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 an 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.

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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.

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Yes. Simon Stredder is a Certified Financial PlannerCM (CFPCM) professional and a 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.

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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.

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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 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.

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Yes, 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.

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Our cost structure is simple, fair and transparent – and that’s what we ourselves would expect when engaging a professional adviser. There are three types of costs – one at the start of your engagement with us, one for ongoing monitoring and investment portfolio advice and one if you choose to have your KiwiSaver with us:

  • a planning cost to write any advice known as a Statement of Advice (SOA), based on an agreed scope of service. The cost of preparing any SOA is determined after an initial conversation and agreed with you before the commencement of any billable work.
  • a monitoring service charge based on your funds under advice, typically calculated on a percentage basis. These ongoing costs are deducted from the portfolio custodial cash account monthly in arrears.
  • a KiwiSaver fee paid to us by your provider if you agree to us managing your KiwiSaver.

That's it. Simple, fair and transparent.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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How we create your bespoke financial plan

Discover
We’ll talk about your goals and whether we can help you achieve them. We’ll ask you about your objectives, values and financial situation so we can determine timeframes and commitments.
Develop
We present a detailed plan to help you achieve your goals, and talk it through with you to ensure you can use it to make the most informed decisions. We listen to your concerns and revise our recommendations as needed.
Implement
Together we’ll formulate a plan to carry out these recommendations, and either make the arrangements or coordinate these with you and your other professional advisers.
Check in
In our initial progress meeting (within three to six months), we’ll talk you through how to understand the six monthly reports we send you.
Regular progress
We’ll monitor your ongoing progress and review and adjust your plan as your life changes.