Terms of Business

These Terms of Business set out the general terms under which our firm will provide business services to you and the respective duties and responsibilities of both the firm and you in relation to such services. Should my firm change any of its business terms at a future date I will advise you at our next meeting. Please ensure that you read these terms thoroughly and if you have any queries we will be happy to clarify them.

AUTHORISATION WITH THE CENTRAL BANK OF IRELAND
Nixon Alexander Financial Services (48371) is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an insurance intermediary registered under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018; as an investment intermediary authorised under Section 10 the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995, and as an Investment Product Intermediary, under Section 31 of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 (as amended) Copies of our regulatory authorisations are available on request. The Central Bank of Ireland holds registers of regulated firms. You may contact the Central Bank on 1890 777 777 or alternatively visit their website at www.centralbank.ie to check our credentials.

CODES OF CONDUCT
Our firm is subject to the Minimum Competency Code and regulations 2017, the Consumer Protection Code 2012 and the Fitness & Probity Standards 2015 and the Handbook Of Prudential Requirements for Investment Intermediaries which offer protection to our consumers. These Codes can be found on the Central Banks website www.centralbank.ie

OUR SERVICES
Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd is a member of Brokers Ireland. Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to life, pensions, investments.
Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd holds written appointments with the following life assurance companies: Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited, BCP Asset Management DAC, Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland Ltd, Friends First Life Assurance Company Limited, Irish life Assurance PLC, New Ireland Assurance Company PLC, Scottish Mutual International Ltd, Scottish Provident Limited, Standard Life Assurance Company, The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited, Wealth Options Limited, Zurich Life Assurance plc.
Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd has selected one preferred product producer, Irish Life Assurance plc, for life insurance plans (including life assurance, specified illness cover, income protection, unit linked savings, investments, and pension plans), tracker bonds, and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs). Analysis of the market will be limited to products provided by Irish Life Assurance plc.

INVESTMENTS
Investment Products; while Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd considers the approach taken by Irish Life Assurance plc in terms of them integrating sustainability risks into their product offering, as we have selected one preferred provider for investment products, analysis when choosing a suitable investment product for you will be limited to products provided by Irish Life Assurance plc. However, should you specifically seek a financial product which has sustainable investment as its sole / specific objective, and no such product is available from the range of products offered by Irish Life Assurance plc, Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd will conduct analysis of the product offerings available from the other insurance undertakings, lenders and product producers with whom Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd holds written appointments.

When providing advice, Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd does not consider the adverse impacts of investment decisions on sustainability. The firm will review this annually and make revisions when and if appropriate.

LIFE & PENSIONS & INVESTMENTS
We will provide assistance to you for any queries you may have in relation to the policies, or in the event of a claim during the life of the policies and we will explain to you the various restrictions, conditions and exclusions attached to your policy. It is however, your responsibility to read the policy documents, literature and brochures to ensure that you understand the nature of the policy cover, particularly in relation to PHI and serious illness policies.
Specifically on the subject of permanent health insurance policies, it is our policy to explain to you a) the meaning of disability as defined in the policy: b) the benefits available under the policy: c) the general exclusions that apply to the policy: d) the reductions applied to the benefit where there are disability payments from other sources.
For a specified illness policy, we will explain clearly to you the restrictions, conditions and general exclusions that attach to that policy.

STATEMENT OF CHARGES
Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd may receive commission and other payments from the life assurance provider to whom orders are transmitted. Summary details of these payments will be included in a product information document, under the Customer Information Notice Section, which you are legally entitled to receive before an application for a product is completed. These payments are included in the charges of your product. Any ongoing commission shown in the Customer Information Notice will be paid to me as long as I continue to be your Financial Adviser. The full details of the commission Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd receives for Life Assurance products (excluding Company pension products) will be included in your Welcome Pack which is issued to you. Details of company pension and bank products commission are available on request. In certain circumstances the firm may charge a fee for the services provided. If we do this we will provide you with a written estimate of this in advance of providing any business service.
In certain circumstances it will be necessary to charge a fee for services provided. These are listed below for Standard PRSAs. In other circumstances where fees are chargeable, we will notify you in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged. If we receive commission from a product provider, this will be offset against the fee which we will charge you. Where the commission is greater than the fee due, the commission may become the amount payable to the firm unless an arrangement to the contrary is made.

“A summary of the details of all arrangements for any fee, commission, other reward or remuneration paid or provided to Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd which it has agreed with product providers” is available on our website www.alexanderfs.ie

PERSONAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNT SAVINGS ACCOUNTS (FEES)
Where advice is requested for PRSAs, the following hourly fees will apply: Advisor fees: €100 – €200 per hour. Support staff: €40 – €60 per hour.
Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills or urgency. We will give an estimate of this rate in advance of providing you with services. If we receive commission from a product provider, this will be offset against the fee which we will charge you. Where the commission is greater than the fee due, the commission will become the amount payable to the intermediary unless an arrangement to the contrary is made.

