Client Proposition Professional Financial Advice Services

Our Client Service Proposition aims to introduce you to Castle Sundborn Ltd, our company ethos and the financial advice services we offer.

Thank you for your interest in Castle Sundborn Ltd. Your interest is very much appreciated whether you are a prospective client or one of our many existing clients.

We pride ourselves on making your financial investment’s, pensions and retirement options clear and simple so you can be confident that you are making the right decisions, We aim to add value through the services we provide to all of our clients.

Castle Sundborn Ltd provides a personal service, tailored to meet your needs. We listen and give unbiased advice to help you manage your savings and investments. Our aim is to take the worry out of your finances, allowing you to relax and enjoy life. Our advisers will work with you to help you make the right investment choices both now and in the future.

About Us

We are a firm of advisers based in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. We specialise in providing unbiased advice on investments, pensions and retirement options to both individual and corporate clients. This advice is however restricted. We will advise and make a recommendation for you after we have assessed your needs. We only offer advice on limited types of products. You may ask us for a list of the products we offer. As experienced and dedicated financial advisers there are certain types of investment on which we do not advise because of the increased risks attached to such products.

The firm is an established family run practice set up in 1964 by Timothy Bather, the chairman. Anthony Bather joined the firm in 1988 and is now Managing Director. The business continues to thrive, attracting business predominantly through existing client referrals.

Our relationship with you does not stop once you have made an investment. We keep you up to date with the performance of your plans and we stay in touch to ensure that any changes to your lifestyle or financial goals are reflected in your portfolio.

Our Services

We can provide you with advice in the following areas:

Investments

We will establish an investment proposition tailored to your needs and financial objectives. We will work with you to create the right solutions for you whether you want to save regularly or have existing investments for review. Alternatively, if you wish to invest in behalf of your children, grandchildren or via a trust we can arrange that for you too.

Personal Pensions

If you are just starting out in your career we can help you decide which type of pension is just right for you and work out how much you can afford to invest on a regular basis to achieve the kind of retirement you want.

However, if you have moved jobs a few times already and have several different pension plans with a number of providers we can review how well your pension plans are performing and determine if they will in fact meet your needs. If your pension is not meeting expectations or you have a number of small pension pots we can advise you as to whether combining your pensions under one provider would be suitable for you.

At Retirement Planning

We are on hand to help you make the right decisions when you are nearing retirement. We can offer advice on the different ways of taking an income from your existing plans and maximising your finances in retirement.

Estate Planning

No matter what your net worth, it is important to have a basic estate plan in place. Such a plan ensures that your assets are passed on according to your wishes and that your loved ones are adequately provided for. When assessing your assets we include property, investments, retirement savings, insurance policies and business interests.

We also offer access to a specialist will writing service if needed.

Corporate Services

If you need advice for your business then we are happy to discuss group pensions and employee benefits with you as well as personal and corporate services for company directors. Consideration will be given to key person, partnership and shareholder insurances for partnerships and limited companies. Our advisers will discuss your needs directly with you to ensure that you are adequately covered.

Protection

Whether you are reviewing your life insurance provision, protecting your income or considering critical illness cover we can help you find the right type of policy for you and your family to suit both your needs and your budget.

Tax Efficient Savings

When we assess your overall financial position, one of the key elements of that assessment will be to ensure that your arrangements are tax efficient. Our advice will take into account capital gains tax, income tax and inheritance tax where appropriate.

Long Term Care

If you, or a relative, need to consider residential or nursing care, our qualified advisers can guide you through the options available and working with both the care provider in question as well as the local authority, provide you with the solution best suited to your needs.

Our Advice Process

At Castle Sundborn we have a wealth of experience and market knowledge to help you get the most from your finances. We use a tried and tested approach to ensure that we manage all of our clients’ financial affairs efficiently, responsibly and ethically. This involves the following:

Initial Consultation

This is a ‘no obligation- no cost’ meeting which involves an initial discussion to identify your needs, your financial goals and your priorities.

