Client agreement letter

At Foster Denovo, our goal is to provide you with a truly bespoke advisory service; one that is tailored to your specific needs, requirements and financial goals.

Our financial planning service has been designed with our clients at its centre, from the very first time you meet us, to any advice and service you receive.  Once you engage with Foster Denovo your Partner will:

• explain the financial planning services available to you, both at outset and ongoing.  They will be proactive, forward thinking, and collaborative and aim to keep things simple and easy to understand; from the brochures and documents you receive, to how they explain and discuss different aspects with you;
• explain what you can expect from each step of the advice journey;
• ask the right questions to get to the heart of why you truly need financial planning advice and support;
• ascertain whether you need additional support during your advice journey reflecting how you most easily understand, consider and decide;
• actively listen to you, gaining the insight needed to build a financial plan specific to your personal needs and wishes;
• clearly explain how we are paid and confirm how much your fees will be, ensuring that in all aspects they offer fair value to you;
• mutually agree any timescales, and key dates with you before any work commences. If it becomes apparent these timescales are unlikely to be met, they will tell you at the earliest opportunity;
• conduct research to identify suitable solutions and products to achieve your financial goals;
• take you through our recommendations to ensure you understand;
• with your agreement, implement our recommended products and solutions; and deliver, where appropriate, a review service to make sure that your plan stays on track.  From experience, our clients benefit the most when we build long-term professional and trusted relationships.  As time goes by and your life, and possibly your financial ambition, changes you can be assured that your Partner will be there to support and advise you.

Delivering service excellence is engrained in everything we do.  We have one of the highest Net Promoter Scores of +70 (a measure of client satisfaction) in the financial services sector.  To help us continue to meet and exceed your expectations, we will ask you for feedback on the service you have received.  We recognise that we are all increasingly asked for feedback, and we very much appreciate the time you take to provide us with your honest comments.  If there is anything I can help you with, at any time, please feel free to contact me at roger.brosch@fosterdenovo.com.

Client agreement letter for Foster Denovo Limited (Independent)

This is our standard client agreement upon which we intend to rely in conjunction with the content of our fee agreements. For your own benefit and protection, you should read the information contained in this document carefully before signing it. If you do not understand any point contained in this document, please ask for further information.

Regulatory status

Foster Denovo Limited, 20 St Dunstan’s Hill, EC3R 8HL, is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in respect of Designated Investment Business. You can check this on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA’s website: https://register.fca.org.uk/ or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768. Our FCA reference number is 462728.

Our permitted business includes advising, arranging and making arrangements with a view to investment, non-investment insurance contracts and mortgages.

Ongoing advice will be offered and provided if you agree to take these services. Ongoing services can be terminated at any time by informing us in writing.

Capturing your needs

We are committed to providing you with a service that meets your individual needs. To enable us to achieve this objective it is important that you are open and honest with us and provide us with all of the necessary information that we will need to deliver the service you require. This will enable us to identify products and services that best meet with your personal circumstances. It will also help us to identify any specific needs or support regarding the methods by which we deliver our services to you. For example, if you need information in large font due to sight difficulties, we can provide you with that.

Our Partners’ advice is independent. We will carry out specific research on providers of investment solutions and funds from the whole of the market, and will choose the provider we consider, at that time, to be suitable for you. Where appropriate, investments may be held on the Clearview Platform and could include Foster Denovo’s range of Dynamic Portfolios.

For protection products (for example, life term assurance and income protection policies) we will base our advice on a full and fair analysis of what is available in the whole of the UK market.

Client categorisation

In providing investment services to you, we will categorise you as a retail client. The client category will determine the level of protections afforded to you under the regulatory system. As a retail client, the regulatory protection available to you will be the highest available and you should have the right to take any complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Where we have categorised you other than as a retail client you may request re-categorisation to a category which benefits from a higher degree of protection. However, we reserve the right to agree to such a re-categorisation on a case-by-case basis, and where we agree to do so, it does not necessarily mean that you will have a right of access to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Further information in respect of the Financial Ombudsman Service is available on its website:

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

Conflicts of interest

We offer advice as disclosed to you in our fee agreement. Occasions may arise where we, our Partners, or one of our clients have some form of interest in the business being transacted by you.

We will take all appropriate steps to prevent conflicts of interest from occurring in line with the firm’s conflicts of interest policy. However, there may be occasions where a conflict of interest cannot be prevented. Where this is the case, we will disclose to you the nature of the conflict and the steps that we will take to mitigate the risks so that you will not be treated unfairly as a result of any conflicts identified.

We will advise you in writing and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions and detail the steps we will take to ensure your continued fair treatment. Accordingly, we are notifying you that your Foster Denovo Partner may be a shareholder in Foster Denovo Group Limited, which holds certain financial interests in ‘Sequel’ financial products that are recommended by us.

