Terms Of Business

Baggot Asset Management Limited, trading as Baggot Investment Partners

These Terms of Business set out the general terms under which our firm will provide business services to you and the respective duties and responsibilities of both the firm and you in relation to such services. Please ensure that you read these terms thoroughly and if you have any queries we will be happy to clarify them. If any material changes are made to these terms we will notify you.

Authorisation with the Central Bank of Ireland

Baggot Asset Management LTD, trading as Baggot Investment Partners, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an Investment Intermediary under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995. Copies of our regulatory authorisations are available on request. The Central Bank of Ireland holds registers of regulated firms. You may contact the Central Bank of Ireland on 0818 681 681or alternatively visit their website at  www.centralbank.ie to verify our credentials.

Codes of Conduct

Baggot Asset Management LTD is subject to the Consumer Protection Code, Minimum Competency Code and Fitness & Probity Standards which offer protection to consumers. These Codes can be found on the Central Bank’s website www.centralbank.ie

Our Services

Baggot Asset Management LTD is a member of Brokers Ireland

Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to pensions and investments products. A full list of insurers, product producers and lending agencies with which we deal is available on request.

Baggot Investment Partners offer our Investment services as follows;

• the principal regulated activities of the firm are provided on the basis of a fair and personal analysis of the market; and 
• you have the option to pay in full for our services by means of a fee. 

Fair and Personal Analysis

The concept of fair and personal analysis describes the extent of the choice of products and providers offered by an intermediary within a particular category of life assurance, general insurance, mortgages, and/ or a specialist area. The number of contracts and providers considered must be sufficiently large to enable an intermediary to recommend a product that would be adequate to meet a client’s needs.

The number of providers that constitutes ‘sufficiently large’ will vary depending on the number of providers operating in the market for a particular product or service and their relative importance in and share of that market.

The extent of fair analysis must be such that could reasonably be expected of a professional conducting business, taking into account the accessibility of information and product placement to intermediaries and the cost of the search.

In order to ensure that the number of contracts and providers is sufficiently large to constitute a fair and personal analysis of the market, we will consider the following criteria:

• the needs of the customer,
• the size of the customer order,
• the number of providers in the market that deal with brokers,
• the market share of each of those providers,
• the number of relevant products available from each provider,
• the availability of information about the products,
• the quality of the product and service provided by the provider,
• cost, and
• any other relevant consideration.

We provide investment advice and pensions on a fair and personal analysis basis i.e. providing services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available in the market to enable us to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, regarding which contract would be adequate to meet your needs.

We are renumerated by fund charges for our investment intermediary services.

Sustainability Factors- Investments/IBIPs/Pension Advice

In accordance with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (‘SFDR’), we inform you that when providing advice on insurance-based investment products/Investments, we assess, in addition to relevant financial risks, relevant sustainability risks as far as this information is available in relation the products proposed/advised on. This means that we assess environmental, social or governance events/conditions that, if they occur, could have a material negative impact on the value of the investment.

We require each client to complete an ESG questionnaire so we can determine the importance of these factors to the customer and dependant on the result, we review product provider literature in relation to sustainability risks and will liaise with the providers in relation to any queries in relation to the funds.

Considering Principal Adverse Impacts on sustainability factors in the advice:

When providing advice on insurance-based investment products (‘IBIPs’) or investment advice, we assess the PAI information available to us when it is in the interest of our client. We will then compare funds to make an informed decision on the suitability of ESG products for our clients.

Impact on return

We assess the potential impact of sustainability risks on the returns of the IBIPs on which we advise. Where such risks arise, they may have a material negative impact on the value and/or returns of Pensions/Investments.

The likely impact of sustainability risks will be considered by the individual advisor based on the information contained in the product documentation provided by the product manufacturer. Where relevant, this will be disclosed to clients as part of the suitability assessment.

Statement of charges

We may earn our remuneration on the basis of fee, commission and any other type of remuneration, including a non- monetary benefit or on the basis of a combination of these methods. A non-monetary benefit will only be accepted if it enhances the quality of the service to our clients.

You may choose to pay in full for our services by means of a fee. Where we receive recurring commission, this forms part of the remuneration for initial advice provided. We reserve the right to charge additional fees if the number of hours relating to on-going advice/assistance exceeds the expected timeframe.

Sustainability factors

We take due care so that our internal remuneration policy with respect to investment or advice on insurance-based investment products (‘IBIPs’) promotes sound and effective risk management in relation to sustainability risks and does not encourage excessive risk‐taking with respect to sustainability risks.

Pursuant to Regulation 68 of the Consumer Protection Code, a summary of the details of all arrangements for any fee, commission other reward or remuneration paid or provided to us which have agreed with product providers is available on our website www.baggot.ie

Fees

In certain circumstances, it will be necessary to charge a fee for services provided. These circumstances arise where a client has requested advice only and will not be investing with us. In other circumstances where fees are chargeable or where you choose to pay in full for our service by fee, we will notify you in writing in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged if different from fees outlined below.

If we receive commission from a product provider, this may be offset against the fee which we will charge you. Where the commission is greater than the fee due, the commission may become the amount payable to the firm unless an arrangement to the contrary is made.

