LICENSING INFORMATION

Bowden Group - FSP723651 - is the Financial Advice Provider and holds a licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority to provide financial advice.

You can email us at hello@bowdengroup.co.nz or call us on 021 026 12996.

NATURE AND SCOPE OF THE ADVICE

Bowden Group provides advice to our clients about their mortgages, KiwiSaver, life insurance and health insurance. Our financial advisers provide financial advice in relation to these financial advice products. We only provide financial advice about products from certain providers: 

  • For mortgages, we have agencies with five lenders – AIA, ANZ, ASB, BNZ and Westpac

  • For life insurance, we have agencies with five insurance companies – AIA, Asteron, Fidelity Life, nib and Partners Life

  • For health insurance, we have agencies with three insurance companies - AIA, nib and Partners Life

  • For KiwiSaver, we use one provider - Generate

In providing you with financial advice, we will complete a review of your financial situation. When reviewing your mortgage requirements, we will also review and advise you on your insurance needs for our compliance purposes.

CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES AND OBLIGATIONS

It is your duty and responsibility to provide me with accurate, truthful and relevant information at the time that the initial information is being gathered by way of the Fact Find or Needs Analysis, whichever takes place first. If you provide me with incomplete or inaccurate information, I may not be able to provide you with the advice, products or services you are seeking. It may also cause an insurance claim to be denied. 

It is important that you understand your obligation to provide me with accurate, truthful and relevant information in order for the financial services provider to appropriately assess the risk and make an informed decision about the products or services  you may be seeking.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND INCENTIVES

Bowden Group and our financial advisers receive commissions from the providers on whose products we give financial advice (insurers, KiwiSaver and mortgage providers). If you decide to take out an insurance policy, draw down on lending or switch to a KiwiSaver provider we recommend, the provider will pay a commission to Bowden Group and to your financial adviser. The amount of commission is based on the amount of the insurance premium (maximum of 230%), mortgage value (maximum of 0.85%) or KiwiSaver balance (maximum $300.00). Some providers pay an ongoing commission of the insurance premium (maximum 10% per annum), mortgage value (maximum 0.20%) or KiwiSaver balance (maximum 0.50%).

From time to time, product providers may also reward us for the overall business we provide to them. They may give us tickets to sports events, hampers, or other incentives. 

To ensure that our financial advisers prioritise our clients’ interests above their own, we follow an advice process that ensures our recommendations are made on the basis of each client’s goals and circumstances. All our financial advisers undergo annual training about how to manage conflicts of interest. We maintain registers of conflicts of interests, and the gifts and incentives we receive. Bowden Group monitors these registers and provides additional training where necessary. Bowden Group performs an annual review of our compliance programme.

REMUNERATION & FEES

Bowden Group may charge a fee of up to $2,500.00 (plus GST) for the financial advice provided to a client where a client cancels a life or health insurance policy within two years of inception or a client partially or fully repays their mortgage within three years of initial drawdown. We can provide an initial quote for short-term arrangements where insurance cover or a mortgage will not reach the timeframes listed above. A separate administration fee of up to $500.00 (plus GST) may be charged for work completed and you choose not to proceed. 

Whether a fee will be charged and the manner in which it will be charged will be advised when the advice is provided to the client. This fee will be payable by the client by the 20th of the month after the policy is cancelled, mortgage is partially or fully repaid or refinanced or an application is submitted.  

COMPLAINTS HANDLING AND DISPUTES RESOLUTION

We are always looking for ways to improve our service to you. If something has gone wrong, we want to know. Please send an email to hello@bowdengroup.co.nz and tell us what has happened and how we can resolve matters. If you have any documents or correspondence that will help us understand your complaint, please attach them to your email.

When we receive your complaint, we will:

  • Acknowledge your complaint within two working days

  • Gather and evaluate information about your complaint

  • Respond to you within 20 working days

If we cannot resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you can contact Financial Services Complaints Limited – A Financial Ombudsman Service (FSCL). They are an independent, not-for-profit, external dispute resolution service approved by the Minister of Consumer Affairs. FSCL’s role is to investigate and fairly resolve complaints. Their service is free (it does not cost you anything).

FSCL’s contact details are:

  • fscl.org.nz

  • 0800 347 257

  • complaints@fscl.org.nz

  • FSCL, PO Box 5967, Wellington 6140

DUTIES INFORMATION

Bowden Group, and anyone who gives financial advice on our behalf, have duties under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 relating to the way that we give advice. 

We are required to:

  • Give priority to your interests by taking all reasonable steps to make sure our advice isn’t materially influenced by our own interests.

  • Exercise care, diligence, and skill in providing you with advice. 

  • Meet standards of competence, knowledge and skill set by the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services (these are designed to make sure that we have the expertise needed to provide you with advice). 

  • Meet standards of ethical behaviour, conduct and client care set by the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services (these are designed to make sure we treat you as we should, and give you suitable advice). 

This is only a summary of the duties that we have. More information is available by contacting us, or by visiting the Financial Markets Authority website at https://www.fma.govt.nz.

CONTACT DETAILS

You can email us at hello@bowdengroup.co.nz or call us on 021 026 12996.

We look forward to speaking with you soon.