The FD Dynamic Portfolios include a Portfolio Management Service fee to cover research provided by FD Dynamic Portfolios Ltd. This cost is included in the overall cost of your investment and will be shown in your illustration.

FD Dynamic portfolios is a subsidiary of Foster Denovo Group Ltd, and an appointed representative of Foster Denovo Ltd. This means that Foster Denovo Ltd is responsible to the FCA for the conduct of Foster Denovo Dynamic Portfolios Ltd. Foster Denovo Ltd will recommend, where suitable, a single platform (Clearview) to hold investments and funds.

A recommendation to invest in the Sequel funds, or the FD Dynamic Portfolios range, may enhance the ultimate value of Foster Denovo Group Limited and as a result may increase the value for shareholders, some of whom are Foster Denovo Limited Partners. The potential risk to you as an investor is that a portfolio including the Sequel funds or FD Dynamic Portfolios may be recommended where this investment strategy is not necessarily suitable. We address this risk with regular compliance monitoring to make sure the Sequel funds and the FD Dynamic Portfolios are not recommended where they are not appropriate. We have also put in place a conflicts of interest policy to help us manage such risks, a copy of which can be provided on request.

Investment objectives

Any advice or recommendation offered to you will be based on your stated investment objectives, an acceptable level of risk, and any limitations you wish to place on the type of investments or policies you are willing to consider. Details of your stated objectives will be identified during our discussions with you and confirmed in the suitability report that we will issue to you to confirm our recommendation. Unless confirmed in a fee agreement, we will assume that you do not wish to place any limitations on the advice we give you.

Where the FD Dynamic Portfolios are recommended

The FD Dynamic Portfolios range includes both true active and passive management investment styles with the objective of achieving more predictable outcomes for you to meet your financial planning goals. The FD Dynamic Portfolios are reviewed and rebalanced each   quarter on a discretionary basis to continually align with your attitude to risk, while incorporating  your practical and psychological capacity for investment loss. They have a robust two-stage    governance process and use the expertise of both internal and external independent professionals.

The firms involved in the operation of the FD Dynamic Portfolios are:

• Foster Denovo Limited provides the regulated financial advice to you and is responsible for this advice. Foster Denovo Ltd is part of Foster Denovo Group.
• FD Dynamic Portfolios Ltd provides the investment research and advice to the AB Investment Solutions Limited in respect of the asset allocation and fund selection for the FD Dynamic Portfolios.
• AB Investment Solutions Limited provides the discretionary management service and is ultimately responsible for asset allocation and fund selection. You will enter into an investment management agreement directly with AB Investment Solutions Limited relating to the services that it provides to you, and also those of the Clearview Platform provided by Third Platform Services Limited.

Client money – Foster Denovo does not handle clients’ money

We never accept any payment made out to Foster Denovo Ltd unless it is in settlement of our fees, charges or disbursements which we have agreed with you in advance. Payments for investment or premiums should be made payable to product providers and never payable to us or any individual representing us.

Accounting to you

We will confirm to you in writing the basis of our service and the reasons for our recommendations conducted or executed on your behalf. Where you agree to an ongoing review service, we will provide an annual review and associated services as outlined in your review service fee agreement.

We will also make arrangements for all your investments or policies to be registered in your name unless you instruct us otherwise.

We will forward to you all documents showing ownership of your investments or policies as soon as possible 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 these to you.

Right to withdraw

In the case of many retail investment products – such as life assurance contracts, personal pension schemes, investment bonds, and collective investment arrangements (e.g. unit trusts) a right to withdraw or cancel the contract within a specified period is normally provided. Details of such rights are ordinarily contained in the product literature (e.g. the key features document) and/or we may provide details of such rights in a separate communication.

In the case of any non-retail investment products for example, an ISA wrapper, you may also have the right to withdraw or cancel.

Where we exercise your right to cancel, your investment will be disinvested, and the proceeds at the time of disinvestment returned to you less any fees owing or already paid.

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 a guide to future performance.

How we charge you for our services:

Advised services

For advised services, you will be charged an advice fee. The actual amount will depend on the service(s) provided to you and the amount will be agreed with you before we carry out any work that we will charge you for.

Our fee agreement that we will issue to you and ask you to sign, will detail how much you will be charged and how payment is to be made.

Non-advised services

For non-advised services, if commission is available to us, you can choose to pay us by allowing us to keep the commission, or by paying us an adviser charge instead.

If you choose to pay by commission, we will tell you how much the commission is before the transaction is completed.

Nominee and safe custody services

We do not safeguard or administer client assets, but we may arrange business through platforms, which will provide custody services for your assets. Where this is the case, the legal title of investments will be registered in the name of the third party’s nominee.

