This agreement is issued on behalf of Independent Advice Ltd. of 15 Chorley New Road, Bolton, BL1 4QR. We can be contacted at howard@hjscott.co.uk or telephone 01204 559696.
This is our standard client agreement, often referred to as a Terms of Business and includes the attached details of our Managed Portfolio Service
This agreement explains and confirms
- the services you are being offered,
- the way we will carry out those services and
- an example of the cost of those services.
H.J.Scott & Co is the trading name of Independent Advice Ltd.
We are authorised and regulated by The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the conduct of investment business. Our registration number is 524535, you can check our regulatory details by visiting the FCA Register.
Independent Advice Ltd. is incorporated in the UK. Our company registration number is 06759774, you can check our company details by visiting Companies House
The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate Financial Planning Advice or Taxation Advice, if the advice contains no recommended investment element. Other areas of advice that are not covered by the Financial Services Act will be clearly identified and brought to your attention.
Do I need to take any action?
You should ask us to clarify anything that is not clear. If you are in agreement then we ask you to indicate your agreement at the end of this document. This agreement will stay in force until you or we end it, or until you or we ask to change it, giving seven days notice in writing to that effect. We will keep a copy of this document on file. You may also save the agreement as a pdf or print it out if you require a hard copy.
What comes next?
Unless otherwise agreed in writing, we will treat you as a Retail Client. As a retail client, the regulatory protections you receive are the highest available. You qualify for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and the Financial Ombudsman Scheme for regulated products.
Can you describe your services?
Financial Planning Service
Before we offer you any of our services, we will review your current personal circumstances, any existing policies, plans and assets you may have, your level of investment knowledge and experience and your financial objectives.
Our planning & advice will be based solely on the information provided by you.
We would normally advise you on your overall situation, but you should let us know about any specific aims that you might have, such as simply utilising this year’s ISA allowance.
After this completely free of charge triage meeting, we will give you written details of any recommendations that are suitable and appropriate to meet any needs identified & help achieve your financial objectives.
If our financial plan recommends an additional or substitute financial product, we can arrange this for you utilising our Financial Advice Service.
Financial Advice Service
We operate independently and therefore provide investment advice and services from the whole market. Our permitted business includes advising on and arranging (bringing about): savings and investment products; pensions; life policies (including annuities). We also have a long term care fees planning specialist.
Where we make a recommendation we will provide appropriate risk warnings prior to providing the recommended products or services.
We reserve the right not to offer one-off financial advice. If we believe that commercially it is not in our interests to engage with you as a client, we will sign-post you to useful directory services.
If we do recommend a long-term investment plan to you, we will also provide you with our full Managed Portfolio Service.
Managed Portfolio Service
Our investment mandate allows us to act with full discretion, without reference to you, to enter into transactions for your account provided that they conform to your investment objectives & risk appetite.
We will make arrangements for all investments to be registered in your name, unless you first instruct us otherwise in writing. In certain circumstances products and/or investments may be registered in the name of a nominee company, for your ease of administration, although you will remain the beneficial owner.
Our Investment Management full terms and conditions are detailed in our Managed Portfolio Service
It is important you read both our client agreement and our managed portfolio service mandate.
What services do you not offer?
We are not authorised to offer advice in the following areas;
- Non-investment life insurance
- General Insurance (car, household etc.)
- Mortgages
- Lifetime mortgages (equity release)
- Debt consolidation
- Occupational pension transfers
- Crypto-currencies
We prefer to decline business opportunities in the following areas;
- Organising personal share purchases and sales
- Advising on property purchases held within a SIPP
- Employer sponsored group pension schemes
- SSAS’s
- Venture Capital Trusts and Enterprise Investment Trusts.
How will you communicate with me?
- We prefer our communications to be via email. We endeavour to reply to client emails within 48 hours.
- We will communicate with you in writing only if it is strictly necessary.
- We will use only the English language, both verbally and in any written correspondence.
- This agreement is governed by English law.
- Our office and our telephone lines are open 8:30am until 4:30pm weekdays, except for Friday when we close the incoming lines at 2:00pm to allow our team to catch up on the current week and prepare for the following week.
Will you act in my best interest?
We will act honestly, fairly and professionally, known as conducting business in the “Client’s best interest”. If we become aware that our interests (or those of one of our other clients) conflict with your interests, we will inform you in writing and obtain your consent prior to proceeding with your instructions.
Is your service ongoing?
Yes. Our Financial Planning Service and our Managed Portfolio Service is ongoing. Included in your single monthly fee;
- We will contact you annually to suggest that we arrange a financial review meeting at our offices.
