Trillium Financial Services Terms of Business –Effective from September 2024.
Trillium Financial Services
8 Ballyowen Park, Ballyowen Lane, Lucan Co. Dublin
01 4429950
James@trillium.ie
James Garza trading as Trillium Financial Services.
These Terms of Business set out the general terms under which our firm will provide business services to you and the respective duties and responsibilities of both the firm and you in relation to such services. Please ensure that you read these terms thoroughly and if you have any queries we will be happy to clarify them. If any material changes are made to these terms we will notify you.
Authorisation with the Central Bank of Ireland
James Garza trading as Trillium Financial Services is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an insurance intermediary; as an Investment Intermediary authorised under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995. Copies of our regulatory authorisations are available on request. The Central Bank of Ireland holds registers of regulated firms. You may contact the Central Bank of Ireland on 1890 777 777 or alternatively visit their website at www.centralbank.ie to verify our credentials.
Codes of Conduct
James Garza is subject to the Consumer Protection Code, Minimum Competency Code and Fitness & Probity Standards which offer protection to consumers. These Codes can be found on the Central Bank’s website www.centralbank.ie
Our Services
James Garza is a member of Brokers Ireland.
Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to pension products and life & income replacement insurance products. A full list of insurers, product producers and lending agencies with which we deal is available on request.
Insurance Intermediary Services
James Garza acts as an Independent Broker, which means that:
a) the principal regulated activities of the firm are provided on the basis of a fair and personal analysis of the market and
b) you must pay for our services by means of a fee. We provide our services on the basis of independent advice. This means that the firm does not accept any third-party payments (i.e. commissions) from Providers.
Fair Analysis
Broker
The term ‘broker’ may be used by an insurance or mortgage intermediary that offers consumers a “fair analysis” of the market.
A ‘fair analysis of the market’ entails providing advice on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and providers available on the particular market to enable the broker to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, regarding which contract would be adequate to meet the customer’s needs.
Clarification
The concept of fair and personal analysis is describes the extent of the choice of products and providers offered by a broker within a particular category of life assurance, general insurance, mortgages, and/or specialist area. The number of contracts and providers considered must be sufficiently large to enable a broker to recommend a product that would be adequate to meet the consumer’s needs.
The term ‘sufficiently large’ must be considered in the context of the product or service provided and the extent of the relevant market. The number of providers that constitutes ‘sufficiently large’ will vary depending on the number of providers operating in the market for a particular product or service and their relative importance in and share of that market. Firms must consider the extent of the market and select an appropriate amount of providers that would constitute a fair analysis of that market.
The extent of fair analysis must be such that could be reasonably expected of a professional conducting business, taking into account the accessibility of information and product placement to brokers and the cost of search.
It is expected that fair and personal analysis will evolve as a concept over time. However, in order to ensure that the number of contracts and providers is sufficiently large to constitute a fair analysis of the market, firms should consider the following criteria:
- the needs of the customer,
- the size of the customer order,
- the number of providers in the market that deal with brokers,
- the market share of each of those providers,
- the number of relevant products available from each provider,
- the availability of information about the products,
- the quality of the product and service provided by the provider,
- cost, and
- any other relevant consideration.
Fair analysis refers to a reasonable amount of choice given the product and the market circumstances. It does not oblige brokers to deal with all firms and the broker retains the commercial freedom not to engage with certain firms should it so wish for valid commercial reasons. However, to achieve fair analysis, a firm should ordinarily take into account the products of a reasonable majority of the product providers accessible to it in the relevant market (specialist providers with a small market share may be disregarded for this purpose).
Where a broker excludes one or more product providers with a significant market share in the relevant market from the analysis, the broker must explain this clearly to the consumer.
The number of products and providers considered is a matter of professional judgement and will vary depending on the extent of the market. A broker must be in a position to justify the extent of market search when acting on the basis of a fair analysis of the market.
This clarification is without prejudice to the obligations of brokers under the Consumer Protection Code.
James Garza is remunerated by commission for its investment intermediary services.
Life & Pensions / Deposits & Life Wrapped Investments
James Garza provides life assurance and pensions on a fair and personal analysis basis i.e. providing services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available on the market to enable us to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, regarding which contract would be adequate to meet the your needs.