For non-platform business we will make arrangements for your investments to be registered in your name unless you first instruct us otherwise in writing.

Best execution policy

It is in the interests of our clients and us that we obtain the best possible result when processing orders with product providers. We are required under the rules of the Financial Conduct Authority to take all sufficient steps to provide ‘best execution’ when carrying out such transactions. We do not transmit orders on behalf of clients for particular financial instruments – e.g. purchasing shares.

Where we place or transmit orders for investments on behalf of our clients and use the services of a third-party broker, we base our decision to place or transmit an order on the price and cost of execution of order.

However, for orders in collective investment schemes (e.g unit trust), the price of units or shares in the scheme is normally set by the scheme operator or manager and as such we have little influence over the price available. Full details of our best execution arrangements are provided in our best execution policy, a copy of which can be provided on request.

What to do if you have a complaint

If you wish to register a complaint, please contact us:

• In writing to: Complaints Department, Foster Denovo Limited, Ruxley House, 2 Hamm Moor Lane, Addlestone, Surrey, KT15 2SA or email to: complaints@fosterdenovo.com
• By phone: telephone 01932 870720

If your complaint relates solely and specifically to investment management activities provided by AB Investment Solutions Limited, as part of the FD Dynamic Portfolios, you may register your complain to the Foster Denovo Complaints Department at the above contact details, or directly to:

AB Investment Solutions Limited, Northgate House, 2nd & 3rd Floors, Upper Borough Walls, Bath, BA11 1RG.

If you cannot settle your complaint with us, you maybe entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

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 or the providers with whom we arrange business cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim.

• Investments – most types of investment business are covered up to a maximum limit of £85,000.
• Investments based on insurance/long-term insurance, e.g investment bonds – the maximum level of compensation for claims against firms declared in default is 100% of the claim with no upper limit.
• Insurance – insurance advising and arranging is covered for 90% of the claim, with no upper limit.

Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS (www.fscs.org.uk).

Means of communication

We will communicate with you through whatever means are convenient to you, including face-to-face, virtual meetings, telephone, Foster Denovo’s client portal (the Personal Finance Portal), paper, email and other acceptable electronic communication methods.

Our communications will ordinarily be in English, both in respect of oral and written communications.

You may at any time choose to request information in paper, free of charge, that has previously been provided to you by means other than paper. For example, where a communication was originally sent by email.

You may at any time choose to change your preferences as to how we communicate with you.

However, where you choose to do this, we will require you to confirm this change in writing to us.

Records of communication

We are required by our regulators (the FCA) to keep records of any telephone conversations or other electronic communications with our clients in relation to the arranging of transactions in investments that are categorised as financial instruments.

We may also record any meetings; this would include by telephone or video conferencing facilities, such as ‘Teams’ or ‘Zoom’. The recording may be used for compliance and training purposes. If you would prefer your meeting not to be recorded, please inform your Partner.

Client instructions

We prefer instructions to be given to us in writing (including by email) to avoid any possible disputes. If any instructions are given verbally, then they should be confirmed in writing. We may refuse, at our discretion, to accept certain instructions, although such discretion will not be exercised unreasonably.

Rights of third parties

The terms contained in this letter exclude any rights which may be conferred upon third parties by the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

Unless you have contracted to receive a review service, we will not review any investment policy we have arranged for you.

We will provide advice at any time you request us to do so and will agree our fee before commencing.

Money laundering

We will carry out an electronic data check to confirm your identity as part of our money laundering procedure (eIDV). The eIDV check will use credit reference agencies for the purpose of verifying your identity. To do so the credit reference agency may check details you supply against the particulars in any database (public or otherwise), to which they have future access.

They may also use your details in the future to assist other companies for verification purposes.

Data privacy notice

It is important that our clients understand how the personal information they provide to Foster Denovo Limited during the course of our meetings and or communications will be used.

At the end of this document, we will ask you to sign to give your consent to Foster Denovo Limited and your Foster Denovo Partner (who if self-employed will have made an individual notification to the Information Commissioner’s Office) and any Associated Company processing (see definitions section) the personal information you have provided to us. It is important that you read this privacy notice.

Foster Denovo Limited will treat all personal data, including any special category data (see definitions section), as confidential and will not process it other than for legitimate purposes which have been pre- agreed with you. Steps will be taken to make sure that the information we hold remains accurate, is kept up to date and not kept for longer than is necessary (see data retention section). We will take steps to safeguard against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage to the data we hold about you.

How the law protects you

The law says we must have one or more of these reasons to hold your data:

• to fulfil a contract we have with you;
• when it is our legal duty;
• when it is in our legitimate interest; or
• when you consent to it.

