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Financial Services Guide
Version 9 | June 2024

Important Information​

​This Financial Services Guide has been authorised for distribution by the authorising licensee:

 

Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd | ABN 44850268276

Australian Financial Services Licence No. 487618 (‘AFSL’)

Level 16,390 St Kilda Road Melbourne Victoria 3004

Email: info@tcpartners.com.au

Website: www.tcpartners.com.au

 

This Financial Services Guide (‘FSG” or the ‘Guide’) provides you with important information about Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd, and its Authorised Representatives, who will provide you with the financial services described in this Guide. It is designed to help you evaluate and make an informed decision about whether to use the financial services described in this Guide. We suggest you retain this Guide for your future reference. If any part of this Guide is not clear, please speak to your financial adviser.

 

This Guide contains important information about:

  • the financial services we offer as Authorised Representatives of Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd;

  • Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd as the holder of an AFSL;

  • the financial services that Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd offer;

  • the process we follow to provide financial services;

  • how we, our associates, and Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd are paid;

  • any arrangements which may influence our advice to you;

  • how we and Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd protect your privacy; and

  • who to contact if you have a complaint or if you are not satisfied with the services provided.

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This Financial Services Guide (FSG) contains the following sections:

  • Financial Services Guide;

  • Privacy Statement; and

  • What to do if you have any concerns about our service? 

 

This document forms the FSG which we, as Authorised Representatives, are required to provide.

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About Townsend Cobain

 

The founding partners of Townsend Cobain – Private Wealth Partners established a fee based private practice to deliver personal, comprehensive wealth management services to individuals, families and privately held companies in 2013. Prior to this the founding partners had worked as principals in major financial service providers in the financial services industry within Australia.

 

Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd holds an AFSL issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, all Authorised Representatives are members of the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA). 

 

As an Authorised Representative, we act on behalf of Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd when providing the financial services, we are authorised to provide under Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd’s AFSL.

 

As the holder of an AFSL, Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd is responsible for the financial services we provide to you. Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd acts on its own behalf when these financial services are provided to you. 

 

Non-Independent Statement

TownsendCobain Pty. Ltd. do not claim to be ‘independent’ under the Corporations Act definition, as we may receive commission fees from life insurance products upon which we provide advice and place on behalf of clients.   

 

Please note this pertains to insurance products only. We do not receive any commission from investment products, fund managers, broking services, 3rd party relationships etc. We do not feel that receipt of insurance commission impacts on the quality of advice provided to our clients, as all insurance companies have the same commission caps.  

 

Further, the insurance commission paid is often less than the hourly rate that would otherwise be charged for this service, particularly in the event that appropriate cover cannot be obtained or is declined.

 

 

Financial Services Guide

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What other information should you consider before deciding whether to proceed with our recommendations?

If you receive personal financial advice this will be documented in a Statement of Advice (SoA), or in specific circumstances a Record of Advice (RoA), that confirms the discussions you have had with us, the recommendations we are making and the basis for those recommendations. These documents will also explain how those recommendations will work towards achieving your goals, any relevant fees received by us, and any associations with financial product providers. 

 

When a financial product is recommended to you, you will be provided with a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) or other disclosure document issued by the product provider. Among other things, the PDS contains information about the risks, benefits, features and fees payable in respect of the product. In combination, these documents will help you make an informed decision about whether to proceed with our recommendations.

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Who provides the financial services described in this FSG?

The financial services described in this FSG are provided by us as Authorised Representatives of Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd. See below for details about our experience, qualifications and professional memberships.

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Who is responsible for those financial services?

As the holder of an AFSL, Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd is responsible for the financial services we provide to you. Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd acts on its own behalf when these financial services are provided to you. In relation to the financial services offered in this FSG, Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd, as the holder of an AFSL, does not act on behalf of any other person or licensee. Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd is only responsible for the services offered in the FSG.

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What financial services do we offer?

Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd is able to provide financial product advice and to deal in a wide range of products including:

  • deposit products;

  • Government debentures, stocks or bonds;

  • life investment and life risk products;

  • managed investment schemes including investor directed portfolio services;

  • standard margin lending facilities;

  • derivatives;

  • retirement savings account products;

  • securities (e.g. shares); and

  • superannuation products.

 

Some of the services you are able to access through Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd include:

  • financial planning advice;

  • wealth accumulation advice;

  • superannuation advice, including self managed superannuation funds;

  • redundancy advice;

  • retirement advice;

  • gearing strategies;

  • cash flow advice;

  • social security benefits advice;

  • life and disability insurance advice; and

  • estate planning services (financial planning). 

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How do we ensure that the advice we give you suits your needs and objectives?

To ensure we provide advice suitable for your needs and financial circumstances, we firstly need to understand your financial situation, personal financial objectives and needs. We will follow a step-by-step process as outlined below:

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  1. We will meet with you for an initial consultation. During this meeting we will discuss your expectations and provide you with details of the services we can offer.
     

  2. We will collect all the information we need from you, including your personal financial situation, financial objectives and needs. If you do not wish to provide the information we require, we will advise you of the possible consequences of not disclosing your full personal information and the impact on the recommendations given. This may include not being able to provide advice on the subject matter you request.
     

