Terms & Conditions

FSA MEMBERSHIP

SMG F.S Ltd are authorised to conduct investment business under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

INVESTMENT SERVICES

SMG F.S Ltd are authorised as an INDEPENDENT ADVISER Firm and will act on your behalf in advising you on the arrangement of life assurance, pensions, investments and mortgages from different companies. From 1st November 2004 the regulatory responsibilities for Mortgages and Long Term Care Insurance were taken over by the FSA. From 14th January 2005 the regulatory responsibilities for General Insurance were taken over by the FSA. Additionally, the FSA assumed responsibility for Pure Term Assurance which includes Life Assurance, Critical Illness, Private Medical Insurance and Permanent Health Insurance. With regard to investments which we have arranged for you, we will not give you any further advice unless you request it, but we will be glad to advise you at any time upon request.

FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPENSATION SCHEME

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme If you make a valid claim against SMG F.S Ltd in respect of the investments we arrange for you and we are unable to meet our obligations in full, you may be entitled to redress from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

INVESTOR PROTECTION

The client is advised that investment in UK Investments and Long Term Insurance contracts are protected by the Financial Service Compensation Scheme. Maximum levels of compensation are 100% of the first £30,000 and 90% of the next £20,000 for Investments, Personal Pensions and mortgages (so the maximum compensation is £48,000) and 100% of the first £2,000 plus 90% of the remainder of the claim for Long-term Insurance (e.g. life assurance) in the event of the collapse of the life assurance or pensions company). Details of the cover provided by the FSCS are given in a leaflet which we will send you at your request. Further information is available from the FSA and the FSCS (FSCS helpline, 020 7892 7300).

DISCLOSURE OF CLIENTS PERSONAL DATA

Where investment business services are provided to SMG F.S Ltd by other companies authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act then circumstances may arise which warrant the disclosure of more than just your basic contact details. On these occasions such as processing business, and obtaining compliance and regulatory advice you agree that sensitive personal information held by SMG FS Ltd may be disclosed on a confidential basis to such authorised companies.

DIRECT MARKETING

The client agrees that SMG F.S Ltd may use the information we hold about the clients to contact the client from time to time by post, e-mail, fax or telephone to bring the client’s attention to additional products or services which may be of benefit to the client.

SMG F.S Ltd agree that any consent given in the above paragraph may be withdrawn by the client at any time by contacting SMG FS Ltd in writing at the above address.

TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY

Our authority to act on your behalf can be terminated at any time by either party, without penalty. Notice of this termination must be given in writing. The client shall pay for any transactions made prior to termination and any fees outstanding.

CLIENT MONEY

SMG F.S Ltd does not handle client’s money. We never accept cash or a cheque made out to SMG F.S Ltd (unless it is a cheque in settlement of fees, charges or disbursements for which we have sent you an invoice). We never accept cheques made out to an adviser by name under any circumstances.

PERSONAL INTERESTS

SMG F.S Ltd offers independent advice, but occasions can arise where we or one of our other clients will have some form of interest in business being transacted for you. If this happens or we become aware that our interests or those of one of our other clients conflict with your interests, we will write to you and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions.

EXECUTION ONLY TRANSACTIONS

Any instructions to SMG F.S Ltd to buy investments that have not been recommended by us will be carried out on an “Execution Only” basis. In these instances SMG FS Ltd will not be bound by the FSA’s “Suitable Advice” or “Know your Client” rules and cannot be held responsible for the suitability of that investment for any purpose.

DIRECT OFFER & E JOINER’ TRANSACTIONS

Any instructions to SMG F.S Ltd to purchase investments following ‘Direct Offer’ mailing campaigns or for group pension scheme members specifying requirements to apply for membership online (‘E Joiners’) have not received advice from SMG F.S. In these instances SMG FS Ltd will not be bound by the FSA’s “Suitable Advice” or “Know your Client” rules and cannot be held responsible for the suitability of that investment for any purpose. ‘Execution Only’, ‘Direct Offer’ and ‘E Joiners’ are however invited to specifically request formal advice for which SMG F.S Ltd will accept full suitability rules.

MONEY LAUNDERING REGULATIONS

Where we are required to verify your identity and address in accordance with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Money Laundering Regulations 2003, no investment will be made until such statutory verification has been obtained.

