Financial Services Guide
This Financial Services Guide (FSG) is designed to inform you of certain matters relating to our future relationship before we provide you with a financial service. It covers who we are, how we may be contacted, the financial services that we are authorised to provide, how we and our staff are paid, details of any potential conflicts of interest and how you can make a complaint. This information is set out in the questions and answers that follow.
Please keep this FSG for future reference. Should you lose it, a copy is available from us on request, or can be downloaded from our website. If you do not understand anything in it, or require more information, please feel free to contact us (details below).
Download a PDF copy of this FSG (114KB)
Questions you might ask:
- What is The Intelligent Investor?
- Who will provide the financial services to me?
- What kind of financial services are you authorised to provide and to what kind of products do those services relate?
- How do you get paid?
- How do you manage potential conflicts of interest?
- What should I know about the risks of the financial product advice you provide?
- Do you have professional indemnity insurance?
- What information do you maintain in my file?
- How do I make a complaint?
What is The Intelligent Investor?
The Intelligent Investor Publishing Pty Ltd publishes The Intelligent Investor website (www.intelligentinvestor.com.au), and an associated sharemarket newsletter, available by membership. We also publish several associated websites, including New2Shares (www.new2shares.com.au), Income Investor (www.incomeinvestor.com.au) and Directors’ Transactions (www.directorstransactions.com.au). We may also publish other websites from time to time.
Who will provide the financial services to me?
Licensee:
The Intelligent Investor Publishing Pty Ltd, trading as The Intelligent Investor
ABN: 12 108 915 233
Australian Financial Services Licence Number: 282288
Place of Business:
- Street Address:
- Suite 201, Level 2
282 Oxford Street
Bondi Junction NSW 2022
Contact details:
- Postal Address:
- PO Box 1158
BONDI JUNCTION NSW 1355 - Telephone:
- (02) 8305 6000 or 1800 620 414
+ 61 2 8305 6000 (international) - Fax:
- (02) 9387 8674
- Email:
- info@intelligentinvestor.com.au
The Intelligent Investor Publishing Pty Ltd acts on its own behalf. It is responsible for the financial services provided to you.
What kind of financial services are you authorised to provide and to what kind of products do those services relate?
The Intelligent Investor Publishing Pty Ltd is licensed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to carry on a financial services business to:
(a) provide general financial product advice for the following classes of financial products:
(i) interests in managed investment schemes, excluding investor directed portfolio services, and;
(ii) securities;
to retail and wholesale clients (our members).
We advise on securities and managed investment schemes through our websites, newsletter and seminars.
We are not licensed to provide advice on derivatives such as exchange-traded options or futures. Also, we do not offer any service for you to buy or sell the securities and managed investment schemes we may recommend. A list of stockbrokers who are licensed to deal in securities is available from the Australian Securities Exchange (www.asx.com.au).
IMPORTANT: We provide general financial product advice only, as distinct from personal financial product advice. The advice on The Intelligent Investor website, our other websites, in The Intelligent Investor sharemarket newsletter, and in any seminar, has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should, before acting on our recommendations, consider their appropriateness to your specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs. If you are uncertain as to what your objectives and needs are, you should contact a financial adviser or stockbroker who is licensed to provide you with personal financial product advice.
How do you get paid?
The Intelligent Investor is a membership-based service. A membership fee is payable when you subscribe to The Intelligent Investor’s services and depends on the length of time of your membership, and whether you prefer online access only or postal delivery as well.
We provide a range of membership fee options ranging from $99 for a three-month trial membership to $1,095 for two years of online access and postal delivery. Please note that these fees may change from time to time due to promotional offers. Current membership fees are available on our website (www.intelligentinvestor.com.au) or by contacting us.
We also offer a regular payment option. Under this option, your credit card or bank account will be debited with a regular payment until you cancel. Membership fees for this option are currently $25 per fortnight for online access only, or $27 a fortnight for online access and postal delivery. We intend to offer a monthly payment option eventually.
We offer a full money back guarantee on your membership fee at any time during your subscription if you are unhappy with our services. For regular payment members, the guarantee is limited to the lesser of your total payments, or one year’s worth of payments.
We may also conduct sharemarket seminars from time to time. Seminar prices will be available on our website (www.intelligentinvestor.com.au) when arranged.
The Intelligent Investor Publishing Pty Ltd does not receive any other fees, commissions or benefits for the services it provides.
All employees of The Intelligent Investor Publishing Pty Ltd receive a salary. They may also receive performance-based bonuses. No employee is entitled to any other fees, commissions or benefits from The Intelligent Investor Publishing Pty Ltd or any other person in relation to the financial services provided.
How do you manage potential conflicts of interest?
The Intelligent Investor Publishing Pty Ltd, and its related bodies corporate, do not have any relationships or associations with any financial product providers that influence, or could reasonably be expected to influence, us in the provision of financial services that we are licensed to provide. All our research is undertaken on a fully independent and unbiased basis.
Our staff are required to comply with a staff trading policy, details of which are available on The Intelligent Investor website. Staff holdings in securities and listed managed investment schemes are disclosed on the website (access available to members only), and in every issue of the newsletter.
What should I know about the risks of the financial product advice you provide?
There are risks with all securities and managed investment schemes, their prices may fall as well as rise, and there is a chance you could lose your entire investment.
We assign risk ratings to the securities and managed investment schemes we recommend in the newsletter. Note that these risk ratings are general in nature.
As indicated above, we provide general financial product advice only. We do not provide personal product advice. You should consult a financial adviser or stockbroker who is licensed to provide you with personal financial product advice if you require any advice on securities, or managed investment schemes, or you require assistance in determining your particular risk profile.
Do you have professional indemnity insurance?
The Intelligent Investor Publishing Pty Ltd has professional indemnity insurance arrangements in place, in compliance with our obligations under s.912B of the Corporations Act 2001 (as amended). This insurance covers claims for work performed for us by any representatives or employees who subsequently cease employment with us.
What information do you maintain in my file?
We keep your name and address details in our database for the purpose of providing the services you request. We may also keep your telephone and email details if you provide them to us, as well as your credit card details if you choose our regular payment option. We may also keep a record of any correspondence between you and us, including but not limited to, emails, telephone conversations and letters. At any time, you may change or remove your details by contacting us.
We may from time to time inform you of special offers, or ask your opinion of our services, but you may opt out of receiving any of these offers by contacting us. We will not share your personal information with any third party without your express permission. The Intelligent Investor respects your privacy and abides by the Privacy Act 2002.
How do I make a complaint?
We try to adhere to the highest standards of conduct at all times. Nevertheless, we understand there may be times when you would like to make a complaint about our services. Our dispute resolution process is as follows:
-
Contact us and tell us about your complaint. We will try to resolve it fairly and within 48 hours.
-
If it is not resolved satisfactorily, please write to the Managing Director of The Intelligent Investor with your complaint using the contact details in this FSG.
-
If your complaint still cannot be resolved, The Intelligent Investor Publishing Pty Ltd is a member of an external dispute resolution scheme called the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), formerly the Financial Industry Complaints Service (FICS). FOS can be telephoned on 1300 780 808 and its website is www.fos.org.au. FOS will facilitate discussions and negotiations between the parties to help reach agreement and provide an independent adjudicator if necessary. You won’t pay any fee for this service.
-
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) also has an information line which you can use to make a complaint or obtain information about your rights. The telephone number is 1300 300 630.
