Q1. What does it mean to be an Independent Financial Advisor?
Response: An Independent Financial Advisor is not tied to any one Bank, Fund Management Company or Institution and so therefore is able to listen to your goals/needs and requirements and then go away and source products that meet your needs across the complete Global Market. This in turn means that the service of an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) is unbiased and impartial to you because the IFA is not benefiting from placing business through just one product provider.

Q2. What is the minimum amount I need to become a client?
Response: There is no minimum or maximum amount required to become a client – people can become a client of Financial Page International for no outlay. Of course if you are looking for investments, pensions or savings plans, many product providers do set minimum investment/savings levels but this vary from company to company and can often be as little as $150 USD or currency equivalent.

Q3. How often do you review my investments?
Response: Investments, savings and pension portfolio’s are reviewed on a daily basis as Financial Page International have extensive tracking software for portfolio management.

Q4. Can I get money out of my investment quickly in case of an emergency?
Response: Financial Page International recognize the sometimes precarious nature of being an Expatriate and therefore all of our Advisors look to create the maximum flexibility and liquidity within a portfolio of investments or savings. For Clients who wish to have total liquidity, we do have products that meet their needs and allow them total access at any time and equally if a Client requests rigidity, we also have products that are rigid – we can provide both types of product.

Q5.How often will I receive statements on my account?
Response: The majority of Offshore Product Providers now have Online systems that allow clients to view their statements online at any time – in fact all of the banks that we use and most of the investment companies do. However, if this facility does not exist, you can simply nominate the frequency upon which you wish to receive your statement and this will be arranged for you by your Advisor. Altenativly, a a Client, you may order a statement from us at any time using the Request a Statement section of this website which can be found by clicking Here.

Q6. I already hold offshore accounts/investments that I opened through another financial services company. I am currently not entirely happy with their service and wondered if it is possible for Financial Page International to take over the Agency for these accounts?
Response: Financial Page International hold Agency Agreements with the majority of Offshore Product Providers, if not all of them and so yes, this is always possible. However, if you choose to change Brokerage to Financial Page International our Advisors will not comment as to the standards of service of other companies and will just endeavour to show you OUR standards of service.

Q7. How does Financial Page International earn its money?
Response: When you accept the advice from our Advisors and start a plan, investment, insurance or open an account, Financial Page International is paid an Introductory Fee by the Company whose product you have chosen. This is why the Offshore Companies use Independent Financial Advisors because it is less expensive to them to pay an IFA an introductory fee, than it is for them to set up their own office in every city, pay rent for the office, staff them and of course market their products. IFAs therefore work out less expensive to the company that wishes to market its products. This introductory fee is the same for all of the companies that we use, hence us remaining unbiased and impartial in the advice that we give.

Q8. Should all assets be jointly titled?
Response: This always depends on the circumstances surrounding the assets. In most cases, it is beneficial for married people to jointly hold assets but on occasions, this is not the case and again, you should consult your financial advisor with your own personal circumstances.

Q9. What should I do if the market goes down?
Response: This all depends on what type of financial structure you have in place and what you are trying to achieve. If you have a lump-sum investment, a market drop is not always a bad thing but is usually negative if those drops affect your portfolio. That being said, investors should never try to chase the market as this usually proves impossible to do and can result in heavy losses accordingly. Our advice for one-time investments is to set a stop-loss point with your Advisor whereby if your particular market segment does fall a certain amount, you will accept that amount of loss and no more. In the event of regular savings that are not less than 5 years duration, market declines can often work in your favour if you are seeking to follow the Cost-Averaging method of saving. You can find out more about this in the Regular Savings section of our website.

Q10. When should I consult with a financial adviser?
Response: You should look to consult with a Financial Advisor whenever you feel that you need to make a financial decision – decisions that should not be taken lightly. You should also endeavour to see your financial advisor as often as suits yourself and above all, remain in contact through email or telephone if in person is not possible due to your traveling. If your circumstances ever change, such as promotion, change in jobs, change in location, also look to review your financial situation with your Advisor when events such as this occur.

Q11. How do I plan for the costs of my children's education?
Response: Please visit the Education Fee Planning section of this website – this will answer this question.

Q12. If something were to happen to my spouse am I sufficiently protected?
Response: Again, this depends on each individual and the level of forethought they put into their financial planning. A brief consultation with a financial advisor will probably highlight areas you had never given thought to and at this point, you will learn whether you are sufficiently protected or not.

Q13. With so many investment choices available, how do I choose which investments to take?
Response: In conjunction with your Financial Advisor, you will be shown a myriad of investment products and through studying the responses to your Investor Profile Questionnaire, between the two of you a clearer profile will emerge as to what type of products suit you specifically. We never advise for people to commence a savings or investment plan without seeking prior financial advice from a qualified financial advisor.

Q14. What is an annuity?
Response: A series of annual (or monthly) payments offered by an insurance company in exchange for payment of a capital sum. A deferred annuity commences on a pre-determined date in the future, but the rate at which it is purchased is determined at the beginning of the contract. Therefore, a lump sum can be applied during a person's working life to purchase an fixed annuity on retirement, whatever is the movement in interest rates in the meantime.

Q15. Can you complete an impartial portfolio appraisal for me on a variety of my investments – not all of them Offshore?
Response: Yes, our Advisors are happy to appraise any portfolio, even if it consists of onshore assets.

Q16. What are defined-benefit and defined-contribution plans?
Response: A defined-benefit pension plan is one in which the levels of benefit (pension, death benefit etc) are defined in advance. Usually this type of plan is not available on an individual basis, but only through company pension schemes, since variations in investment performance make it impossible to predict the behaviour of a fund in advance. A defined-contribution plan is the normal choice for individual pensions investment - contributions are pre-set, but the eventual result will depend on the behaviour of the underlying investments.

Q17. If I decide to invest, save or bank, what happens to my money?
Response: Firstly, Financial Page International never receives or handles money for investments directly from its clients. After we your application form has been processed, you will need to transfer your money directly to the institution that is offering your chosen product. You may be thinking that you could invest or save direct with these companies however, their products are only entered through the recommendation of a qualified Independent Financial Advisor.

Q18. When I take up the recommendation of one of your Advisors, who owns the investments, savings or accounts?
Response. All of our products that we recommend to you are set up in the sole name of yourself, the client, which means that our clients have direct control and ownership over their finances

Q19. If anything were to happen to Financial Page International or my Financial Advisor what would happen to my investments?
Response. Absolutely nothing would happen to your investments. All of the funds are held in the client’s name, so in the unlikely event of Financial Page International disappearing, your investments, savings and accounts would be totally safe and secure and would continue to run normally. In the unlikely event of the aforementioned happening, the company with whom you have your product would recommend an alternative Independent Financial Advisor in your area.

Q20. If I want to invest, save or bank offshore, what do I need to do?
Response: You would need to sit down with a Financial Advisor and discuss your goals, aims, attitude to risk and understanding of the products you have in mind. When in conjunction with your Financial Advisor you are happy with the products you have been recommended, you will need to complete an application form and provide a photocopy of your passport and proof of residential address. In some instances such as Personal Bank Accounts, documentation requirements may be slightly more laborious due to International laws designed to prevent money-laundering. Whilst Financial Page International appreciate that this may create a slightly longer paperwork process, we are strongly in favour of any regulations that prevent and inhibit money-laundering.

If you have a question that cannot be answered after reading the above most frequently asked questions, please forward your question using our 'Ask An Advisor' section of our website which you can access Here.