The payment of fees, including up-front, fixed, advice, management, trailing to any Distribution Channels are allowed provided that:
The fees are not recouped from the offered product;
The client is fully aware of the fees; and
The fees are considered to be part of total Commissions. Accordingly, they must be in line with the commission limit rules.
The payment of fees to an Investment Advisor is allowed provided that:
If the fees are not fully disclosed separately from all other charges or if the client is not fully aware of the fees and services at policy inception, then the fees are considered to be part of total Commissions. Accordingly, they must be in line with the commission limit rules;
If the fees are fully disclosed separately from all other charges and the client is fully aware of the fees and services at policy inception, then the fees shall not be part of total Commissions.
In all cases, the Investment Advisor is prohibited from selling and marketing insurance policies, unless a license is obtained from the Authority.
The Company is allowed to pay Initial Access Fees to start a relationship with any Distribution Channel. However, the Initial Access Fees must be borne entirely by the Company and may not, by any means, be charged to the policyholders. The Initial Access Fees must also be offset against Commissions payable to the Distribution Channel until they are fully repaid.
For multi-year relationships with any Distribution Channel which started prior to the end of the alignment period, the Initial Access Fees to be repaid must be based on a pro rata share of the charges for the unexpired term of the relationship.