1. What do you do?
Wren Investment Advisers specialises
in investment management, superannuation and financial
advice.
The firm 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. Wren Investment Advisers
is also a CPA Australia public practice.
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 a monthly Client Update
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 our Client Update,
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?
No but we can refer you
to other firms that can arrange competitive leasing
and finance packages to suit most individuals and
business clients.
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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If
you have further questions, or need more
information, please call us on (03) 9663
6602 AEST or email info@wrenadvisers.com.au
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