Ever wondered why TV ads for financial products end with a short sharp blur of words or a deep voice that sounds like a political campaign?

You guessed it – regulation!

There is a range of rules for businesses selling financial products and services to their clients - from providing advice warnings, to preparing target market determination.

Some people just copy what others do, assuming they will get it right. Guess what? Usually it’s not as simple as copying and pasting. Finding your way through the complex interplay of the consumer and financial services requirements is no simple task. It's as easy to overcomplicate them as it is to misunderstand them.

We help businesses to be compliant at every stage of the product life cycle – from development to distribution and marketing.

Marketing

At The Fold, we know your key objective is to maximise sales. You want to be compliant. You just don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot!

We can support you with: 

  • Financial Services Guides, Statements of Advice and Product Disclosure Statement advice, drafting and reviews
  • Financial product signoff
  • Website checks
  • Advertising signoff
  • Training sessions on a range of topics, including Design and Distribution Obligations

Whether you're launching a new website, getting into viral marketing, developing a new product, preparing scripts for your call centre or considering internet or TV advertising, we will help you stay on the right side of the regulator.

Establishing Distribution Channels

We have incomparable experience in helping businesses distribute financial services. Our turnkey materials speed up the processes to get our clients to market faster.

Our clients sell general and life insurance and extended warranties through channels as diverse as furniture removers, vets, car dealers, mortgage brokers, finance companies and more. What’s interesting is that they all do it differently. Why is that? And how do they decide the best way to do it?

Our unique Influencing Spectrum model helps businesses select the right ancillary distribution technique – from referrals, to limited or full financial services. It also helps to appropriately scale the extent of advice required and weigh up the implications in terms of compliance costs.

  • Distribution strategy
  • Affinity agreements (ARs, distributors and referrers)
  • Designing the sales process for the channel
  • Website checks
  • AR management procedures
  • Reviewing existing distribution and identifying opportunities for improvement
  • Providing online training for sales staff, business development managers and compliance teams

      Training

      The Fold’s training and facilitation in this area includes

      • Workshops to design new distribution channels using The Fold’s unique “Influencing Spectrum" to choose the appropriate affinity model;
      • Upskilling your compliance team and managers to manage and monitor your distribution; and
      • Training the sales team on what they can and can’t do at the point of sale. We offer workshops and webinars, or we can design and host interactive online training for the entire sales team.

      All sessions can be tailored to suit your team’s needs and capabilities. Contact us for more information or to design or book a training session.

      News

      The Fold's frank take on issues affecting the financial services industry.

      Purchasing an Australian financial service licence (AFSL) or an Australian credit licence (ACL) is an exciting opportunity to take your financial service business to the next stage of growth.

      Read More  

      On 28 March 2022 the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released Report 722 ‘ASIC Enforcement Update July to December 2021’ (Report 722). In this blog, we are going to:

      Read More  

      The Fold Legal is delighted to share that Senior Associate Glenjon Aligiannis and Associate Nicholas Pavouris have been included as finalists in the 2022 Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Awards in the Financial Services category

      Read More  

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