Our Remuneration

We, Leahy Investment Advisers, act as intermediary (Broker) between you, the consumer, and the product provider with whom we place your 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 producers.

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 remuneration and different commission models:

Single commission model: 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/amount borrowed.

Trail/Renewal commission model: 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, flat commission 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.

Sustainability Factors – Investment/IBIPS/Pension Advice

When providing advice, Leahy Investment Advisers considers the adverse impact of investment decisions on sustainability. As part of our research and assessment of products, Leahy Investment Advisers will examine the Product Providers’ literature to compare financial products and to make informed investment decisions about ESG products. Leahy Investment Advisers will, at all times, act in the client’s best interests and keep clients informed accordingly. The consideration of sustainability risks can impact on the returns of financial products.

Remuneration Policy

We are remunerated by commission and other payments from product producers. When assessing products, we will consider the different approach taken by product providers in terms of them integrating sustainability risks into their product offering. This will form part of our analysis for choosing a product provider.

Leahy Investment Advisers commission options are displayed as a range, showing the maximum amount which can be received. The level of commission depends on individual circumstances, based on the following factors or a combination of these factors:

• Intermediary discretion
• Whether the level of commission is negotiable
• Client relationship
• Length of time of the policy
• Amount of investment
• Length of investment
• Commercial decision
• Complexity of the case
• Product constraints by the product provider

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.

Click on the links below to access commission rates of the providers our firm deals with:

Life Insurance Providers

Aviva
Irish Life
New Ireland
Standard Life
Royal London
Zurich Life