Licensed Financial Advice Provider

Licensing Information

Erskine Owen Financial Advisory Limited (trading as Erskine Owen) is licensed as a Financial Advice Provider by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Our Financial Services Provider number is FSP771231.

Contact details are:

Nature and scope of advice

Erskine Owen provides our clients with financial planning and mortgage brokering services.

Our financial planning services use the Financial Planning Standards Board approach to develop strategies to help our clients manage their financial affairs to meet their goals.

We provide property investment advice and arrange property investments for clients. We also provide mortgage advice and arrange mortgages.

Our investment service is non-discretionary. That is, we require client approval before we proceed with any investment transaction.

Our advice is independent, and we are not limited to any particular investment or product provider.

Fees and expenses

Planning services

  • We charge for advice at the hourly rate of $450 plus GST, including the initial consultation.
  • The fee charged will depend on the nature and scope of the advice or service we provide for you. There is a cost for our financial planning advice. We will outline the estimated cost in a letter of engagement and agree the fees with you before we proceed.
  • We also charge administration and travel costs.

Mortgage brokering

  • We receive commissions from the lending institutions with whom we arrange finance for clients We reserve the right to charge you a fee if we obtain pre-approved finance for you and you do not utilise such pre-approved finance.

Conflicts of Interest and Incentives

For mortgages, Erskine Owen and the financial adviser receive commissions from the banks with whom we arrange mortgages. If you decide to take out the mortgage, the bank will pay a commission to your financial adviser. The amount of the commission is based on the amount of the mortgage. To ensure that our financial advisers prioritise our clients’ interests above their own, we follow an advice process that ensures our recommendations are made on the basis of each client’s goals and circumstances. All our financial advisers undergo annual training about how to manage conflicts of interest. We undertake a compliance audit, and a review of our compliance programme is undertaken annually by a reputable compliance adviser.

Complaints handling and dispute resolution process

If you are not satisfied with our financial advice or mortgage brokering services, please tell us so we can address the problem. Please e-mail us at info@erskineowen.co.nz or phone on 09 377 6463. Any complaints are referred to our Compliance Officer who will acknowledge it within 2 business days and record it in our register. We will investigate the complaint and seek to resolve it within 10 business days.

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

  • 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.
  • We aim to resolve complaints within 10 working days of receiving them. If we can’t, we will contact you within that time to let you know we need more time to consider your complaint.
  • 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 we cannot resolve the issue, or if you decide not to use our internal complaints process, you can contact Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL). FSCL are an independent, not-for-profit, external resolution scheme and are recognised as a financial ombudsman service. FSCL's service does not cost you anything and they will help resolve the complaint.

FSCL contact details are:

Our FSCL membership number: 5228

Duties Information

Erskine Owen, and anyone who gives financial advice on our behalf, have 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
  • 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).

This is only a summary of the duties that we have. More information is available by contacting us, or by visiting the Financial Markets Authority website at https://www.fma.govt.nz.