John Eames Limited are authorised to conduct investment and non-investment insurance business under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Our registered address is 19 Britton Street, London EC1M 5NZ and we are registered in England and Wales under number 3014273.
Our FSA registered number is 173076. You can check this on the FSA’s Register by visiting the FSA’s website www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FSA on 0845 606 1234, or by writing to the FSA at 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HS.
For the purposes of compliance with the requirements of the FSA, we treat all clients as ‘retail clients’. This means that you are afforded the highest level of protection under the regulatory system and should have the right to take a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
We advise on and arrange investment products, including life policies, personal pension plans, stakeholder pension plans, pension transfers and pension opt outs, units in regulated collective investment schemes and ISAs, and offer such products from the whole of market. We also advise on and arrange non investment insurance products including Critical Illness, Permanent Health and Term Insurance policies, and offer such products on the basis of a fair analysis of the market.
With regard to investments that we have arranged for you these will not be kept under review but we will advise you upon your request or on a pre-agreed basis. However, we may contact you in the future by means of an unsolicited promotion to discuss the relative merits of an investment or service that we feel might be of interest or possible benefit to you. Should we recommend you realise an investment in part or in whole and/or switch an investment fund and you do not act on our instructions, we shall not be liable for any loss you may incur.
You accept that any matters not specifically detailed in this letter will be outside the scope of our Client Agreement and it will be assumed that we have no responsibility for such matters.
We are required by the FSA Rules to provide you with a summary of our Conflicts of Interest Policy. A conflict of interest is a conflict that arises in any area of a business in the course of providing a client with a service which may benefit a firm or another client whilst potentially damaging the interests of the client receiving the service. There may be a conflict of interest where a firm (or anyone connected to it):-
We continuously review our activities and take reasonable steps to identify conflicts of interest that may arise between ourselves and our clients, between clients and between individual members of staff and our clients. Potential conflicts of interest include but are not limited to:-
In the unlikely event an investment decision is made to invest in or sell a holding for clients with similar investment objectives and attitude to risk, we have a policy to consider implementing this across all such clients at the same time. This shall however take account of clients’ individual circumstances, stated investment preferences and any tax implications related to the transaction.
We offer independent advice, but occasions can arise where one of our other clients will have some form of interest in business being transacted for you. If this happens or we become aware that our interests or those of one of our other clients conflict with your interest, we will write to you and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions, and detail the measures we will take to ensure fair treatment.
Full details of our Conflicts of Interest Policy are available to you on request.
We will issue any documentation/recommendations and any other communication to you in English.
We require you to give us instructions in writing (which shall include fax transmissions and e-mails) to avoid possible disputes. We will, however, accept oral instructions provided they are later confirmed in writing. Email may be used to enable us to communicate with you. It is the responsibility of the recipient to carry out a virus check on any attachments received.
When executing or transmitting orders on your behalf to third parties, we will take all reasonable steps to obtain the best possible result for you taking into account price, costs, speed, likelihood of execution and settlement, size, nature and any other consideration relevant to the execution of the order. Full details of our Execution Policy are available to you on request.
Our fees are based upon the responsibility and skill involved in the work and the time necessarily spent, together with expenses and disbursements incurred. This will include advising, meeting you and others, administration, correspondence, telephone calls, emails, travelling and waiting time. All fees are normally recorded in 10 minute time units.
All fees include the compulsory regulation costs we incur, such as the FSA annual fee, the
Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) annual fee and professional indemnity insurance.
You will pay for our services from the alternatives of fee, commission (through product charges) and/or a combination of both fee and commission (through product charges). We will discuss your payment options with you and answer any questions you have. We will not charge you until we have agreed with you how we are to be paid.
We will agree the basis and method of our fees with you before we carry out any chargeable work.
Our hourly rates are as follows:-
VAT will be charged in addition where appropriate.
You undertake to pay all fees that fall due to the firm for the performance of our services. Invoices are payable within one month of the date of issue. Invoices will be issued on completion of the transaction(s), but should the work not be completed by the end of each calendar quarter, we will issue an invoice at the beginning of the following month for the accumulated fees to date. Interest will be charged on outstanding invoices on expiration of the one-month period at the rate of 7.5% per annum.
We normally cede all initial commission when arranging any new investment product or new non investment insurance product when being remunerated on a fee basis. This has the effect of reducing the charges under an investment product and reducing the premium under a non investment insurance product. However, we may also receive some income from commission paid to us by product providers through which investments are made (such as renewal commission). We shall tell you the amount of commission or if this is not possible the percentage payable to us on any such investment. If we receive a commission or other form of benefit from the issuer of a security or from another intermediary, we will inform you, but we will not tell you the amount unless you ask us to do so.
To help you budget, we are able in all correspondence, to keep you informed of our accumulated fees to date. If you wish us to provide this service, please let us know in writing.
If you purchase a financial product, we will normally receive commission from the product provider. Although you pay no fee “up front”, that does not mean that our service is free. You
still pay us indirectly through product charges. Product charges cover the product provider’s costs and their profit and therefore, reduce the amount left for investment.
