As of the 1st of July 2016, we will not be able to legally advise you about SMSFs and superannuation related issues unless we are licensed under an Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence.
Basic questions that will need to be answered under a licence include:
- How much should I contribute into super?
- Should I direct some of my company profit to super?
- When do you think I should start my super pension?
- What is the best structure to purchase property in my SMSF?
In order to ensure we are meeting our clients’ expectations in relation to advice and to maintain our service standards, we have decided to join an AFS licence.
Being authorised under an AFS licence does require us to adjust the way in which we provide our superannuation advice to you:
- When we provide advice for the first time, we will provide you with a Financial Services Guide (FSG) which we will ask you to sign off.
- The information that supports our recommendations (your current situation and objectives) will need to be documented and held on file.
- Any advice given to you will be presented in writing in a document called a Statement of Advice (SOA). This will also require your sign off.
While these things will change in the delivery of our service, we have worked to ensure that this will have minimal impact on our day-to-day dealings with our clients.
We felt that it was important to communicate these changes so you are aware of what to expect when we next discuss superannuation.
If you wish to discuss the above matter in more detail, please feel free to contact our office.