A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your information. But even then, it must not unfairly go against what is right and best for you. If we rely on our legitimate interest, we will tell you what that is.

Information we collect about you and why we need it

As part of our advice process and to enable our Partners to establish your current financial situation, future needs and to provide you with financial advice, we will collect personal data about you to make sure that the financial advice provided meets your objectives. Personal data may include your name, residential address, contact details, employment details including salary, and financial details.

Where do we collect your personal data from?

Our Partners collect information about you during your meetings with them. This can be face-to-face, virtual, by telephone or another communication medium, e.g. email or via Foster Denovo’s client portal.  We may also contact companies with whom we have existing policies, products and investments to obtain the detail needed to provide you with financial advice. If this is the case, we will seek your written permission before approaching companies for this information.

How will we use your personal data?

We will use your personal data to recommend solutions to achieve your financial planning objectives, manage the relationship you have with us and enable us to comply with any laws and regulations we must meet e.g., laws preventing financial crime. This is likely to involve the completion of application forms for products, investments and policies provided by companies not connected to Foster Denovo Limited. We will obtain your agreement to the processing of any such applications before we submit them to the company(ies) we recommend. We will retain records of your personal data either in electronic format or paper as part of our ongoing relationship with you and to meet the obligations of our regulator.

What are your rights?

• To be informed.  This document, together with our fee agreements, contain the information you should be aware of when entering into a business relationship with Foster Denovo Limited.
• Access. You can ask us what data of yours we are processing, the reason we are processing it, what personal data is involved and who we have sent that data to. You have the right to request access to any of your personal or special category data being processed by us. On request, we will provide you with an initial copy of the data requested, either in paper or electronic format, free of charge. If you require any additional copies, we may charge you a fee to cover our administration costs.
• To rectification. If you become aware that any personal data we hold is not accurate or is incomplete, you can ask us to correct it. If we have disclosed this information to any third parties, for example product providers, we will contact them and ask them to amend this data.
• To erasure. You can ask us to delete some or all of your personal data and/or prevent the processing of it. We may refuse to comply with your request to delete data where it conflicts with our legal obligations from our regulator, the FCA, or if it affects our ability to defend possible future legal claims made against us.
• To restrict processing. You may ask us to restrict processing of personal data where you question the accuracy of the personal data, or where we no longer need to process your data but need to keep it to defend any legal claims.
• To data portability. You can ask us to provide a copy of or move or transfer personal data from one IT environment to another in a safe and secure way. We will provide your personal data to you in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable form. We will respond to your request without unnecessary delay, but we may take up to one month from the receipt of your request, depending on the complexity and volume of data.
• To object. You can object to us processing your data based on legitimate interests, or the performance of a task in the public interest, and direct marketing to you.
• Not to be subjected to automated decision making including profiling. Currently, we do not have any processing operations where automated decision making is part of a process.

Sending data outside the EEA

We will only send your data outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) to follow your instructions or to comply with a legal duty.

Withdrawal of consent

If at any time you wish us or any Associated Company to stop holding or processing your personal or special category data, or contacting you for marketing purposes, contact: The Data Protection Officer on 01932 870 720 or in writing to: the Data Protection Officer, Foster Denovo Limited, Ruxley House, 2 Hamm Moor Lane, Addlestone, Surrey, KT15 2SA

How to complain

Please let us know if you are unhappy with how we have used your personal data. You can contact us by writing to the Data Protection Officer at the address above.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner about any aspect of our handling of your personal data.

Your complaint should be submitted to:

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF or call the ICO helpline on 0303 123 1113 or visit the website https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.

Data retention

We will retain copies of your personal data as required by the Financial Services and Markets Act as interpreted by our regulator, the FCA. The length of time we may retain your information will be determined by the type and nature of the advice we provide to you. Some examples are:

• advice involving pension transfers – we are required to keep indefinitely; and
• advice on investments or life insurance – we will retain for a period of five years following the termination of the relationship between you and Foster Denovo Limited.

We may keep your data for longer than the times shown if we cannot delete it for legal or regulatory reasons.

Breach notification

If a breach of our security occurs which results in the destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, your personal data your personal data and if such an event is likely to result in a high risk to your rights, we will contact you. We will provide you with details of what data has been affected, the name and contact details of the Data Protection Officer, a description of the likely consequences of the personal data breach and a description of the measures we have taken, or propose to take, to deal with the breach and to mitigate any possible adverse effects.

Consent for us to contact you

Legitimate consent (Review clients only)

If you are, or become, a client of ours and agree to receive a review service, as well as providing an annual review we may contact you to make you aware of products, services or promotions that we believe may be of interest to you given your financial planning objectives. We consider this to be part of our service to you.