The amount of commission we receive will vary depending on the amount you invest and on occasions how long you invest or your age. For example:-
We will charge you a combination of fee (please see details above) and commission. We will agree the basis with you before commencing our work. We will tell you how much the commission will be before you complete an investment, but you may ask for this information earlier.
The actual amounts of combination of fees and commission will depend on the service provided to you, but will be in line with the alternatives outlined in the sections immediately above headed Payment by Fees and Payment by Commission (through product charges) . The fee will not exceed the rates shown above.
This option applies to investment business and non investment insurance business.
You or we, may terminate our authority to act on your behalf at any time, without penalty, subject to three months notice. Notice of this termination must be given in writing and will take effect from the date of receipt. Termination is without prejudice to any transactions already initiated which will be completed according to these terms of business, unless otherwise agreed in writing. You will be liable to pay for any transactions made prior to termination and any fees that may be outstanding.
Where investment or non-investment insurance business services are provided to us by third parties then circumstances may arise which warrant the disclosure of more than just your basic contact details. On these occasions such as processing applications, technical advice, technology support, and obtaining compliance and regulatory advice you agree that personal information held by us may be disclosed on a confidential basis, and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, to such third parties. You agree that this information may be transferred electronically. You also agree that any such third party or ourselves may contact you in future by any means of communication, which we consider appropriate at the time.
You are advised that because investments, together with any income, may fall as well as rise you may not get back the full amount invested. Investments do not take into account the effects of inflation and past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance.
Changes in the rates of exchange between currencies may cause your investments and the income from them to go up and down. Relief from taxation and tax benefits can be subject to change in the future. Charges on the underlying investment funds may be increased by the fund managers in the future.
Should you invest in property or funds that invest in property, you should bear in mind this may be difficult to sell – so you may not be able to cash in these investments when you want to. The value of property is generally a matter of a valuer’s opinion rather than fact.
We do not handle clients’ money. We never accept a cheque made out to us (unless it is a cheque in settlement of charges or disbursements for which we have sent you an invoice) or handle cash.
We undertake that all of our actions will be guided by the principle that the interests of our clients are paramount. Our systems and procedures are designed to place our clients at the heart of our business.
In our dealings with you, you can expect that:-
We are committed to providing the highest standard of advice and service. As a firm we take very seriously the requirements of the FSA, in particular the requirement to treat our clients fairly. We strive to do this in all that we do.
However, if you should have any complaint about the advice you have received or a product you have purchased please write to the Compliance Director, John Eames, at John Eames Limited,
19 Britton Street, London, EC1M 5NZ or telephone 020 7608 1455. If following our subsequent investigation you are still not satisfied, you may be entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Full details are contained within our internal complaints procedure which is available to you on request.
If you make a valid claim against John Eames Limited in respect of any investment or non-investment insurance we arrange for you, and we are unable to meet our liabilities in full, you may be entitled to redress from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim. Further information is available from the Financial Services Authority and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Most types of investment business are covered for 100% of the first £30,000 and 90% of the next £20,000 so the maximum compensation is £48,000.
Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the first £2,000 and 90% of the remainder of the claim, without any upper limit.
Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS at http://www.fscs.org.uk/.
Please note if we arrange a deal with an establishment which is outside the United Kingdom, the FSCS will not be available.
In the case of investments and non-investment insurance we have advised upon and arranged on your behalf we will inform you in writing of any right to withdraw or cancel you may have or, if it is the case, we will inform you in writing that no such rights will apply.
Unless in exceptional circumstances we will confirm to you in writing the basis or our reasons for recommending the transaction executed on your behalf. We will also make arrangements for all your investments to be registered in your name or in the name of trustees if applicable, unless you first instruct us otherwise in writing. We will forward to you all documents showing ownership of your investments as soon as practicable after we receive them; where a number of documents relating to a series of transactions is involved, we will normally retain each document until the service is complete and then forward them to you.
Following the issue of this letter, any subsequent advice or recommendation offered to you will be based on your stated investment objectives, acceptable level of risk and any restrictions you wish to place on the type of investments or policies you are willing to consider. Details of your stated investment objectives will be included in the suitability report we will issue to you to confirm our recommendation. Our advice will be guided only by what is suitable for you. Unless confirmed in writing to the contrary we will assume that you do not wish to place any restrictions on the advice we give you.
The UK Money Laundering Regulations oblige financial institutions to confirm the identity and place of residence of each investor(s) and if relevant, trustee(s). Certain original documentation will have to be produced to provide this confirmation. We shall not be liable for any delay in investing or commencement of cover as a result of you not meeting these requirements.
Unless we hear form you within 7 days of receipt we will assume that you understand and accept the above terms and that you authorise the transfer of information as described above on a confidential basis when warranted between such third parties and you agree that the terms of business will come into effect from the date of issue. By agreeing to our fees, it will mean that you accept the rates which we charge and that they are fixed. This means that your rights to challenge the rates will be restricted should you later attempt to do so. This letter supersedes any previous Client Agreement or Terms of Business letter.
Please ask us now if there is anything about the terms you do not understand or you wish to have clarified.
Updated 01/09/09
|
Contact Us
Email enquiries@jeames.co.uk or call on 020 7608 1455 to see how our services can apply to your circumstances. |