- Alternatively you can request an on-line or telephone review. Where a client has additional needs (such as limited mobility) we will agree to conduct the annual reviews at your chosen location.
- You will receive a valuation of your investments quarterly.
- You will also be offered on-line access, which allows 24/7 valuations.
- You will benefit from the dedicated service of a small experienced family based team. We keep it personal.
- You will receive prompt replies to your email and telephone enquires.
- We will liaise with your other professional advisers where required.
- We will invite you to receive our in-house blogs.
- We keep you informed of any legislative changes that may affect you, along with regulatory changes, investment market and global economic developments.
If however our advice does not include the recommendation of a financial product, or a financial product that does not include any investment element, there will be no ongoing client reviews and no ongoing fees.
What is discussed at a financial review review meeting?
We check to ensure the data we hold still remains correct. Changes could have occurred in the following areas;
- Your personal details
- Your level of income and/or expenditure
- Your level of assets and/or liabilities
- The value of investments and savings you hold personally
- The value of individual and workplace pension schemes
- Details of your estate planning i.e. your Will and/or Lasting Powers of Attorney
- Your attitude to risk and your capacity to cope with capital loss or income loss
- Your financial objectives and their priority
We can also discuss;
- Whether we believe any changes in legislation will have an effect on your future.
- Of course we can answer any questions you may have.
- Present a past investment performance review and highlight our current view of the future.
How much might your services cost?
Not all firms charge for advice in the same way. We will answer any questions you have and we will not charge you anything until you have agreed how we are paid.
What is your hourly rate?
We do not charge by the hour; instead we will always agree how much our fee will be before beginning work.
Are there any other costs and charges to consider?
Obviously we do not hold your savings in our bank account. Your savings are held on our chosen platform. There are platform costs to consider in return for the safeguarding, custody, settlement, regulatory and reporting tasks they carry out on your behalf. This a maximum of 0.26% per annum. Your estimated fee is detailed below in our calculator. Further details will be given in your product illustrations.
If we choose to invest your savings in funds, there are additional annual fees to consider. Instead we cut out the middlemen and invest directly into shares and fixed interest investments. Direct investment incurs no annual costs.
Our Simple Fee Structure
What are your typical charges?
Nobody likes complex fee structures so ours is refreshingly simple.
First Meeting Fee
A first meeting is always free. We cover the cost of this meeting. We do tend to only meet with individuals referred to us by happy clients.
Annual Fee for our combined services
Our combined fee (Financial Planning & Managed Portfolio Service) is levied monthly, charged at the rate of 1/12 of 1% per month based on the ongoing value of your managed portfolio. There are no further hidden fees for our clients. We are happy to give any amount of financial planning advice within our monthly charge.
External fund managers charge an annual management fee, which includes trading costs. These are deducted from your account as a transaction cost. Equity (share) ownership costs are explained below.
One-Off Initial Fee
We typically charge 3% of the value invested. Our initial investment advice fee, is for both new clients and for clients investing more with our service. We cap our initial, and subsequent initial fees to no more than £15,000.
Estimated Fee Calculator
One-Off, Non-Investment Advice Fees
We do not tend to offer one-off advice to individuals. We prefer to build long term relationships with our clients.
Our fee for new customers who simply require ad-hoc Financial Advice in connection with an existing plan, pension scheme or the purchase of an annuity, will be discussed and agreed at our meeting. This fee will be fixed at outset once we fully understand your requirements.
We reserve the right not to offer one-off non-investment advice.
Do I need to be aware of any other industry wide costs?
We prefer not to include funds within our main managed portfolios, thus avoiding annual fund management fees. The cost of owning a UK FTSE 100 tracker maybe low, at 0.2% per annum, but it is a perennial cost that can be avoided by just owning those shares directly.
Equity (Share) Ownership Costs
When we add a share to your portfolio there are additional costs to consider.
Brokerage – Neither ourselves or the platforms we recommend are members of The London Stock Exchange, so a broker is required to source (or sell) the shares we choose for our portfolios. Individually the cost of buying a shareholding (any number of shares from 1 to 100,000s) is currently £3.75. However we seldom just buy a share for any one individual, instead we group individuals together when we trade. On average around 100 of us could each be buying the same share at the same time. Therefore the £3.75 brokerage fee is split 100 ways, reducing our personal cost to just 4p. This aggregate trading is one of the benefits of investing together.
PTM – PTM (Panel of Takeovers and Mergers) is a £1 government levy that is automatically charged to investors when they buy or sell shares for over £10,000 listed on the London Stock Exchanges. This tax is not levied on overseas shares.