You may elect to deal with Baggot Investment Partners on a fee basis as opposed to commission. Our office rate is €150 per hour and €250 per hour for Directors and Senior Management. Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills or urgency or there may be a mix of fee and commission depending on the nature of the work undertaken.

Ongoing remuneration

We wish to inform you that we receive ongoing remuneration in respect of the financial services provided to you. This remuneration is based on a percentage of the value of your investment and is paid to us by the product provider for as long as the investment remains in place.

This remuneration is intended to cover the ongoing service we provide to you, which includes monitoring your investment and providing ongoing advice and assistance in relation to your investment.

Ongoing Suitability

Ongoing suitability assessments form part of the service to our clients when required. As part of our quarterly client communication, our clients are asked if there have been any changes to their situation that may affect the suitability of your investment. If you inform us that there have been changes to your circumstances, we will gather the necessary information from you and review your investment to ensure continued suitability. Where appropriate, we will make a recommendation following this review.

You should inform us as soon as possible if there are any material changes to your financial circumstances, investment objectives or attitude to risk, as this may affect the suitability of your investment.

Regular Reviews

It is in your best interests that you review, on a regular basis, the products which we have arranged for you. As your circumstances change, your needs will change which may result in you having inappropriate investments. We would therefore advise that you contact us to ensure that you are provided with up-to-date advice and products best suited to your needs.

Conflicts of interest

It is the policy of our firm to avoid conflicts of interest in providing services to you. However, where an unavoidable conflict of interest arises, we will advise you of this in writing before providing you with any service and the firm will take all steps within its control to appropriately manage the conflict and minimise the impact of the conflict on the consumer. A full copy of our conflicts of interest policy is available on request.

Default on payments by clients

We will exercise our legal rights to receive payments due to us from clients (fees and insurance premiums) for services provided. In particular, without limitation to the generality of the foregoing, the firm will seek reimbursement for all payments made to insurers on behalf of clients where the firm has acted in good faith in renewing a policy of insurance for the client.

Complaints

Upon receipt of an oral complaint, we will provide the option to have the complaint addressed through the firms established complaints procedure. We will permit and facilitate submission of complaints in writing by post and by electronic means. We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 5 working days and we will fully investigate it. We shall investigate the complaint as swiftly as possible, and the complainant will receive an update on the complaint at intervals of not greater than 20 working days starting from the date on which the complaint is made. On completion of our investigation, we will provide you with a written report of the outcome. In the event that you are still dissatisfied with our handling of or response to your complaint, you are entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO). A full copy of our complaint’s procedure is available on the firm’s website www.baggot.ie and on request.

Data Protection

We are subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.

We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We wish to be transparent on how we process your data and show you that we are accountable with the GDPR in relation to not only processing your data but ensuring you understand your rights as a client.

The data will be processed only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given and as outlined in our Data Privacy Notice, this will be given to all our clients at the time of data collection.

We will ensure that this Privacy Notice is easily accessible. Please refer to our website www.baggot.ie. If this medium is not suitable, we will ensure you can easily receive a copy by hard copy by email or post.

Please contact us at info@baggot.ie if you have any concerns about your personal data.

Compensation Scheme

We are members of the Investor Compensation Scheme operated by the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. See below for details.

Investor Compensation Scheme

The Investor Compensation Act, 1998 provides for the establishment of a compensation scheme and the payment, in certain circumstances, of compensation to certain clients (known as eligible investors) of authorised investment firms, as defined in that Act.

The Investor Compensation Company Ltd. (ICCL) was established under the 1998 Act to operate such a compensation scheme and our firm is a member of this scheme.

Compensation may be payable where money or investment instruments owed or belonging to clients and held, administered or managed by the firm cannot be returned to those clients for the time being and where there is no reasonably foreseeable opportunity of the firm being able to do so.

A right to compensation will arise only:

• If the client is an eligible investor as defined in the Act; and
• If it transpires that the firm is not in a position to return client money or investment instruments owned or belonging to the clients of the firm; and
• To the extent that the client’s loss is recognised for the purposes of the Act.

Where an entitlement to compensation is established, the compensation payable will be the lesser of:

• 90% of the amount of the client’s loss which is recognised for the purposes of the Investor Compensation Act, 1998; or
• Compensation of up to €20,000.

For further information, contact the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. at (01) 224 4955.

Brokers Ireland Clients’ Compensation and Membership Benefits Scheme (BIC)

We are also members of the Brokers Ireland Clients’ Compensation and Membership Benefits Scheme (BIC). Subject to the rules of the scheme the liabilities of its members firms up to a maximum of €100,000 per client (or €250,000 in aggregate) may be discharged by the fund on its behalf if the member firm is unable to do so, where the above detailed Investor Compensation Scheme has failed to adequately compensate any client of the member. Further details are available on request.

Shareholdings

Baggot Asset Management Ltd directly holds 100 per cent of the voting rights or of the capital in New Alliance Wealth Planning LTD trading as Baggot Life and Pensions and New Alliance.