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Regulation and Fees

What is our Regulatory Status ?

Compass Capital Solutions Ltd. t/a Compass Private Wealth, Compass Pensions, Compass Financial Planning, Compass Charities is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an Insurance and Investment Intermediary.

We are also subject to the Consumer Protection Code, Minimum Competency Code and Fitness & Probity Standards which offer protection to consumers. All of our staff are fully Qualified Financial Advisors (QFA).

Our Financial Accounts are audited every 12 months as per the Central Bank of Ireland regulations. We have no external shareholders and no external debt within the Company.

Compass do not have a Client Premium account, we do not take custody of client assets and we do not sell proprietary financial products. In this way, we act as an Intermediary and holistic financial planning advisor to our Clients.

Importance of Regulation:

The reason for Regulation for Intermediary firms like Compass Private Wealth is simple: To protect the consumer and ensure that the advice that we provide is suitable to each client.

While a lot of financial advisory firms may give out about Regulation, we fully embrace it and fundamentally believe that it is a good thing. It does add to the cost of doing business for us and to the end advice we give to the client, but we believe that it is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Steps we go through:

  1. Factfind: Before we provide any advice to our clients, the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) regulations stipulate that we have to firstly gather as much information as possible about the client. We also ascertain the financial objectives and any particular risks / concerns / restrictions the client has. This is very important in order to ensure that our advice is accurate, relevant and appropriate

  2. Recommendation: Having gathered all of the quantitative & qualitative information, we not outline our Engagement Proposition by way of a Statement of Suitability document. This will outline what our recommendations are, why we’re making these recommendations, the totality of fees & charges and what the risks are.

  3. Set up: When the Client is happy with our recommendation, we put in place the various solutions agreed with the Client

  4. Ongoing Advice: We keep in regular contact with our clients to ensure that any changes in their lives are taken into account.

Sustainability Factors:

Before making any client recommendation we consider the adverse impacts of investment decisions on sustainability factors in our Investment Advice and our Insurance Based Investment Advice, with respect to Investment or Insurance advice on Insurance-based Investment Products (‘IBIPs’), both at the initial stages of our research, in our recommendations and annually as part of the investment services we provide to our clients.

We take due care so that our Internal remuneration policy promotes sound and effective risk management in relation to sustainability risks and does not encourage excessive risk-taking with respect to sustainability risks.

Regulatory Disclosure on Fees & Charges:

From April 2020. as per Central Bank of Ireland regulations, the page below is dedicated to outlining all of the possible commission options available to Compass Capital Solutions Ltd.

We, Compass Capital Solutions Ltd. act as intermediary (Broker) between our consumers and the product provider with whom we place business.

The Background: Pursuant to provision 4.58A of the Central Bank of Ireland’s September 2019 Addendum to the Consumer Protection Code, all intermediaries, must make available in their public offices, or on their website if they have one, a summary of the details of all arrangements for any fee, commission, other reward or remuneration provided to the intermediary which it has agreed with its Product Providers. 

What is Remuneration? Remuneration is the payment earned by the intermediary for work undertaken on behalf of both the provider and the consumer. The amount of remuneration is generally directly related to the value of the products sold.

What is Commission? Commission is payment that may be earned by an intermediary for work undertaken for both provider and consumer. There are different types of renumeration and commission models:

  • Single Commission model: Single Commission is where payment is made to the intermediary shortly after the sale is completed and is based on a percentage of the premium paid/amount invested.

  • Trail/Renewal commission model: Trail / Renewal are further payments at intervals are paid throughout the life span of the product.

  • Indemnity commission: Indemnity commission is the term used to describe a commission payment made before the commission is deemed to be ‘earned’. Indemnity commission may be subject to a clawback (see below) if the consumer lapses or cancels the product before the commission is deemed to be earned.

Other forms of indemnity commission are advances of commission for future sales granted to intermediaries in order to assist with set up costs or business development.

Life Assurance/Investments/Pension products: For Life Assurance products commission is divided into initial commission and renewal commission (related to premium), fund based or trail relating to accumulated fund.

Trail commission, bullet commission, fund based or renewal commission are all terms used for ongoing payments. Where an investment fund is being built up though an insurance-based investment product or a pension product, the increments may be based on a percentage of the value of the fund or the annual premium. For a single premium/lump sum product, the increment is generally based on the value of the fund.

Life Assurance products fall into either individual or group protection policies and Investment/Pension products would be either single or regular contribution policies.  Examples of products include Life Protection, Regular Premium Life Assurance Investments, Single Premium (lump sum) Insurance-based Investments, and Single Premium Pensions.

Investments: Investment firms, which fall within the scope of the European Communities (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2007 (the MiFID Regulations), offer both standard commission and commission models involving initial and trail commission. Increments may be based on a percentage of the investment management fees, or on the value of the fund.

Clawback: Clawback is an obligation on the intermediary to repay unearned commission. Commission can be paid directly after a contract is concluded but is not deemed to be ‘earned’ until after a specified period of time. If the consumer cancels or withdraws from the financial product within the specified time, the intermediary must return commission to the product producer.

Fees: The firm may also be remunerated by fee by the product producer such as policy fee, admin fee, or in the case of investment firms, advisory fees.  Include arrangements etc

Other Fees, Administrative Costs/ Non-Monetary Benefits: The firm may also be in receipt of non-monetary benefits such as:

  • Attendance at product provider seminars

  • Assistance with Advertising/Branding

Click on a link below to access a list of the providers that our firm deals with, which for ease of reference is in alphabetical order.

Life Insurance Providers

Investment Article 3/MIFID Providers