We will provide assistance to you for any queries you may have in relation to the policies or in the event of a claim during the life of the policies and we will explain to you the various restrictions, conditions and exclusions attached to your policy. However, it is your responsibility to read the policy documents, literature and brochures to ensure that you understand the nature of the policy cover; particularly in relation to PHI and serious illness policies.
Specifically on the subject of permanent health insurance policies it is our policy to explain to you a) the meaning of disability as defined in the policy; b) the benefits available under the policy; c) the general exclusions that apply to the policy; and d) the reductions applied to the benefit where there are disability payments from other sources.
For a serious illness policy, we will explain clearly to you the restrictions, conditions and general exclusions that attach to that policy.
Sustainability Factors – Pension Advice
In accordance with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (‘SFDR’), we inform you that when providing advice on pensions, we assess, in addition to relevant financial risks, relevant sustainability risks as far as this information is available in relation to the products proposed/advised on. This means that we assess environmental, social or governance events/conditions that, if they occur, could have a material negative impact on the value of the investment.
In accordance with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (‘SFDR’), we inform you that when providing advice on pensions, we do not assess, in addition to relevant financial
risks, relevant sustainability risks as far as this information is available in relation the products proposed/advised on. This means that we do not assess environmental, social or governance events/conditions that, if they occur, could have a material negative impact on the value of the investment.
Considering Principal Adverse Impacts on Sustainability Factors in the advice
When providing advice on insurance-based investment products (‘IBIPs’) or investment advice, we assess the PAI information published by product manufacturers as follows:
When providing advice on pensions, we do not consider the impacts of our advice that result in negative effects on sustainability factors (namely environmental, social and employee matters, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and anti-bribery matters) because, Currently, there are limited relevant products on the market which meet these criteria. The area of sustainability is relatively new, and as the issue progresses, we will review our position. The firm will review this approach on an annual basis. If sustainability risks are not deemed relevant, we have not assessed the likely impacts of sustainability risks on the returns of Pensions since we have not identified any relevant sustainability risks.
Impact on Return
If sustainability risks are not deemed relevant:
We have not assessed the likely impacts of sustainability risks on the returns of Investment/Pensions since we have not been able to identify any sustainability risks that are relevant.
Disclosure of Information
Any failure to disclose material information may invalidate your claim and render your policy void.
James Garza is remunerated by commission and other payments from product producers. You may choose to pay in full for our services by means of a fee. Where we receive recurring commission, this forms part of the remuneration for initial advice provided. We reserve the right to charge additional fees if the number of hours relating to on-going advice/assistance exceeds 10 hrs.
A summary of the details of all arrangements for any fee, commission, other reward or remuneration paid or provided to us which have agreed with product providers is available on request.
In certain circumstances, it will be necessary to charge a fee for services provided. These are listed below for life and pensions. In other circumstances where fees are chargeable or where you choose to pay in full for our service by fee, we will notify you in writing in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged if different from fees outlined below.
If we receive commission from a product provider, this will be offset against the fee which we will charge you. Where the commission is greater than the fee due, the commission will become the amount payable to the firm unless an arrangement to the contrary is made.
Life, Pensions & Life Wrapped Investment Fees
You may elect to deal with us on a fee basis.
Principle €150.00 per hour
Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills or urgency. Our scale of fees for such cases range from a minimum of €150 per hour to a maximum of €250 per hour. We will notify you in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged.
Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) Fees
Where advice is requested for PRSAs, the following hourly fees will apply:
Advisor fees: €150 – €200 per hour.
Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills or urgency. We will give an estimate of this rate in advance of providing you with services. If we receive commission from a product provider, this will be offset against the fee which we will charge you. Where the commission is greater than the fee due, the commission will become the amount payable to the intermediary unless an arrangement to the contrary is made.
Ongoing Suitability: Investments
The firm’s service does not include ongoing suitability assessments.
Regular Reviews
It is in your best interests that you review, on a regular basis, the products which we have arranged for you. As your circumstances change, your needs will change which may result in you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments. We would therefore advise that you contact us to ensure that you are provided with up-to-date advice and products best suited to your needs
Conflicts of interest
It is the policy of our firm to avoid conflicts of interest in providing services to you. However, where an unavoidable conflict of interest arises we will advise you of this in writing before providing you with any service. A full copy of our conflicts of interest policy is available on request.
