Seeking Opinion re Investment

[mercman]

An Investment was made subject to terms and conditions in writing. Money paid over, to Companies agent, but Investment Policy received with none of the terms applied. Agent says in writing 'no problem, i will get you the offer but only if I pay him personally a fee.

What would this be classed as ??

 

[Marc]

It sounds to me like a full commission vs no commission deal and would be fairly standard insurance industry practice.

The contract pays the salesman a commission for one set of terms.

Or you can buy the contract with lower charges perhaps a higher initial allocation of units but in order for the salesman to get paid you would have to pay a fee.

The really interesting question here is one of disclosure and transparency.

Why are consumers of financial products not made aware before they are sold a product that there is a dual pricing which simply reflects the way in which the salesperson is paid.

Note my use of the term salesperson is intentional. use of the word adviser should be resricted to those agents of the client who are paid on the basis of an agreed fee.

 

[mercman]

Marc, thanks for your opinion but funny I class it as a pure extortion attempt at its very best. When I asked 'how much' he wrote back 'whatever you think i'm worth'.

The commissions payable that were due were fully known to me when I received the Policy documents. Furthermore when I commenced business with this agent, it was made perfectly clear to me that his earnings were for the Financial Provider's account and the Head of Product development made this abundantly clear.