About this Guide
This Financial Services Guide (‘FSG’) is designed to assist you in deciding whether to use our services and provides you with important information about:
- Who we are
- The financial services we provide
- How we and our associates are paid
- Any arrangements which may influence our advice to you
- How we protect your privacy
- Who you should contact if you have a complaint and the process to do this
Merit Wealth Pty Limited has approved this FSG Version LA1.3 – Issue Date: 6 February 2019
Who is providing the Advice
The financial services offered in this FSG will be provided by the following Authorised Representatives of Merit Wealth Pty Ltd (‘Merit Wealth’, ‘Merit’, ‘Us’, ‘Our’).
| Joy Ford | Authorised Representative Number 1258963 |
| Beyond SMSF Services Pty Ltd | Corporate Authorised Representative Number 01280267 |
| ABN 50 638 637 297 | Phone: 1300 552 993 |
| Suite 611 / 118 Church St | |
| Parramatta NSW 2150 | Email: joy@beyondtaxation.com.au |
Merit Wealth, as the holder of an Australian Financial Services Licence is responsible for the advice services offered in the FSG.
| Merit Wealth Pty Ltd ABN 89 125 557 002 | Phone: 1300 785 611 |
| Australian Financial Services Number 409361 | Email: contactus@meritwealth.com.au |
| Level 15, 115 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000 | www.meritwealth.com.au |
Merit Wealth Pty Ltd, ABN 89 125 557 002, Australian Financial Services Licence No. 409361, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Easton Investments Limited (ABN: 48 111 695 357), an ASX listed company.
Information contained in this FSG may be updated from time to time without the need to notify you, provided the updated information is not materially adverse to you.
Our experience and qualifications
Joy Ford has over 15 years’ experience working in the accounting & taxation area in a Sydney mid-tier accounting firm. She has gained extensive knowledge and passion in Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) space. She is also an accredited SMSF Specialist with CPA.
| Qualification | Institution | Completed |
| Diploma in Financial Planning | Kaplan Professional | 2009 |
| Bachelor of Business (Financial Planning) | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology | 2019 |
Financial Services that we provide
What financial services am I authorised to advise you on?
We only advise you after considering your individual objectives, financial situation and needs.
We only provide you with financial advice limited to the following:
- Superannuation, including Self Managed Superannuation Funds (‘SMSF’)
- Basic Deposit Products
We are not authorised by Merit Wealth to provide you with advice on any other matters, financial services or any other financial product.
Other services
Services outside of the above specific areas of financial advice are not provided under Merit Wealth’s Australian Financial Services Licence and Merit Wealth does not train, support or supervise the provision of these other services and has no responsibility in relation to those services.
Examples of the services which Merit Wealth is not responsible if provided by us include:
- Borrowing/lending advice and services (including within a SMSF)
- Taxation services, such as completion of tax returns
- Accounting and audit services
- Administration and compliance of Self-Managed Superannuation Funds
- General insurance services (for example, car insurance)
- Real estate and direct property advice
- Legal services.
Information you will receive
You will be provided with various documents that explain how our recommendations will work towards achieving your goals, the fee and potential conflicts that may exist that could influence the advice provided. These documents are designed to help you make informed decisions about our recommendations.
Statement of Advice
When we provide you with initial personal financial product advice you will receive a written Statement of Advice (SOA) that confirms the discussions you have had with us, the recommendations we are making and the basis for those recommendations. We will also record any further advice we provide to you as a ‘record of further advice’ and we retain these documents for seven years. You may request a copy of this advice or subsequent records of advice at any time.
Product Disclosure Statements
When a financial product is recommended to you, you will be provided with a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) or other disclosure document issued by the product provider. These documents contain information about the risks, benefits, features and fees payable for the product.
How are we paid for our services
Fees for advice
We may charge you fees for the preparation, presentation and implementation of our advice. These fees will be based on your individual circumstances, the complexity involved in your situation and the time it takes to prepare personal financial advice for you.
We will discuss these fees with you and gain your agreement before we provide you with advice. These fees will also be documented in your Statement of Advice.
Payment methods
In most instances you will be able to select the method of payment. Our fees are invoiced to you directly, all fees relating to the financial advice provided to you are payable to Merit Wealth and Merit Wealth then passes up to 100% of these fees onto us.