Default on payments by clients
Our firm will exercise its legal rights to receive payments due to it from clients (fees and insurance premiums) for services provided. In particular, without limitation of the generality of the foregoing, the firm will seek reimbursement for all payments made to insurers on behalf of clients where the firm has acted in good faith in renewing a policy of insurance for the client.
Product producers may withdraw benefits or cover in the event of default on payments due under policies of insurance or other products arranged for you. We would refer you to policy documents or product terms for the details of such provisions.
Complaints
Whilst we are happy to receive verbal complaints, we ask that you make any complaint against our firm, relating to services provided by us, in writing. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days, and we will fully investigate it, the complainant will receive an update on the complaint at intervals of not greater than 20 business days starting from the date on which the complaint is made. On completion of our investigation, we will provide you with a written report of the outcome. In the event that you are still dissatisfied with our handling of or response to your complaint, you are entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Services Ombudsman and Pensions Ombudsman. A full copy of our complaints procedure is available on request.
Our objectives:
- To respond to complaints in a courteous, timely and fair manner
- To endeavour to address the specific issues raised by our customers and, where appropriate, update our procedure to avoid the re-occurrence of problems.
- To endeavour to achieve a situation where our customer feels we have addressed the complaint, but if he/she remains dissatisfied with the outcome of our efforts, to ensure that he/she is notified of the right to refer the matter to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman.
Procedure:
- The firm will establish and maintain a complaints file; all complaints records will be kept for six years.
- Where the firm receives an oral complaint, we will give the consumer the opportunity to have it treated as a written complaint.
- The firm will investigate the complaint based on our understanding of the issue. The firm will acknowledge each complaint in writing within 5 business days of receipt. The acknowledgement will contain a copy of these procedures and notification that the complainant can refer to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman if he/she is not happy with the outcome of our investigation.
- We shall endeavour to investigate the complaint as swiftly as possible, and, where applicable, the complainant shall receive a written report on the progress of the investigation every 20 business days.
- Within 5 business days of the conclusion of our investigation of the complaint, the firm shall send a written report of the outcome of this investigation. This report shall include, if applicable, an explanation of the terms of any offer that the firm is prepared to make in settlement of the complaint. We will also inform the complainant of the right to refer the complaint to the Financial Services & Pensions Ombudsman and will provide the consumer with the contact details of such Ombudsman.
- Where it appears to the firm that the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome of our investigation and where we feel that we cannot progress the issue further, we will immediately write to the complainant advising them of their right to refer the dispute to the Financial Services & Pensions Ombudsman.
- The principal will review the file before its conclusion and attempt to identify any procedures that our firm can implement to avoid a repeat of the type of complaint received. Any new procedures will be immediately communicated to all staff and placed in the Written Procedures file.
- The person responsible for complaints in this firm is James Garza.
Data Protection
We are subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.
Trillium Financial Services is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We wish to be transparent on how we process your data and show you that we are accountable with the GDPR in relation to not only processing your data but ensuring you understand your rights as a client.
The data will be processed only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given and as outlined in our Data Privacy Notice, this will be given to all our clients at the time of data collection.
We will ensure that this Privacy Notice is easily accessible. Please refer to our website https://www.trillium.ie/terms-and-privacy/; if this medium is not suitable, we will ensure you can easily receive a copy by hard copy or telephonic environment. (pre-recorded).
Please contact us at james@trillium.ie if you have any concerns about your personal data.
Compensation Scheme
We are members of the Investor Compensation Scheme operated by the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. See below for details.
Investor Compensation Scheme
The Investor Compensation Act, 1998 provides for the establishment of a compensation scheme and the payment, in certain circumstances, of compensation to certain clients (known as eligible investors) of authorised investment firms, as defined in that Act.
The Investor Compensation Company Ltd. (ICCL) was established under the 1998 Act to operate such a compensation scheme and our firm is a member of this scheme.
Compensation may be payable where money or investment instruments owed or belonging to clients and held, administered or managed by the firm cannot be returned to those clients for the time being and where there is no reasonably foreseeable opportunity of the firm being able to do so.
A right to compensation will arise only:
- If the client is an eligible investor as defined in the Act; and
- If it transpires that the firm is not in a position to return client money or investment instruments owned or belonging to the clients of the firm; and
- To the extent that the client’s loss is recognised for the purposes of the Act.