  3. We will help you identify your goals and may discuss your attitude towards investment risk.
     

  4. We may consider strategies and areas such as income, social security, insurance, cash and estate planning requirements. Where required we will also conduct a reasonable investigation of the financial products that may be suitable to implement the strategies as part of the recommendations. Based on these and other considerations, we will prepare and present you with a written SoA, or in some cases depending on the circumstances, an RoA. We will explain in the SoA (or RoA) the basis for the advice, and any remuneration, benefits or associations which could have influenced the advice.

    Where we recommend financial products, we will provide you with a PDS or other disclosure document containing information about each product recommended, to help you make an informed decision about whether to purchase that product.
     

  5. We will discuss our recommendations with you, make any changes you require and gain your agreement to implement those recommendations.
     

  6. We will then implement those recommendations.
     

  7. We will meet with you periodically to review your financial circumstances if we agree to an ongoing advice service arrangement which includes a regular review component. If an ongoing advice service arrangement is entered into, this will be documented in your Client Service Agreement and/or SoA. We will renew your arrangement with you each year.

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We will also explain to you any significant risks of the financial products and strategies which we recommend to you. If you are unclear of the risks, do not hesitate to question us further.

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What documents do you get if we provide further advice?

Where a further review is conducted and personal advice is provided, in some circumstances we are not required to provide you with a SoA for this further advice. Where this is the case, if you have not already been provided with a RoA, you may request a copy of the RoA from us by contacting us (on any of the contact details set out in this Guide) for a period of seven years from when the further advice was first provided to you. 

 

How are we paid for our services? 

 

Initial Advice & Implementation Fees:

 

Plan preparation fee
For having a personalised financial plan (Statement of Advice – ‘SoA’) prepared, a plan preparation fee is payable. The actual fee will depend on the complexity of your situation and the time it takes to prepare personal financial advice for you. At our initial meeting we will evaluate your needs and requirements and provide a quote and seek your approval before proceeding with preparation of recommendations. Fees can range from as little as $1,000 up to $20,000 for highly complex planning and recommendation development.

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Implementation fee
An implementation fee may be payable when you decide to proceed with the implementation of any one or more recommendations that TownsendCobain have provided. The actual fee will depend on the complexity of your situation and our time required to implement. This fee will be a dollar amount and will be disclosed in your Statement of Advice affording you the opportunity to fully understand our fee for services provided prior to agreeing to proceed.

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Ongoing Advice Fees:
This fee will be determined by the complexity of your circumstances and the service levels provided.  An hourly rate of up to $350 per hour plus GST, set annual fee or monthly fee of up to 1.2% p.a. of total funds under management may be charged for this service.

 

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Personal Insurance Advice:

Depending on the product you purchase, Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd may receive up to 66% of the annual premium as initial commission and up to 22% pa of the annual premium for ongoing (trail) commission. 

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What types of fees, commissions, payments and other benefits do we receive for our services?

The types of fees, commissions and other benefits that may be received by Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd include the following:

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Referral fees
It is a common practice that when or if practices refer you to another business to provide you with services, a practice may receive referral fees. However, Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd does not believe that this is in the interest of our clients and have therefore chosen not to implement any of these arrangements. 

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Other benefits
From time to time we may accept alternative forms of remuneration from product providers or other parties, such as hospitality or support connected with our professional development (e.g. training or sponsorship to attend conferences). We maintain a register detailing any benefit we receive which are valued at greater than $300 and other benefits that relate to information technology software or support provided by a product issuer or that relate to educational and training purposes. A copy of the register is available on request for a small charge.

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Privacy Statement

We collect personal information, including sensitive information (e.g. health information), from you to provide you with services including financial advice.

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We may also use your information to comply with legislative or regulatory requirements in any jurisdiction, to prevent fraud, crime or other activity that may cause harm in relation to the particular products or services provided, and to help us run our business.

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If you do not provide all the information we request, we may no longer be able to provide a product or service, including financial advice, to you.

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Click here to view our Privacy Statement.​

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What to do if you have any concerns about our services​​​

Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd endeavour to provide you with quality financial advice. If you have a complaint or concern about the service provided to you, please see our Dispute Resolution and Policy Procedure for the steps you can take to resolve it.

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Professional Indemnity Insurance

Townsend Cobain Pty Ltd have in place the required Professional Indemnity Insurance under The Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) guidelines.

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Your Advisers​​

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Advice Fee Tiering
​0 - $400,000
​$400,000 – $1,000,000
​$1,000,000 – $2,000,000
$2,000,000 +
Inc GST
1.20%​
0.95%
0.45%
0.29%
Tim.Townsend.jpg
Tim Townsend

Founding Partner

Over the last 30 years, Tim’s work, passion for advice and contribution to the financial planning sector have led him to be widely recognised and highly regarded as a leader in the provision of financial advice, by both clients and peers. 

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More about Tim

Dan.Jones.jpg
Daniel Jones

Private Wealth Adviser

As an adviser, Daniel is committed to truly understanding his client's unique circumstances, needs, values and goals to help them achieve and enjoy financial independence. 

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More about Daniel

Rod.Cobain.jpg
Rod Cobain

Founding Partner

As Founding Partner, Rod continues to work closely with clients as a private wealth advisor and is driven by his passion for providing truly personalised, strategic and holistic financial advice and private wealth management to Townsend Cobain’s clients.  

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More about Rod

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Kurt Tonzing

Private Wealth Adviser

Kurt enjoys getting to know his clients, understanding what they want to achieve, helping them find the best path forward and ultimately, having a meaningful impact on their lives as a trusted adviser.

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More about Kurt

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