How We Charge for Our Services

We offer a transparent and fair charging system for the advice and services we give. We will agree with you in advance how much you will pay for the work we undertake on your behalf, for any investments you make and for the ongoing advice and service we provide. Our Service Level Agreement towards the end of this document provides full details of the fees we charge for any initial advice and ongoing service. We will tell you if you have to pay VAT.

Review of Your Needs

Our advice process begins once you have instructed us to act on your behalf. As part of this process we will review:

Your current financial circumstances
What money you have coming in together with your average expenditure and what you need to keep in reserve
Personal details about you and your family, your tax position and employment, your financial needs, future plans and Investment goals.
Whether you require capital growth from your investments, income or both.
Your existing investments will be reviewed to make sure they are still suitable for your needs.

Assessing Your Capacity for Risk/Loss

This is a very important area to be assessed and can vary from client to client. To enable us to ensure that our recommendations are suitable for you we will ask you a number of questions to do with how you view risk and how much risk you have taken with past investments. This will help us to agree on the amount of risk you are happy to take with any future investments.

Suitability Assessment

We will advise and make a recommendation for you after we have assessed your needs. We only offer advice on limited types of products. You may ask us for a list of the products we offer. Any recommendations we make will be confirmed to you in writing and will show why we believe they are suitable for you. They will be based on your stated objectives and circumstances and take into account any restrictions that you wish to place on the type of products you would be willing to consider. They will include any associated risks and the costs of our advice. Full details of any products we may recommend to you including for example the minimum duration of the product, information on the right to cancel or whether no right to cancel arises and any other early termination rights and penalties will be covered in the relevant product disclosure information you will receive before conclusion of any contract.

Implementation

When we have agreed how to proceed, we will implement the recommendations on your behalf.

Ongoing Review (where selected)

As a valued client of Castle Sundborn Ltd you will have:

Continued access to an adviser
Regular portfolio reviews
A comprehensive review of your financial strategy
Regular contact from us to ensure that any changes to your lifestyle or financial goals are reflected in your portfolio.

Our Promises to Our Clients

We value the reputation that we have earned over the years and we adhere to our code of ethics to maintain our professional standards and integrity at all times. This is confirmed in our pledges:

Qualifications

All Castle Sundborn advisers hold the required qualifications to provide you with appropriate advice and undergo a continuous process of professional development. They have both applied for and received a Statement of Professional Standing from one of the FCA’s accredited bodies.

Service

Castle Sundborn will always endeavour to provide you with the highest level of service possible. All communications, both verbal and in writing, will be in English

Personal Recommendations

A Castle Sundborn adviser will always recommend a course of action based on your specific circumstances and the needs that have been identified.

Referrals to Third Parties

There may be occasions whereby we would refer you to a specialist for specific advice such as tax advice. Should you pursue our suggestion to use the third party introduced to you, you should note that we are NOT responsible for the advice they give you. You will be subject to their terms and conditions. They will agree their charges for their advice direct with you.

Our Terms of Business

Who Regulates Us?

Castle Sundborn Ltd, The Old Bank, 10 High Street, Malmesbury, Wiltshire, SN16 9AU is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, 12 Endeavour Square, London, E20 1JN. Our FCA Register number is 125913.

Our permitted business is advising on and arranging pensions, savings and investment products, mortgages and non-investment insurance contracts.

You can check this on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA’s website www.fca.org.uk/firms/systems-reporting/register or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.

Client Classification

Unless we notify you in writing to the contrary you will be treated as a ‘retail’ client for investment and pension advice and as a 'consumer' for protection advice. This means that you are afforded the highest level of protection under the regulatory system and should have the right to take any complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You may also be entitled to benefit from the maximum protection available under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The company and its representatives are not qualified to provide any legal advice and will not provide any opinion as to whether a client should complain about any previous advice received unless explicitly agreed.

Complaints

We have a written policy for handling complaints and how we ensure we deal with each complaint promptly and fairly. You can obtain a summary from us should you so request. Should you have cause to complain for any reason a copy of our policy for handling complaints will be automatically sent to you.