Where an entitlement to compensation is established, the compensation payable will be the lesser of:
- 90% of the amount of the client’s loss which is recognised for the purposes of the Investor Compensation Act, 1998; or
- Compensation of up to €20,000.
For further information, contact the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. at (01) 224 4955.
Brokers Ireland Clients’ Compensation and Membership Benefits Scheme (BIC)
We are also members of the Brokers Ireland Clients’ Compensation and Membership Benefits Scheme (BIC). Subject to the rules of the scheme the liabilities of its members firms up to a maximum of €100,000 per client (or €250,000 in aggregate) may be discharged by the fund on its behalf if the member firm is unable to do so, where the above detailed Investor Compensation Scheme has failed to adequately compensate any client of the member. Further details are available on request.
Trillium Financial Services Privacy Notice
Trillium Financial Services is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We wish to be transparent about how we process your data and show you that we are accountable under the GDPR for not only processing your data but also ensuring you understand your rights.
For the purposes of the GDPR, James Garza is the data controller. Our contact details are 8 Ballyowen Park, Ballyowen Lane, Lucan Co. Dublin, 014429950, james@trillium.ie.
When we refer to we/us, we mean Trillium Financial Services.
Please read this Privacy Notice carefully. It sets out the basis on which we will process any personal data we collect from you or that you provide to us.
Who are we?
Trillium Financial Services offers personalised financial planning, investment advice, and pension consulting tailored for business owners, company directors, sole traders, and employees. Led by James Garza, a qualified financial adviser with extensive experience in the U.S. and Irish financial sectors, Trillium focuses on simplifying complex financial concepts into clear, understandable guidance. Their services include comprehensive investment reviews, life assurance, and pension planning, emphasising ease of doing business and client education. For more details, visit www.trillium.ie.
Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted directly here:
- Name: James Garza
- Email address james@trillium.ie
- Phone number: 01-442-9950
How do we collect your information, and what information do we collect?
Our organisation collects personal data in the following ways if you:
- request a service from us such as life insurance, pension or investment advice.
- Complete an online questionnaire, such as completing a fact finder to assess your needs.
- use our website/apps, and it installs cookies or other tracking technologies onto your device.
- engage with us on social media via LinkedIn
- contact us with a complaint or query;
What information do we collect?
The information we collect about you includes the following:
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Contact and Identifying information, e.g., name, address, contact details; email, mobile, landline |
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Unique identifiers e.g. · PPS number—We collect your PPS number to verify your salary for pension benefits or to correctly identify you. · Insurance policy numbers—We collect these to conduct a financial review or for transfers. |
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Demographic details, age, gender, marital status, lifestyle, and insurance requirements; date of birth, dependents, photo ID as well as collecting personal information about you, we may also use personal information about other people, for example, family members you wish to insure on a policy. E.g., your children/spouse |
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Family and Beneficiary Data, e.g., dependants, next of kin or nominated beneficiaries, Power of Attorney, Enduring Power of Attorney. Details of Solicitor/Tax Advisor/Accountant. |
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Employment information , e.g., role, employment status (such as full/part-time, contract), salary information, employment benefits, and employment history; This information is necessary for our Fact Find with our clients. |
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Publicly available sources: e.g., Information about you in the public domain such as Director information from the Companies Registration Office. |
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Health information such as information about your health status, medical records and medical assessment outcomes. We collect medical information relating to personal habits (e.g., smoking and consumption of alcohol) and medical history. We may also process certain special categories of information, for example information about your personal characteristics (biometric information) or disability information. |
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Pensions and Insurance Benefits information such as current benefits, pension entitlement information, date of retirement and any relevant matters impacting your benefits such as voluntary contributions, PAO, and other pension plans. |
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Financial details, e.g., bank account details, details of your credit history and bankruptcy status, salary, tax code, third-party deductions, bonus payments, benefits and entitlement data, national insurance contributions details, and additional policies. |
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Claims Data in the event of a claim to process the claim, such as beneficiary information. |
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Marketing preferences, we will only send you direct marketing if you explicitly consent and you can withdraw consent at any time.. |
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We undertake searches in relation to sanctions, money laundering, and credit checks. |
When our organisation collects sensitive personal data as defined within the GDPR, we will ensure that we require this information and have your explicit consent and/or authorisation prior to our collection. Please see the further information contained in this Privacy Notice, which outlines special categories of personal data.
