We, Northstar Financial Planning Ltd, act as intermediary between you, the consumer, and the product provider with whom we place your business. This page summarises how we are remunerated for that work, in line with our obligations to the Central Bank of Ireland.
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 on their website 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.
For the purpose of this disclosure, 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. There are different types of remuneration and commission models: under the single commission model, payment is made to the intermediary shortly after the sale is completed and is based on a percentage of the premium paid, amount invested or amount borrowed; under the trail or renewal commission model, further payments are made at intervals throughout the life span of the product.
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.
We operate on a predominantly fee-based approach with reduced commission. This allows us to provide our customers with a more favourable allocation on payments into their pension plan — we aim to provide 100% allocation on the money you pay into your pension, which has a significant positive impact on the future performance of your investment. Where any commissions are paid to us by the insurer, these are detailed in your Statement of Suitability and in your Policy Documents. Our current fee schedule and a summary of our commission arrangements with product producers are available in the documents below.
Our current fee schedule covering PRSA and personal pension plans, executive pensions, Approved Retirement Funds, annuities, investment bonds and savings plans — including set-up fees, maintenance fees and consultation rates.
Download the Fee Schedule (PDF)A summary of the commission arrangements agreed with each of our product producers, as required under the Consumer Protection Code, covering pensions, PRSAs, ARFs, annuities, investments, savings and protection products.
Download the Commission Summary (PDF)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 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.
In some cases, the intermediary may be a party to a profit-share arrangement with a product provider and will earn additional commission. Northstar Financial Planning Limited trading as Quoteleader has no such arrangements in place.
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.
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.
A 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. Northstar Financial Planning Limited trading as Quoteleader does not receive any fees from product producers. Payment is received by commission only.
A firm may have an arrangement in place with a product provider whereby that provider is their ‘preferred provider’ with the result of enhanced commission being paid to the firm. Northstar Financial Planning Limited trading as Quoteleader does not have any preferred provider arrangements with product producers.
The firm may also be in receipt of other fees, administrative costs, or non-monetary benefits. Northstar Financial Planning Limited trading as Quoteleader may receive non-monetary benefits from product producers by way of staff attendance at seminars.
| Product / Provider | Initial Commission | Clawback Period | Trail Commission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Contribution Pension | |||
| Aviva | 5% | 1% p.a. | |
| Aviva (Heritage Friends) | 5% | 0.75% p.a. | |
| Irish Life | 5% | 0.75% p.a. | |
| New Ireland | 5% | 5 Years | 1% p.a. |
| Standard Life | 5% | 1% p.a. | |
| Zurich Life | 5.5% | 0.5% p.a. | |
| Single Contribution PRSA | |||
| Aviva | 4% | 0.5% p.a. | |
| Aviva (Heritage Friends) | 7.5% | 0.25% p.a. | |
| Irish Life | 5% | 0.75% p.a. | |
| New Ireland | 7% | 5 Years | 0.5% p.a. |
| Standard Life | 5% | 0.5% p.a. | |
| Zurich Life | 5.5% | 0% p.a. | |
| ARF / AMRF | |||
| Aviva | 5% | 1% p.a. | |
| Aviva (Heritage Friends) | 5% | 0.75% p.a. | |
| Irish Life | 5% | 0.75% p.a. | |
| New Ireland | 5% | n/a | 1% p.a. |
| Standard Life | 4% | 1% p.a. | |
| Zurich Life | 5% | 0.5% p.a. | |
| Annuity | |||
| Aviva | 3% | n/a | |
| Aviva (Heritage Friends) | 3% | n/a | |
| Irish Life | 3% | n/a | |
| New Ireland | 3% | n/a | n/a |
| Zurich Life | 3% | n/a | |
| Investment Bond | |||
| Aviva | 5% | 1% p.a. | |
| Aviva (Heritage Friends) | 4% | 0.75% p.a. | |
| Irish Life | 3% | 0.5% p.a. | |
| New Ireland | 4% | 3 Years | 1% p.a. |
| Standard Life | 4% | 1% p.a. | |
| Product / Provider | Initial Commission | Clawback Period | Renewal / Flat | Trail Commission |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Contribution | ||||
| Aviva | 15% | 1% p.a. | ||
| Aviva (Heritage Friends) | 25% | 0.75% p.a. | ||
| Irish Life | 17.5% | 5% | 0.5% p.a. | |
| New Ireland | 25% | 5 Years | 8% | 1% p.a. |
| Standard Life | 25% | 5% | 1% p.a. | |
| Zurich Life | 20% | 4 Years | 3% | 0.5% p.a. |
| Regular Contribution PRSA | ||||
| Aviva | 22.5% | 0.5% p.a. | ||
| Aviva (Heritage Friends) | 17.5% | 0.25% p.a. | ||
| Irish Life | 17.5% | 5% | 0.5% p.a. | |
| New Ireland | 25% | 5 Years | 6% | 0.5% p.a. |
| Standard Life | 5% | 5% | 0.5% p.a. | |
| Zurich Life | 5% | 4 Years | 5% | 0% p.a. |
| Savings | ||||
| Aviva | 15% | 1% p.a. | ||
| Aviva (Heritage Friends) | 10% | 0.75% p.a. | ||
| Irish Life | 5.5% | 5.5% | 0.5% p.a. | |
| New Ireland | 10% | 5 Years | 2.5% | 0.5% p.a. |
| Standard Life | 15% | 5 Years | n/a | 1% p.a. |
| Zurich Life | 10% | 4 Years | 1% | 0.5% p.a. |
| Provider | Yr 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9+ | Clawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aviva | 200% | 30% | 30% | 30% | 30% | 30% | 30% | 30% | 30% | 2 Years |
| Irish Life | 120% | 28% | 30% | 28% | 28% | 30% | 28% | 28% | 28% | |
| New Ireland | 225% | 50% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 12.5% | 12.5% | 12.5% | 12.5% | 5 Years |
| Royal London | 225% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 5 Years |
| Zurich Life | 100% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 1 Year |
| Provider | Death in Service | Clawback Period | Permanent Health Insurance | Clawback Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aviva | 6% | 12.5% | ||
| Irish Life | 6% p.a. | 12.5% p.a. | ||
| New Ireland | 15% | 1 Year | 20% | 1 Year |
| Zurich Life | 6% | n/a | 12.5% | n/a |
Northstar Financial Planning Limited trading as Quoteleader is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
