TERMS OF BUSINESS

Opes Wealth Trust

192-194 Harolds Cross Road, Dublin 6W, Ireland.

t: +353 1 4914132  f: +353 1 4977884

Opes Private Clients Limited t/a Opes Wealth Trust

These Terms of Business set out the general terms on which Opes Wealth Trust will provide a range of services to you as a private client of the firm. Please take a few minutes to read through these and if you have any questions please contact us at the above address. If any material changes are made to these terms we will notify you.

The full name and address of the firm and communication details are set out at the top of this document.

Authorisation with the Central Bank of Ireland

Opes Private Clients Limited t/a Opes Wealth Trust (C54742) is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an insurance intermediary registered under the European Communities (Insurance Mediation) Regulations,2005; as an Investment Intermediary authorised under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 and as a Mortgage Intermediary authorised under the Consumer Credit Act 1995, as a Mortgage Credit Intermediary under European Union (Consumer Mortgage Credit Agreements) Regulations 2016, as a Debt Management firm under  Part V of the Central Bank Act 1997 (as amended by the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act, 2013). Copies of our regulatory authorisation are available on request. The Central Bank of Ireland maintains a register of all regulated firms. You may contact the Central Bank of Ireland on 1890 777777 or alternatively by visiting the website www.centralbank.ie to verify our credentials.

Codes of Conduct

Opes Wealth Trust complies with the Consumer Protection Code, the Authorisation Requirements and Standards for Debt Management Firms, Minimum Competency Requirement, and Fitness & Probity Standards, which offers protection to consumers and the Codes can be found on the Central Bank’s website www.centralbank.ie

Our Services

Opes Wealth Trust is a member of Broker Ireland

Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to life, pensions, mortgage products, and services of debt management. A full list of insurers, product providers and lending agencies with which we deal is available on request. Opes Wealth Trust acts as an Independent Broker which means that:

a) The principal regulated activities of the firm are provided on the basis of a fair analysis of the market; and

b) You have the option to pay in full for our services by means of a fee.

Fair Analysis

The concept of fair analysis is derived from the Insurance Mediation Directive.  It describes the extent of the choice of products and providers offered by an intermediary within a particular category of life assurance, general insurance, mortgages, debt management services 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 be reasonably 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 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,
• Any other relevant considerations.

Investment Intermediary Services

Opes Wealth Trust provides investment Intermediary Services

Life & Pensions/Investments/Deposits

Opes Wealth Trust can provide advice on life assurance and pensions on a fair analysis basis i.e. providing services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available on the market to enable us to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, regarding which contract would be adequate to meet your needs. and arrange products from the following range: life cover, serious illness cover, income protection, savings, investments, and pensions. We will provide assistance to you for any queries you may have in relation to the policies, or in the event of a claim during the life of the policies and we will explain to you the various restrictions, conditions, and exclusions attached to your policy. It is, however, your responsibility to read the policy documents, literature and brochures to ensure that you understand the nature of the policy cover, particularly in relation to income protection and serious illness.

Specifically on the subject of permanent health insurance policies it is our policy to explain to you a) the meaning of disability as defined in the policy; b) the benefits available under the policy; c) the general exclusions that apply to the policy, and d) the reductions applied to the benefit where there are disability payments from other sources.

For a serious illness policy, we will explain clearly to you the restrictions, conditions, and general exclusions that attach to that policy.

Mortgages

Through the lenders or other undertakings with which we hold an agency,  Opes Wealth Trust can provide advice on and arrange mortgage products from the following range: fixed-rate loans, variable rate mortgages, capital & interest mortgages, interest-only mortgages, endowment mortgages, pension mortgages, and residential investment property.

Opes Wealth Trust provides mortgage advice on a fair analysis basis (providing services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available on the market to enable the firm to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, regarding which contract would be adequate to meet your needs).

We will need to collect sufficient information from you before we can offer any advice on housing loans. This is due to the fact that a key issue in relation to mortgage advice is affordability. Such information should be produced promptly upon our request.

Debt Management Service

Opes Wealth Trust provides debt management services on asset-based debt specifically. This debt includes advice in relation to home loan debt, investment property debt and commercial loan debt

Disclosure of Information

Any failure to disclose material information may invalidate your claim and render your policy void. Opes Wealth Trust is remunerated by commission and other payments from product producers or lenders on the completion of business. You may choose to pay in full for our services by means of fee. Where we receive recurring commission this forms part of the remuneration for initial advice provided.

