1. Are you accountants
or financial planners?
Wren Investment Advisers
is a CPA Australia practice that specialises
in investment management, superannuation and
financial planning.
Wren Investment Advisers has its own Australian
Financial Services Licence (AFSL 247124) and
is not aligned with any financial product
provider or dealer group. We can therefore
work with you in an open, professional way
to find solutions that meet your objectives,
needs and circumstances.
2. What qualifications and experience do you
have?
All the advisory staff
at Wren Investment Advisers have university
degrees, postgraduate qualifications in finance
or financial planning, and broad industry
experience.
To ensure that these skills are maintained,
we have detailed procedures for monitoring
and reviewing their continuing professional
development. Further information on each adviser’s
qualifications and experience are provided
in our Financial Services Guide which is given
to prospective clients prior to the initial
meeting.
3. What do you give advice on?
Wren Investment Advisers is licensed under
its Australian Financial Services Licence
to give advice and deal in the following financial
products:
deposit products;
options and warrants;
foreign exchange;
government
debentures and bonds;
managed
investments;
retirement
savings accounts;
securities;
and
superannuation.
For issues that require specialist knowledge
– e.g. wills, estate planning and insurance
– we can refer you to an appropriate
professional.
4. Do you get paid by fees or commissions?
Wren Investment Advisers charges an hourly
fee, or a portfolio management fee, for our
professional services. Where the products
we recommend pay an adviser commission, this
is rebated to the client or offset against
our fees.
This policy is designed to minimise any potential
conflicts of interest and promote unbiased
advice. It also creates a level playing field
for financial products that do not pay adviser
commissions - such as industry super funds,
term deposits, indexed investments and shares.
5. What are your fees?
Our fees will vary depending on the amount
of work performed but are less than most of
our competitors, including industry funds.
All fees are fixed, agreed in advance
and set out in an engagement letter. We will
negotiate terms with clients who have special
needs, time constraints or other exceptional
circumstances.
6. Can I pay for your
fees out of my super fund?
The question of paying our fees out of a super
fund depends on the nature of the advice.
For superannuation and retiremement planning
advice, our fees may be payable from your
fund but wealth creation advice is generally
considered to be a personal expense, not an
expense of the fund.
7.
Can I claim a tax deduction for your fees?
The general rule is that the initial cost
of financial advice is a capital item and
therefore not a tax deduction.
However some parts of the advice relating
to tax matters may be deductible if they can
be identified and billed separately.
Ongoing advice regarding your investments
may be tax deductible and/or entitle you to
reduced input tax credits (RITC).
8. Do you have any relationships or ownership
ties with any
financial institution?
No. Wren Investment Advisers is independently
owned and is not associated with any bank,
insurance company, fund manager or other financial
product issuer.
9. Do you receive soft-dollar benefits,
overseas trips or other incentives from fund
managers?
No. Wren Investment Advisers adheres
to a strict fee-for-service approach and does
not accept any monetary or non-monetary incentives
that could potentially cause a conflict of
interest.
This includes all free or subsidised products
and services, sponsorships, loans, marketing
support payments, excessively generous forms
of entertainment or hospitality, annual fee
rebates and similar deals.
10. What if I’m mostly interested
in shares and property?
Because Wren Investment Advisers is
a fee-based practice, we are just as comfortable
giving advice on shares and property as we
are with managed products.
As long as clients understand and accept the
greater managerial responsibilities involved
with direct investments, we will gladly act
as their adviser and assist them with the
administration of their portfolio.
11. Can I get access to investment research?
Yes. Wren Research produces regular
research on financial market trends, listed
securities, residential property and managed
funds.
It also publishes the monthly newsletter Market
Notes which features analysis on the share
and property markets, commentary on interest
rate trends, model portfolios and company
research.
For a free sample copy of Market Notes,
please send an email request to info@wrenadvisers.com.au
or call (03) 9663 6602 during normal business
hours.
12. Do you do leasing and finance?
Yes. We can arrange competitive leasing
and finance packages to suit most individuals
and business clients.
In cases where we cannot assist directly –
for example, due to the type of asset involved
– we can usually refer you to someone
with the necessary skills and expertise to
meet your requirements.
13. What if I just want some specific advice,
not a full financial plan?
Our view is that clients should be
able to get financial advice on a specific
matter if that’s all they need. Advice
which is restricted to a particular issue,
sometimes called defined scope or limited
advice, is often appropriate for people who
want to know:
whether to buy or sell a particular asset,
how to
consolidate super fund balances,
how to
claim a particular social security benefit,
whether
to switch from one managed product to another,
how to
achieve a specific financial objective.
Wren Investment Advisers can generally provide
this information quickly and at a very reasonable
cost.
14. Is the first meeting free?
Yes. We believe it is very important
that potential clients learn how we operate
and that we understand their objectives, needs
and circumstances before any financial advice
is provided.
As a result, we do not charge for the first
meeting, nor do we seek to recoup this time
via additional charges at a later date.
15. I work full-time. Can I meet you after-hours?
Yes. We appreciate that it is often
difficult to take time off work during normal
business hours. With prior notice, we can
arrange meetings at a time which is mutually
convenient.
We are sometimes asked to meet clients at
their home but in most cases we do not agree
to this unless it is warranted by exceptional
circumstances.
16. What portfolio management services
do you offer?
Wren Investment Advisers has a range
of options to provide you with comprehensive
portfolio management and administration services.
These can be tailored to your needs depending
on the size of your portfolio, the type of
assets you own and the level of management
you wish to undertake yourself.
The fees for this service range from 0.44%
to 1.10% of funds under advice.
17. Do you offer advice on ethical / socially
responsible investments (SRIs)?
Yes. A wide variety of ethical and
socially responsible investments are now available
to individual investors and the returns have
often been well above industry benchmarks.
Socially responsible investing is an investment
approach which integrates moral values and
social concerns into the decision-making process.
If you have strong ethical reasons for avoiding
certain types of investments or you wish to
promote companies with social or environmental
goals, we can assist you with model portfolios
and a selection of managed funds which should
meet your needs.
18. I’m an accountant.
How do I know you won’t poach the clients
that I refer to you?
There are three reasons why Wren Investment
Advisers will not poach clients that have
been referred to us by other accountants.
First, we are a professional and ethical firm
that respects the existing relationship you
have with your client. Our goal is to enhance
the quality of this relationship, not compromise
it.
Second, poaching clients would not make financial
sense. Referrals are an important source of
new business and it is not worth jeopardising
such introductions for the sake of a potential
short-term gain.
And third, our firm specialises in investment
and superannuation advice. We do not offer
most of the core public accounting services
that you provide to your clients.
Wren Investment Advisers values its independence
and is committed to its ‘no poaching’
policy with referring professionals.
19. I'm an accountant. Can I get a copy
of the Statement of Advice you are giving
my client?
Yes. If the client authorises us to
send you a copy of our Statement of Advice,
we will provide this and discuss any views
or concerns you might have.
Our objective is to work with you in a co-operative
way so that everyone stays informed and the
client achieves a positive outcome.
20. How do I make an
appointment?
Contact us now on (03) 9663 6602.
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