Other Benefits
We may accept alternative forms of remuneration from product or service providers, such as hospitality or support connected with our professional development (e.g. training or sponsorship to attend conferences) up to a specified amount. We maintain a register detailing any benefit that we receive up to this specified amount. A copy of the register is available on request.
In the event that our advice results in you requesting that we assist you with ongoing requirements, we may charge additional fees each year to perform this work.
Any benefits that we receive that are relevant to your consideration of our advice to you will be disclosed in the Statement of Advice.
Does your adviser have any associations or relationships?
Joy Ford is an employee of Beyond Taxation and Business Services Pty Ltd which provides SMSF accounting & taxation services, including the establishment and administration of SMSFs and may therefore benefit from you using their services.
Referral Fees
If a client is referred to us we may pay the referrer a fee. We may also provide the referrer with thank you gifts such as branded promotional items, hampers, gift vouchers etc. We will record the details of any referral fees in the Statement of Advice we prepare for you.
If we refer a client to another service provider they may pay us a referrer fee.
A fee may vary according to the referrer, the referee, the client and financial advice and products involved. The fee may be a percentage of fees or a flat fee. The fee may be paid upfront when a financial service or product is provided or periodically as ongoing fees.
Other payments received by Merit Wealth and associates
Merit Wealth, its associated entities and other authorised representatives of the Merit Wealth Australian Financial Services Licence, may receive other forms of fees, commissions and payments, one-off and ongoing, from financial product providers or other parties. None of these amounts are on-paid to us.
Privacy
We maintain a record of your personal information that includes details of your objectives, financial situation and needs. We also maintain copies of any recommendations that we have made to you. The Merit Wealth Privacy Policy details how we collect, use and protect your personal information.
Please ask us if you would like a copy of the Merit Wealth Privacy Policy or you can view a copy on the Merit Wealth website. If you would like to view your file at any time, please ask us and we will arrange for you to do so.
Professional Indemnity
Merit Wealth holds a Professional Indemnity Insurance Policy, which complies with the requirements for compensation arrangements under the Corporations Act (subject to its terms and conditions). This Policy covers claims relating to the professional services provided by Merit Wealth and its representatives.
Merit Wealth’s Professional Indemnity insurance only covers advice in relation to professional services provided by representatives of Merit Wealth while authorised by us, even where that representative has subsequently ceased to be an authorised representative of Merit Wealth.
Anti-Money Laundering
Merit Wealth is required, pursuant to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (‘AML/CTF’) and its corresponding rules and regulations to implement certain customer identification processes. We may be required to obtain information about you at the time of providing financial services to you and from time to time thereafter in order to meet our legal obligations. We have certain reporting obligations pursuant to the AML/CTF Act and information obtained from or about you may be provided to external third parties and regulators in accordance with the requirements imposed on us.
How to instruct us
You may specify how you would like to give us instructions, for example, by phone, fax or email. Alternatively, you may provide instructions to us in person. Where instructions are provided by telephone, these must be confirmed in writing.
Complaints
Please contact us first about your complaint. If your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved by us within 3 business days, please contact Merit Wealth on 1300 785 611 or put your complaint in writing and send to:
Compliance Officer
Merit Wealth Pty Ltd
Level 15 115 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW 2001
Or email your complaint to contactus@meritwealth.com.au
If you do not feel your complaint has been resolved in a satisfactory manner, or if you have not received a response after 45 days, you can lodge a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, or AFCA*. AFCA provides fair and independent financial services complaint resolution that is free to consumers. AFCA accepts complaints in regards to either:
- a financial planning or advice matter;
- a credit assistance matter; or
- a superannuation matter
AFCA* can be contacted by one of the following alternatives [Merit Wealth’s AFCA membership number is 27958] –
| By telephone: | 1800 931 678 (free call) |
| In writing (by mail): | Australian Financial Complaints Authority, GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001 |
| By email: | info@afca.org.au |
| Website: | www.afca.org.au |
* Effective 1 November 2018 the AFCA scheme replaced the previous schemes managed by the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT) and Financial Ombudsman Service Australia (FOS).
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission also has a free call Info line on 1300 300 630. You can call this number to make a complaint and to obtain further information about your rights.