Information we automatically collect.
We sometimes automatically collect certain types of information when you visit our websites and through e-mails when we communicate with you
How do we use your personal data?
Your Personal Data will be used to enable us to fulfil our contractual obligations in relation to your request for insurance, investment, protection, pension products, independent financial advice, quotes.
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Performing services for our clients and prospective clients – when you require insurance/investment products, we use your data to enable us to provide the required product. |
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Statutory and other regulatory requirements – we are required to carry out various obligations, which include: · AML/Sanction checking · Knowing your customer “Fact Find” · Adherence to the Consumer Protection Code · Adherence to GDPR · Adherence to Central Bank Regulation |
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We will contact you if required or respond to any communications you might send us. |
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To administer our site for data analysis, testing, research, statistical, and survey purposes. |
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We will carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us and provide you with the information, products, and services that you request. |
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Provide professional services. Pension and investment advice. |
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Handling complaints |
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To notify you about changes to our service. |
Legal BasisWe need to ensure that we process your personal data lawfully. To collect and use your personal data, we rely on the following legal grounds.
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If you require further information on any of the above basis for processing your data, we can provide you with further details.
How we share your data
When required, we may make your information available to third parties with whom we have a relationship, where that third party is providing services on our behalf. We will only provide those third parties (data processors) with information that is necessary for them to perform the services. We will take measures to protect your information, such as putting in place Standard Contractual Clauses and confidentiality agreements.
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Insurance Partners, where we need to manage the services provided to you, such as Product Providers and insurance underwriters. You can refer to their privacy statements on their website for more information about their privacy practices at www.trillium.ie/terms-and-privacy. |
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Vetting and risk management agencies such as credit reference, criminal record, fraud prevention, data validation and other professional advisory agencies, where necessary to prevent and detect fraud in the insurance industry and take steps to assess the risk in relation to prospective or existing insurance policies and/or the services. |
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Legal advisers, loss adjusters, and claims investigators, where necessary, investigate, exercise or defend legal claims, insurance claims or other claims of a similar nature. |
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Medical professionals, e.g., when you provide health information in connection with a claim against your insurance policy or when we are providing an insurance quote. |
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EU Law enforcement bodies, when required to do so by law and/or regulation or another legal request. |
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Public authorities, regulators and government bodies, where necessary for us to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations or in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity. |
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Internal and external auditors are necessary for conducting company audits or investigating a complaint or security threat. |
Personal data will be disposed of securely.
Data Subjects Rights:
Trillium Financial Services will facilitate your rights in line with our data protection policy and the Subject Access Request procedure. This is available on request.
- Right of access – you have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you.
- Right of rectification – you have a right to correct data that we hold about you that is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Right to be forgotten – in certain circumstances, you can ask for the data we hold about you to be erased from our records. (The erasure of such data will be dependent on our other legal obligations, and whether the data is subject of legal privilege).
- Right to restriction of processing – where certain conditions apply to have a right to restrict the processing.
- Right of portability – you have the right to have the data we hold about you transferred to another organisation.
- Right to object – you have the right to object to certain types of processing such as direct marketing.
- Right to object to automated processing, including profiling.
- Right to make a complaint: if we refuse your request under rights of access, we will provide you with a reason as to why.
All the above requests will be forwarded on, should there be a third party involved, as we have indicated in the processing of your personal data.
Complaints
If you wish to make a complaint about how Trillium Financial Services is processing your personal data or how your complaint has been handled, you have the right to lodge a complaint with James Garza.
Failure to provide further information.
If we are collecting your data for a contract and you cannot provide this data, the consequences of this could mean the contract cannot be completed or details are incorrect.
When you fail to provide us with the information we require to fulfil our obligations to you, we may be unable to offer our services to you.
Contact Us
Your privacy is important to us. If you have any comments or questions regarding this statement, please contact us on 01 442 9950 or email james@trillium.ie.
Privacy notice/ statement changes
When we update this Privacy Notice/Statement, we will post a revised version online. Changes will be effective from the point at which they are posted. We would encourage you to review our Privacy Notice so that you are aware of updates.
This privacy policy was last reviewed in August 2021. V7