REGULAR REVIEWS
It is in your best interests that you review, on a regular basis, the products which we have arranged for you. As your circumstances change, your needs will change-you must advise us of those changes and request a review of the relevant policy so that we can ensure that you are provided with up to date advice and products best suited to your needs. Failure to contact us of changes in your circumstances, or request a review, may result in you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments.

ONGOING SUITABILITY REVIEWS
Ongoing suitability assessments form part of the service to our clients. On an annual basis the firm will carry out a periodic review.

DATA PROTECTION
Nixon Alexander Financial Services complies with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018. The data which you provide to us will be held on a computer database and paper files for the purpose of arranging transactions on your behalf. Your data will be passed to the relevant product producers with whom Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd has agencies for the purpose of arranging transactions agreed with you. Your data will be processed only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given and as outlined in our Data Privacy Notice and Data Protection Policy and Procedures. This information will only be used to provide you with business services, to meet any legal and regulatory obligations, and for legitimate business reasons. From time to time, we will send information about other financial products and services, provided by us or associated companies with which we have a formal business arrangement, which we think may be of interest to you. You have the right to ask us not to send you this marketing material and, at any time you can ‘opt out’ of receiving marketing material. You have a right to see the information that is held on you and you can do this by writing to me at the address given. We would like to contact you by way of letter, email or telephone call. If you would like to receive to receive such marketing information please complete the permission statements contained in the Terms of Business Client Acknowledgement Letter attached. You have the right at any time to request a copy of any ‘personal data’ within the meaning of the GDPR) that our office holds about you and to have any inaccuracies in that information corrected. Please contact us at siobhan@alexanderfs.ie if you have any queries about your personal data.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
It is the policy of our Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd to avoid conflicts of interest when providing business services to its clients. However, where an unavoidable conflict of interest may arise we will advise you of this in writing before providing you with any business service. If you have not been advised on any such conflict you are entitled to assume that none arises.

DEFAULT ON PAYMENTS BY CLIENTS
Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd will if necessary exercise its legal rights to receive any payments due to it from clients for business services provided by it and to be reimbursed for any value obtained by it for clients arising from payments to it by clients which subsequently default. In particular, without limitation of the generality of the foregoing, the firm will seek reimbursement for all payments made to insurers on behalf of clients where the firm has acted in good faith in renewing a policy of insurance for the client.

Product producers may withdraw benefits or cover in the event of default on payments due under policies of insurance or other products arranged for you. We would refer you to policy documents or product terms for the details of such provisions.

COMPLAINTS
Any complaint that you may have in relation to the business services provided should be made in writing to Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd outlining the nature of your complaint. All complaints will be acknowledged in writing within 5 business days of the complaint being received. The complaint will be fully investigated by Nixon Alexander Financial Services Ltd and a full response will be provided to you as soon as possible. We will aim to provide this response not later than 40 business days from receipt of your complaint and will provide you with a regular update on the progress of the investigation of the complaint at intervals of not greater than 20 business days, starting from the date on which the complaint was made. In the event that you are still dissatisfied with our handling of, or response to your complaint, you are entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (contact details below). A full copy of our complaints procedure is available on request.

Financial Services & Pensions Ombudsman
Lincoln House
Lincoln Place
Dublin 2 D02 VH29
Telephone: 01- 5677000
E-mail: info@ fspo.ie
Web:
www.fspo.ie

COMPENSATION SCHEME
We are members of the Investor Compensation Scheme operated by the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. See below for details.

INVESTOR COMPENSATION SCHEME
The Investor Compensation Act, 1998 provides for the establishment of a compensation scheme and the payment, in certain circumstances, of compensation to certain clients (known as eligible investors) of authorised investment firms, as defined in that Act.
The Investor Compensation Company Ltd. (ICCL) was established under the 1998 Act to operate such a compensation scheme and our firm is a member of this scheme.
Compensation may be payable where money or investment instruments owed or belonging to clients and held, administered or managed by the firm cannot be returned to those clients for the time being and where there is no reasonably foreseeable opportunity of the firm being able to do so.
A right to compensation will arise only:
If the client is an eligible investor as defined in the Act; and
If it transpires that the firm is not in a position to return client money or investment instruments owned or belonging to the clients of the firm; and
To the extent that the client’s loss is recognised for the purposes of the Act.
Where an entitlement to compensation is established, the compensation payable will be the lesser of: 90% of the amount of the client’s loss which is recognised for the purposes of the Investor Compensation Act, 1998; or Compensation of up to €20,000. For further information, contact the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. at (01) 224 4955.

Terms of Business Effective from 02/08/2022.