RECORDS & THE DATA PROTECTION ACT

It is understood that we keep secure personal and financial records with regard to your circumstances on electronic and/or paper based files as required to be able to advise you on your investment needs. We confirm that this information was correct at the time it was obtained from you. We confirm that we cannot be held responsible for the information held on your file becoming inaccurate due to change of circumstances if you fail to inform us of the changes.

We keep records of all our business transactions for at least six years. Files relating to Pension Transfers, Freestanding Additional Voluntary Contributions, or Pension Opt-outs or will be kept indefinitely.

You or your appointed agent may inspect contract notes, vouchers and entries in our books, (whether kept manually or electronically) which relate solely to your investments. As we treat all our clients’ records as confidential, we reserve the right to give you copies of your records if to do otherwise would be to allow access to files containing records about other clients.

We will supply on demand to a client or his agent, copies of records relating to a client’s transactions within that period. We reserve the right to apply a charge to cover the costs involved in copying these records.

CLIENTS INSTRUCTIONS

We require our clients to give us instructions in writing (which shall include fax and E mail transmission) to avoid possible disputes. We will, however, accept oral instructions at our discretion, provided they are confirmed in writing.

CLIENTS RISK

You are advised that because investments can fall as well as rise, you may not get back the full amount invested. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance.

CLIENTS DOCUMENTS

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 practicable 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.

All cheques, documents of title etc may be sent by post to the client’s last known address and shall be sent at the client’s own risk. The Recorded Delivery Service will not normally be used.

REMUNERATION

Unless you give instructions that we will be remunerated on a fee paying basis, we will receive commission from the product providers and we will not consider non-commission paying companies. If you instruct us to work on a fee-paying basis, we will agree its basis in writing with you before carrying out any chargeable work.

We derive part of our income from commission paid to us by life assurance companies and the operators of collective investment schemes through which investments are made.

We shall tell you the amount of commission payable to us on any new investment. We may be unaware of the commission for any increment to an investment commenced before 31st December 1994 and we rely on the product provider to send you these details.

COMPLAINTS

If you should have any complaint about the advice you receive or a product you have bought from SMG F.S Ltd, please write to the Compliance Manager, David Methley at SMG F.S Ltd, The North Range, 3 Harewood Yard, Harewood Estate, Leeds LS17 9LF. Telephone 0113 3873470. Complaints we cannot settle may be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

DISCLAIMER, COPYRIGHT, BROWSER & COOKIES NOTICE, E-MAIL USE AND PRIVACY POLICY

DISCLAIMER

Whilst we endeavour to ensure that the information contained on this site is true and accurate, we cannot give any warranty to that effect. We cannot be responsible for the consequences of reliance on that information, and any information of an advisory nature is general only and cannot be regarded as applicable to a specific case. However this disclaimer is not intended to affect your statutory rights. In particular, please note that we cannot accept any responsibility for the contents of materials viewable from this site which are not provided or maintained by us. These materials may be provided by (but are not limited to) links, frames and portals.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

The materials contained on this site except as where identified as being the copyright of any other person are copyright to us and may be subject to other intellectual property rights such as trademarks. Whilst the pages may be downloaded or copied for the purposes for which the site is intended, such copies may only be used by you and within your organisation, and not for any commercial use without our express consent. All copyrights and trademark notices, marks, disclaimers and other such elements must be preserved and upheld at all times.

E-MAIL

Communications in connection with this service may be sent by e-mail. For ease of use and compatibility communications other than payments will not be sent in an encrypted form unless you require it and provide the certification to enable us to communicate with you in that way. e-mail unless encrypted is not a fully secure means of communication.

PRIVACY POLICY

Preservation of your privacy is important to us and we are committed to letting you know how we use your personal information. Information which identifies you personally will be utilised only to provide the services you require and for providing you with information about our products and services. It will not be sold or intentionally disclosed to third parties without your permission unless we are required to do so by law.

OWNERSHIP OF SITE

For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Business Names Act 1985 we confirm that the proprietors of this site are SMG F.S Ltd, The North Range, 3 Harewood Yard, Harewood, Leeds, LS17 9LF.