will only apply to
the component of the increased premium resulting from the increase
in sum insured. Capstone may also receive ongoing commission,
which may range from 0.0% to 20% of the renewal premium from
the 2nd year. For example, an annual base premium of $1,000 in
a product whose issuer pays Capstone a 20% ongoing commission
from the 2nd year, Capstone will receive an ongoing commission of
$220 per annum ($200 plus GST).
Distribution of remuneration
Remuneration is payable to Capstone in the first instance. Capstone
will then pay any remuneration earned to your adviser/their
company. Details of these payments will be disclosed in your advice/
disclosure document.
Other forms of remuneration
To assist in the provision of regular professional training and
development, including ongoing technical training and updates in
relation to financial products for Capstone’s advisers and support
staff, we have developed formal relationships with a number of
financial product providers. Each year we invite leading financial
product providers to participate in this relationship program. They
each contribute financially as part of this program. It is important
to note that Capstone’s financial product range is not influenced by
any relationship program as Capstone subscribes to independent
research and all products are individually assessed on their own
merits.
Capstone may receive allowances due to existing arrangements
from a range of financial product providers prior to 1 July 2013.
These arrangements may result in a monetary benefit being paid
to Capstone, which may be based on the amount of funds our
clients have previously placed with these product providers. These
allowances may total up to 0.06% of our Funds Under Advice and
are retained by Capstone and not passed on to our advisers.
As new product providers join this program and others leave, you
will be provided with an updated list via your advice document
(where relevant). Capstone has no preferred product provider
relationship and does not promote any specific product provider or
administration platform.
Version 4.0 April 2018
Capstone Financial Planning Pty Ltd | Australian Financial Services Licence No.223135 | ABN 24 093 733 969
Level 14,
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism
Financing Act 2006
Capstone has an obligation under the Anti-Money Laundering and
Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 to verify your identity and
the source of any funds. Accordingly we may ask you to provide
particular identification documents such as your passport or driver’s
licence.
Will anyone be paid for referring me to you?
Where you have been referred to your adviser by a third party,
any referral payments will be disclosed in your advice/disclosure
document.
Compensation arrangements Capstone has and continues to maintain Professional Indemnity
Insurance in accordance with the Corporations Act 2001.
Our Professional Indemnity Insurance, subject to its terms and conditions, provides indemnity up to the sum insured for Capstone and our authorised representatives/employees in respect of our authorisations and obligations under our Australian Financial
Services Licence. This insurance will continue to provide such coverage for any authorised representative/representative/ employee who has ceased work with Capstone for work done whilst engaged with us.
If you have a complaint
If you have a complaint about the service provided to you, you should take the following steps:
1. Contact your adviser and tell your adviser about your complaint.
2. If your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved within 5 business days, please contact our Professional Standards Team on 03 8622 0700 or put your complaint in writing and send it to us at Level 14, 461 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 or via email at compliance@capstonefp.com.au. We will try and resolve your complaint quickly and fairly.
3. Capstone is a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service Australia (FOS). If you feel our response is inadequate or if you have not received a response within 45 days, you have the right to complain to FOS. They can be contacted on 1800 367 287 or you can write to them at GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001. This service is provided to you free of charge.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) also has an Infoline: 1300 300 630 which you may use to make a complaint and obtain information about your rights. If you have concerns involving ethical and professional conduct, you may consider raising your concerns with the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA). They can be contacted on 1300 626 393 or you can write to them at GPO Box 4285, Sydney NSW 2001.