WSP Financial Services Pty Ltd (WSPFS) is owned by its key advisors. The primary service offered is advice. Where a particular product or service is recommended to clients any remuneration that is expected to flow to WSPFS from that recommendation will be confirmed to you.
Products and services are chosen from a "recommended list" which is a carefully researched and selected portfolio of options that meet the core investment philosophy tests applied by WSPFS.
WSPFS advisors cannot say that they are "independent" as they are entitled to receive "trailing" commissions or brokerage from some of the products that are sold and /or from products or services that they provide advice on for existing clients.
However, WSPFS fiercely protects the integrity of its advice and commitment to its clients in selecting which products and services are or are not on the recommended list.
There is no requirement for clients to buy those products or services from WSPFS. Further, an advisor can provide advice on an hourly rate that is completely removed from any particular product or service. Simply phone, fax or email for more detail.
Independence
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) make it clear that an advisory business cannot claim "independence" unless it is able to satisfy a number of requirements. This helps to ensure that you, the person seeking advice, are able to see clearly what bias or prejudice may exist in the recommendations made to you. As at April 2009, those requirements are set out in s923A of the Corporations Act.
Without detracting from the precise interpretation of those requirements (which are worth reading if you have a moment), they basically state that if any part of an advisory business receives commissions then the word "independent" cannot be used in reference to that business.
To make it clear, WSPFS is not "independent". Parts of our business do receive commissions and "trail brokerage" on investment, insurance and superannuation accounts. Again, the key aim of this legislation is to ensure that financial incentives are clearly disclosed so that you are able to identify bias or prejudice.
WSPFS aims to reduce bias as much as possible. For this reason, you are able to pay for our advice on an hourly rate basis. In this way, there are no financial incentives for recommending one product or strategy over another.
For a more complete discussion on the broader implications of independence, bias and prejudice, visit the Michael's Musings website. It will accumulate a large listing of discussion and investigation into various aspects of financial planning, and is intended to be a forum for covering such areas in more detail.