Where an agent is acting as the investor’s financial adviser, we may not send any PDS/Supplementary PDS/Periodic Statement to that agent instead of to the investor. The investor must be provided with this information.
Specifically:
PDS and Supplementary PDS
s1015C(1) makes it clear that these documents must be provided to the investor or their agent. However, the section 1015C(3) expressly excludes from the meaning of agent someone acting as the person’s agent as an AFSL holder or an authorised representative of an AFSL holder i.e. a financial advisor. So, in this case the financial adviser would be an excluded agent for the purposes of s1015C(1) and therefore any PDS or Supplementary PDS cannot be provided solely to the financial adviser.
Periodic Statements
s1017D(1) requires us to provide the statement to the person that acquired the units i.e. the holder. S1017D(6) then states that a periodic
statement must be given in one of the following ways:
(a)
in writing; or
(b) electronically; or
(c) in a way specified in
the regulations.
Reg 7.9.75A (2) then states that for
paragraph 1017D(6)(c), the following are ways of giving a periodic statement to a holder:
(a) making the periodic statement available to the holder in any way agreed to by the holder;
(b) making the periodic statement available to the holder's agent in any way agreed to by the agent.
Reg 7.9.75A (5) then states that for the purposes of this regulation, a notification, a periodic statement or information may be given or sent to a person's agent only if the agent is not acting as the person's agent in one of the capacities mentioned in
subsection 1015C(3) of the Act i.e. as a financial advisor.