If you should wish to register a complaint please contact:

The Compliance Officer, Castle Sundborn Ltd, The Old Bank, 10 High Street, Malmesbury, Wiltshire, SN16 9AU.

Telephone: Anthony Bather 01666 825200

A copy of our complaints procedure can be obtained from the above address.

If you cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service who can be contacted via their online enquiry form on their website address of www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/ or alternatively by phone 0800 023 4567.

Client Money

Castle Sundborn Ltd is permitted to handle client money for the purposes of General Insurance only. For all other types of business Castle Sundborn will not accept a cheque made out to us (unless it is in respect of an item for which we have sent you an invoice) or handle cash. This means that all investment monies will be made payable to the product provider recommended.

Conflict of Interest

We will endeavour to always act in the best interests of our clients. However, there may be occasions where we, or one of our customers, will 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 customers conflict with your interests, we will inform you in writing and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions. If we can continue to act for you, we will tell you how we will ensure your interests are protected. On occasions we may have to cease acting for you, but we will help you find advice from elsewhere if you want us to. Should you require further information in relation to our conflicts of interest policy then please contact us at the address shown.

Best Execution

In executing or transmitting orders on your behalf to third parties we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that we obtain the best post possible result for you in terms of best execution.

Risk Warnings

Please be aware that investments can fall as well as rise and that you may not get back the full amount invested. The price of investments we recommend may depend on fluctuations in the financial markets or other economic factors which are outside our control.

Non- readily realisable investments will generally have a restricted market and therefore it may be difficult to deal in that investment or obtain reliable information about its value. Levels of income from investments may fluctuate.

We cannot be held liable for any depreciation in the value of investments arranged for you except where you suffer loss as a result of wilful negligence on our part. Past performance is not necessarily a reliable indicator of future returns.

Specific risk warnings relevant to the investments or investment strategies we recommend will be confirmed to you in writing.

Cancellation Rights

In most cases you can exercise a right to cancel, by withdrawing from the contract recommended to you. In general terms you will normally have a 30 day cancellation period for a life, pure protection, payment protection or pension policy and a 14 day cancellation period for all other policies. In most instances, you will not be able to exercise a right to cancel a mortgage contract, unless the contract is concluded at a distance (i.e. no face to face advice), at which point you may have a 14 day cancellation period.

The start of the cancellation period will normally begin, for pure protection policies, when you are informed that the contract has been concluded or, if later, when you have received the contractual terms and conditions. In other cases, the cancellation period will begin on the day the contract is concluded or, if later, the day on which you receive the contractual terms and conditions. Instructions for exercising the right to cancel, if applicable, will be contained in the relevant product disclosure information which will be issued to you.

If you cancel a single premium contract, we may require you to pay for any loss you might reasonably incur in cancelling it which is caused by market movements. This means that, in certain circumstances, you might not get back the full amount you invested if you cancel the policy.

Documentation

We will endeavour to make arrangements for all your investments to be registered in your name unless you first instruct us otherwise in writing. All Policy Documents or Lender’s Offer Documents will be forwarded to you as soon as practicable after we receive them. If there are a number of documents relating to a series of transactions, we will normally hold each document until the series is complete and then forward them to you.

Termination

You or we may terminate our authority to act on your behalf at any time, without penalty. Notice of this termination must be given in writing and will take effect seven days from the date of receipt. Termination is without prejudice to any transactions already initiated which will be completed according to this Client Proposition unless otherwise agreed in writing. You will be liable to pay for any transactions made prior to termination and any fees outstanding, if applicable.

Law

These Terms of Business are governed and shall be construed in accordance with English law and the parties shall submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires US persons holding an interest in any specified foreign financial assets with an aggregate value exceeding $50,000 to report related information to the IRS. It is your responsibility to inform us if you:-

Have US citizenship or lawful permanent resident (green card) status
Born in the US
Have a US residence address or US correspondence address (including a US PO box)
Standing instructions to transfer funds to an account maintained in the United States or directions regularly received from a US address
Have a ‘in care of’ address or a ‘hold mail’ address that is the sole address with respect to the client;
Have a power of attorney or signatory authority granted to a person with a US address

Please note that we are not responsible in any way for any reporting obligations that you may have in relation to FATCA. We may also share your FATCA status with other Financial Institutions, HMRC and/or the IRS if requested’.