In certain circumstances, if we receive a 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. In other circumstances where fees are chargeable, or where you choose to pay in full for our services by means of a fee, we will notify you in advance and agree on the scale of fees to be charged if different from fees outlined below.

We are independent financial advisors. You may elect to pay in full our services on a fee basis in respect of services. Our charging structure is outlined below: excluding debt management services as these fees are outlined separately under Debt Management section of our Terms of Business

Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills or urgency.

Ongoing suitability: Investments

The firms services does not include suitability assessments

Mortgages

We may receive up to 1% (or whatever maximum is applicable) of the loan for arranging mortgage finance. This commission is paid by the mortgage lender. The actual amount of the commission will be disclosed at a later stage in the ESIS (European standard information sheet) which will be forwarded to you. Information on the variation in the levels of commission payable by different creditors providing credit agreements being offered is available on request. Please note that lenders may charge specific fees in certain circumstances and if this applies, these fees will be specified in your Loan Offer. You have the right to pay a fee separately and not include it in the loan.  Typically, this situation arises in relation to specialist lending.

Our standard fee for mortgage services is €495. This fee is non-refundable. This is not in any way an indication of Mortgage/Loan approval our fee will be notified to the lender who will include this fee into the calculation of APRC (Annual Percentage Rate Charge) it is also payable in the event of us obtaining a Loan Offer for you and you subsequently not proceeding with your mortgage application through our firm.

Debt Management Services

Opes Wealth Trust will be remunerated by a fee in respect of debt management services

Principles / Directors                  €250 (hourly)

Senior Advisers                             €150 (hourly)

Associates                                       €100 (hourly)

Support staff                                  €50   (hourly)

Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills, or urgency.  These fees will be agreed in advance with the client and will be confirmed in writing prior to engagement.

We charge a fixed fee based on the likely time involved in reviewing a file, meeting with the clients, and preparing a report and submission to the relevant banks. The clients will be made aware of the fixed fee before we commence any work on their behalf. The fixed fee is calculated on the amount of hours spent on the case as indicated in the above schedule.ie principle works on the case for 10hrs x€250(hr) the total fixed fee charged will be €2500 plus vat, and they must sign a letter of engagement before we commence any work.

Opes Wealth Trust has the following minimum Debt Management advice fees, €2000 plus VAT – This figure is based on the minimum expected time involved in the preparation and submission of a debt management/repayment proposal. This fee may vary depending on the time and complexity of the case and the advice required. In addition, our fees would also incorporate a success fee based on any potential write off ranging from 2% up to the sum of €500,000.

Regular Reviews

It is in your best interests that you review, on a regular basis, the products and planning which we have arranged for you. As your circumstances change, your needs will change, you should advise us of those changes and request a review of the relevant policy so that we can ensure that you are provided with up to date advice and products best suited to your needs. Failure to contact us of changes in your circumstances, or request a review, may result in you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments.

Conflict of Interest

It is the policy of the firm to avoid any conflict of interest when providing business services to its clients. However, where an unavoidable conflict may arise we will advise you of this in writing before proceeding to provide any business service.  If you have not been advised of any such conflict you are entitled to assume that none arises.

Default on payments by clients

Opes Wealth Trust will, if necessary, exercise its legal rights to receive any payments due to it from clients, for business services provided by it.

Product producers may withdraw benefits or cover on default of any payments due under any products arranged for your benefit. Details of these provisions will be included in your product terms and conditions known as the Policy Conditions.

Mortgage lenders may seek early repayment of a loan and interest if you default on your repayments. Your home is at risk if you do not maintain your agreed repayments

Complaints

Any complaint that you may have in relation to our firm should be communicated in writing to us outlining the nature of your complaint. Any such complaint will be acknowledged within 5 business days. The complaint will be fully investigated by Opes Wealth Trust and a full response will be provided to you. . In the event that you remain dissatisfied with the firm’s handling of and response to your complaint you are entitled to refer your complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman or the Pensions Ombudsman. Full details of our Complaints Procedure are available on request.

Data Protection

Opes Wealth Trust is subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.

Opes Wealth Trust is 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 the Privacy Notice is easily assessable, Please refer to our website

www.opeswealthtrust.ie (link), if this medium is not suitable we will ensure you can easily receive a hard copy on request.

Please contact us at info@opeswealthtrust.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.