Licensing Information

Float Financial Advisors Limited, is a Financial Advice Provider (FAP), currently holds a transitional license and is regulated by the Financial Markets Authority to provide financial advice.

Our Financial Services Provider (FSP) number is 545907.

 

Nature & Scope of Advice Provided

Here are the things we can help you with. As you can see, they are focused on helping you buy property and grow your assets, as well as advising on insurance to protect your health and financial wellbeing.

• Finding the right mortgage and managing the paperwork when you apply for your loan.
• Assessing your risk of serious illness and disability, so you can have the protection of trauma insurance and also permanent disability insurance.
• Advice on income protection insurance to help safeguard your income if sickness or disability affected your ability to earn.
• Advice on life insurance to protect those who depend on you financially.
• Advice on health insurance to provide access to private hospital or specialist treatment.
• Advice on investments and Kiwisaver to help you build a deposit for your first home and plan for retirement.

 

The companies we work with:

Who we use for mortgages: Float is accredited and works with a wide range of lenders to find the best rates and terms for you: ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Westpac, Kiwibank, Avanti Finance, The Co-operative Bank, Cressida, Liberty Financial, NZCU, PSIS, Public Trust, AIA/Go Home Loans, SBS Bank, TSB, Sentinel, DBR, Basecorp, General Finance, Pepper Finance, Resimac, Bank of China, ICBC, Heartland Bank, DBR, CFML, Unity, First Mortgage Trust.

Who we use for personal risk and health insurance: We believe the following 6 companies offer an excellent choice of personal and health cover: Partners Life, Asteron, Fidelity Life and NIB and AIA.

Who we use for fire and general insurance: We will recommend the products and solutions we think best fit your circumstances from the following companies: Tower, Vero & Ando.

Who we use for investments and KiwiSaver: Booster, Generate, Milford, and Pathfinder.

 

Fees & Expenses

As a general rule Float does not charge for mortgage and insurance advice as we receive product provider commissions. Occasionally, we may work with lenders who don’t pay a commission to Float. In this scenario, we may charge a one-off fee for any work we do on your behalf. We would discuss this with you beforehand and get your permission in writing.

Mortgage commission claw backs: If you repay in part a mortgage within 27 months of drawdown, the lender may take back some of or all of the commission Float earned. If you have refinanced using another broker or by going direct to a bank, Float may charge you a one-off fee to cover the income that the lender has “clawed back” from Float.

If you repay your mortgage from the sale of a property or by any other means and this intention or possibility was not communicated in writing prior to settlement, Float Financial Advisers may also in its sole discretion charge a fee to recover the commission claw back that the lender charges. Please let us know if there is this possibility.

The amount of this fee will be disclosed to you prior to your original loan settlement date, this fee will be capped at the amount the lender charges Float and typically reduces each year on the anniversary of your settlement date.

Insurance commission claw backs: If you decide to close a life insurance or health policy within 27 months from inception of the policy, the insurance company may take back some or all of the commission float earned. Float may charge you a one-off fee to cover the income that the insurance provider has “clawed back” from Float.

The amount of this fee will be disclosed to you prior to the inception date of your insurance or health policy, this fee will be capped at the amount the Insurer charges Float and typically reduces each year.

 

Conflicts of Interest & Incentives

Our advisers are paid salaries, not commissions based on the revenue that Float earns. This means they can focus on finding the right deal for you instead of hunting for the biggest pay-off for them personally. There is no financial incentive or financial conflict of interest for a Float Financial Adviser to apply to one product provider over another.

The product providers we deal with usually pay commissions to Float based on the business Float brings them. This is generally paid once the mortgage is settled or insurance policy is issued and is a percentage of the value of your investment balances, loan balance or insurance premium. The commission may also include a renewal or trail commission which is a percentage of the value of your investment balance, outstanding loan amount or premiums, usually calculated at the end of each month in which you hold the investment or loan, or on renewal of insurance products. We also receive a fixed rate rollover fee from some providers if we help re-fix your loan.

A discretionary bonus structure based on performance and compliance is in place.

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.

On top of the salary model Float has adopted to ensure our financial advisers prioritise your interests above their own, we follow the six-step advice process, which includes research and diligence with our product selection to meet your specific needs.

We manage any conflicts by following our procedures which include holding a register of any conflicts and reviewing them regularly.

 

Complaints handling and dispute resolution

At Float we love feedback, if you have a complaint we would appreciate your honesty, here is a link to how you can make a complaint.

When we receive a complaint, we will consider it following our internal complaints process:

1. We will consider your complaint and let you know how we intend to resolve it. We may need to contact you to get further information about your complaint. You can log a compliant through your Float client portal.
2. We aim to resolve complaints within 10 working days of receiving them. If we are unable to resolve the issue, we will contact you within that timeframe to let you know we need more time to consider your complaint.
3. We will contact you by phone or email to let you know whether we can resolve your complaint and how we propose to do so.

If you have a problem, concern, or complaint about any part of our service, please notify us so we can attempt to resolve the problem. You may contact our internal disputes service by telephoning 0800 356 288, by email info@floatmortgages.co.nz, or in writing to Level 1, 359 Onehunga Mall Road, Onehunga.

If we cannot agree on how to resolve the issue, you may contact Financial Services Complaints Limited. You will not be charged for this service, and will help us resolve any disagreements.

 

Duties Information

Float Financial Advisers, and anyone who gives financial advice on our behalf, has 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 specific to your circumstances.
• 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).

 

Professional Indemnity Insurance

All our advisers are covered with professional indemnity insurance policies. This provides protection for our customers in unlikely cases of financial loss due to misrepresentation, negligence, financial loss through fraud, omission or employee dishonesty.

 

Terms of Engagement

To read our Terms of Engagement click here.