Are We Covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)?

We are covered by the FSCS. You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim.

Investment

Most types of investment business are covered for 100% of the first £85,000.

Non-Investment Insurance

Cover for compulsory insurance is 100% of the claim with no upper limit. This also applies to pure protection policy claims arising from death or incapacity of the policy holder, such as life assurance, and any benefits falling due in the form of income such as annuity contracts.

For other non-compulsory insurances, the cover is 90% of the claim, with no upper limit.

Mortgages

Mortgage advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the first £85,000.

Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.

Our Service Level Agreement

Financial Advice

An initial, one off fee is charged based on the value of any new funds or investments, including pensions.

Service Feature	Amount of Initial Fee
Investments up to £100,000	Up to a maximum of 3% of the amount invested (minimum fee of £500 applies)
Investments between £100,001- £500,000	Up to a maximum of 2.5% of the amount invested
Investments between £500,001-£1,000,000	Up to a maximum of 2 % of the amount invested
Investments of more than £1,000,001	Upon agreement
Putting existing policies into trust	Up to £1,000 but to be agreed individually
Dealing with a death claim	Up to £1,000 but to be agreed individually
One off research projects	Fee to be agreed individually
Arranging protection policies	Commission paid by the provider (minimum fee of £500 applies).

Our charges may increase if the service involves complex trust work.

For example:

If you invest £10,000 into a collective investment, such as unit trusts we will charge a fee of up to £300 which is equivalent to 3% of the amount invested.
If you invest £250,000 into a number of investments we will charge a fee of up to £6250 which is equivalent to 2.5% of the amount invested.
If you invest £700,000 into a number of investments we will charge a fee of up to £14,000 which is equivalent to 2% of the amount invested.

There will be an additional charge for any ongoing work, such as periodic or ongoing reviews, you may wish us to carry out on your behalf. We will confirm the rate, frequency and length of this ongoing service before beginning any such service. An agreement of this type will automatically become suspended on your death.

If it is determined that a regular premium pension or investment policy is appropriate for you we will charge up to 50% of the first year’s annual premium as a fee subject to a minimum charge of £500 and up to 1% of the funds under management (FUM) to assist with the ongoing service etc.

The appendix ‘Our Client Service Proposition and Fee Agreement’ explains this in more detail.

Hourly Rate

We do offer the choice of paying for our services with an hourly rate but this does tend to be more suited to complex cases, typically Inheritance Tax Planning, Tax Reviews and Trust Work. It is difficult to estimate the number of hours that each provision is likely to require but we will review this on a case by case basis. You may ask us for an estimate of how much in total we might charge in your specific circumstances. You may also ask us not to exceed a given amount without checking with you first.

Our typical charges are:

Principal/Director £200-£250 per hour

Financial Adviser £150-£200 per hour

Administration £50 per hour

An example of charges for setting up a bare trust would be:-

Financial Adviser 2 hours @ £175 per hour = £350

Administration 1 hour @ £50 per hour = £50

Total £400

These fees may be subject to VAT.

Settling your Adviser Charge in a Single Payment

All fees will be agreed with you and confirmed in writing before we proceed. Whether you buy a product from us or not, you will pay us an adviser charge for our advice and services. This will become payable on completion of our work. Fees become payable immediately on receipt by you of the relevant invoice and we reserve the right to produce an interim bill should the work involved require this. We reserve the right to charge interest of any sums not paid within 30 days of a due date: such interest to be at a rate equivalent to the base rate charged by HSBC Bank plc at the due date, plus 3%. You will be provided with a receipt upon payment.

If you buy a financial product, you can choose to have the adviser charge deducted from the product as a single payment. Although you pay nothing to us directly, that does not mean our service is free, you still pay us indirectly through a deduction from the amount you pay into your product. This deduction will settle the adviser charge. It will also reduce the amount directly invested.