Stamp Duty – You’ll pay Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT) if you buy shares electronically through the ‘CREST’ system (a computerised register of shares and share owners) listed on the main London Stock Market. SDRT is not payable on overseas shares or those listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The tax is taken automatically when you buy the shares, so you do not need to do anything else about your tax. SDRT is charged at 0.5% when you buy shares electronically.
Typical Equity Transaction Costs
As an example we have averaged out the additional costs incurred on a typical Moderate portfolio of £450,000 over recent years.
- Brokerage – 8p per transaction. There were 193 equity transactions.
- PTM Levy – 2p per transaction. There were 114 transactions.
- Stamp Duty – £28.15p in tax in total. There were 61 transactions.
This period was exceptional spanning the end of 2021 and most of 2022. Portfolios were altered greatly as inflation began to run away and interest rates were increased. Our results suggest that on-average the cost of direct share ownership should be around 0.05% of the value of the portfolio per annum. (£223 per £450,000)
Do I have to settle your fees by cheque or bank transfer?
No. All our annual fees, and some initial fees, can be deducted directly from your tax-wrappers (plans). However we usually request direct payment by cheque or bank transfer for our advice fees when a new non-pension investment is recommended. Your cheque should be made payable to “Independent Advice Ltd.” for our fees. Our bank details will be supplied upon request.
Will your fees be subject to VAT?
We are a supplier of an exempt intermediary service for VAT purposes. VAT legislation is complex and subject to change. We will inform you if VAT becomes chargeable.
Will my investment cheques and investment bank transfers be made payable to you?
No. Independent Advice Ltd. does not hold clients’ money. Our regulatory permissions state we “May control but not hold client money & assets”. We never accept a cheque made out to us unless the cheque is in settlement of charges or disbursements for which we have sent you an invoice. The same is true for any bank transfers. We do not accept or handle cash. All investment amounts will be paid directly to the investment provider by you.
Do you only advise on regulated products?
No. A further menu is available on request that details our charges for wills, trusts and lasting powers of attorney.
If I invest, can I change my mind?
We will inform you of your statutory right to cancel. The Distance Marketing Directive normally grants you 30 days in which you may cancel a life or pension contract. However, there will be occasions where no statutory rights are granted. If this happens, it will be explained before any contract is concluded.
How do I take withdrawals or indeed all of my investment back?
You simply instruct us to return to your bank account any amount you wish. We always understand these are your life savings. We have never charged clients to take withdrawals, or their full investment balance back, and never will. Unfortunately this principle is remarkably rare in our profession.
Do you invest in an Ethical Manner?
More detail is given in our Monthly Portfolio Service Document. We understand our investment mandate is with you and you alone. We have a clear investment conscience, but understand we should prioritise maximising your returns. We have no obligation to put the needs of global pressure groups or governments first.
What do I do if I am unhappy?
You should contact us straight away. If you wish to register a complaint, please write to the compliance officer at Independent Advice Ltd. 15 Chorley New Road, Bolton, BL1 4QR or telephone (01204) 559696. If we cannot settle your complaint, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service, whose details we will provide. If however you have a compliment to make, perhaps about a helpful member of the team we would be more than happy to hear from you.
What if you cannot compensate me?
We contribute to the funds of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. You may be entitled to compensation from this scheme if Independent Advice Ltd. ceases to trade and, as a result of our advice, you have suffered a financial loss.
The amount of compensation depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim. Most types of investment business are covered for 100% of the first £85,000. Further information on this scheme is widely available. It can be provided on request, or directly from the FSCS at their website www.fscs.org.uk.
Will you look after my personal data?
Any personal data obtained in the course of providing our services to you will be held and processed by us in accordance with the relevant data protection legislation.
If you choose to submit personal information to us you are agreeing that it can be used in the following ways:
- To provide the services described;
- For the prevention of money laundering. We use automated online systems provided by a third party to help us carry out fraud and money laundering checks;
- Personal information will be given to third parties only so far as it is necessary to fulfill these objectives and in accordance with the GDPR. This may include distribution to a third party provider of support services outside of the EEA;
- You agree to the disclosure of personal information to any regulatory authority to which Independent Advice Ltd. is subject;
- Electronic communications between parties in the course of business may be monitored by us in accordance with the relevant legislation;
- We respect your privacy and will not share your personal information with anyone else unless you have given your permission for us to do so.
Although we take all reasonable steps to ensure the security of your personal information over the Internet, such as using available means of encryption and privacy protection, the internet is not an entirely secure environment and for this reason we cannot guarantee that information will not be intercepted read or copied by unauthorised parties. You accept these inherent security implications and will not hold us responsible for any breach of security unless we have been negligent.
Effective Date
This Client Agreement is effective and was last updated on June 10th 2024
Client Declaration
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