FAQs .
Frequently asked questions
Once you approach us, we’ll have an initial conversation to address your questions and confirm if we can help. We then arrange a first meeting – which is usually on us – where we discuss your goals and work through a simple fact-finding process. This helps us fully understand your situation and enables us to provide a written estimate of what our initial advice is likely to cost. Then, if you choose to go ahead, we research and analyse your situation, identify the key issues, then prepare and send you a draft of our advice. Once you’ve had the chance to read the draft, we meet again to go through the advice in full to ensure you understand it, discuss any issues arising, and make any changes required. Then we agree on an action plan and oversee the implementation process.
Yes, and most of our clients prefer to work this way. If you have investments, we send you reports as required and contact you annually or by arrangement to update your details and offer you a review meeting. You can also contact us anytime. The costs are usually covered by our ongoing portfolio management charges and all costs are disclosed before moving forward – known as continuous disclosure.
Yes. Simon Stredder is a Certified Financial PlannerCM (CFPCM) professional and an Authorised Financial Adviser, registered with the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). He is university qualified and a member of Financial Advice New Zealand (the professional body for financial advisers) where he holds the Trusted Adviser quality service mark. The Wealth & Co team has more than 25 years of experience in financial markets, so you can be confident that the advice you receive from us will be sound, independent advice based on your needs.
We consult with a group of independently owned and non-aligned adviser firms we call The Independent Advisers Alliance (TIAA) group. The group is headed by Certified Financial PlannerCM (CFPCM) professionals and members of Financial Advice New Zealand. The group contracts an external analyst to provide research on asset allocation and individual securities. We also access investment research from Morningstar and Farrelly’s.
One way to answer this question is to say that we are professionals, and true professionals always put their clients’ interests first. As both a CFPCM (Certified Financial PlannerCM) professional and member of Financial Advice New Zealand, we’ve made a commitment to do this.
Another way to answer the question is to say that we mostly get paid fees to manage investment portfolios. Rather than work for commission, where practicable we charge based on a funds-under-management basis, rebating any commission payable on investments to our clients.
Commission of all kinds – related to insurance and KiwiSaver products only and where we feel it would benefit our clients – makes up a small portion of our total revenue, and is fully disclosed before any work is undertaken.
Because we sometimes accept commission (related to KiwiSaver products only), we cannot describe ourselves as ‘independent’ in the true scene of the word. However, we work strictly in our clients’ interests, and generally charge costs based on a management of investment portfolios model for our work and rebating any investment commission. We do not charge additional brokerage on transitions, implementation fees or service fees, or accept any selling commission from product providers. We also have no ties to any bank, insurance company, KiwiSaver provider or other provider of financial products.
Our cost structure is simple, fair and transparent – and that’s what we ourselves would expect when engaging a professional adviser. There are two types of costs – one at the start of your engagement with us, and one for ongoing monitoring and investment portfolio advice:
- Initial PlanningCosts: We charge a planning fee based on an hourly rate for initial advice that includes a written statement of advice (SOA). We provide an estimate of this cost at the end of our first meeting and before any work begins.
- Ongoing Monitoring and Administration Costs: All our plans include a recommended investment portfolio. We charge a percentage fee to provide ongoing advice based on the size of that portfolio.
That's it. Simple, fair and transparent.
We believe that charging based on a funds-under-management model, rather than accepting commissions, is the best way to ensure the advice we give is impartial and in your best interests.
Many people worry that they’ll need a huge sum of money for their retirement. The earlier you take positive steps to plan and implement your financial future, the easier it will be to achieve your financial and lifestyle goals. If you don’t plan, you’ll never know.
You should deal with a professional. New Zealand law now requires financial advisers to be qualified and registered with the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Consider how your adviser is paid, their qualifications and experience, business relationships and professional memberships. You should also ensure that their approach suits your needs, and that you can relate to them: after all, you may be working with them for a long time.
The answer depends on things like your time horizon, your other resources and how you feel about risk. We’d sit down with you to find out more about your vision for the future, your values relating to money, and your goals and needs. From there, we can work with you to find the right course of action for you.