About Bridge Financial FSP745691
We’ve been successfully helping people achieve a better financial future by Planning, Investing & Protecting since 2011.
Financial certainty isn’t a dream, it’s a destination. I guide you on this journey, turning complex Investment, Life/Health insurance, and Retirement Planning concepts into clear, actionable strategies.
Lifeline Assured Limited (trading as Bridge Financial) holds a license issued by the Financial Markets Authority to provide financial advice in Investments, Life, and Health Insurances.
About Chris George FSP209525
My name is Chris George. I am the owner and sole adviser for Bridge Financial. I have been in the financial services industry since January 2011 with experience in the United States and New Zealand. I hold the New Zealand Certificate in Financial Services (Level 5) and maintain the financial adviser standards set by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA).
I help you navigate the complexities of the financial landscape and guide you toward a future of true financial independence.
I have a fundamental belief in the power of strategic planning to shape our destinies - a sentiment echoed by Benjamin Franklin when he famously stated: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
What sets me apart is my practical experience as an adviser. I have successfully navigated the journey of homeownership, successful debt repayment, building a diversified investment, and property investment portfolio, and sustaining a stable business. This background allows me to provide invaluable, entrepreneurial insights to others looking to achieve similar goals.
I am here not just to advise, but to educate and empower you with the knowledge and tools necessary to make sound financial decisions. I embody a unique approach to wealth and retirement planning that transcends mere product offerings. My focus is not just on setting up the products within your plan, but on sculpting comprehensive strategies that dismantle uncertainty and sow the seeds of confidence in your financial future.
There's no one one-size-fits-all approach here - each plan is meticulously crafted to reflect your unique financial landscape, ensuring a balanced and customized roadmap to prosperity. With me, cookie-cutter advice is obsolete, authenticity and personalization reign supreme.
Through fourteen years of honing my craft as an Adviser, I have overseen remarkable outcomes as an industry client retention measure, that speak volumes about the efficacy of our approach. You are not just a number here. Our outstanding long-term client satisfaction rates are not mere statistics; they are testaments to our dedication to excellence.
Your journey to financial empowerment begins with a conversation. Let's connect and embark on this transformative path together.
Do Advisers Actually Create Tangible Value?
Don’t just take our word for it, Financial Advice NZ recently did extensive research on the value of financial advice in New Zealand.
Click here to read the full report.
Listed below are some further summarised statistics:
80% of investors say their advisor helped them save more.
Source: Canadian Investors' Perceptions of Mutual Funds and the Mutual Fund Industry, Pollara 2019.
Whatever the timeframe, those with advice, simply do better:
Over a period of 15+ years, those with advice achieve 3.9 times the retirement savings those without advice achieved.
Over a period of 7 to 14 years, those with advice achieve 2.7 times the retirement savings those without advice achieved.
Over a period of 4 to 6 years, those with advice achieve 1.7 times the retirement savings those without advice achieved.
Source: The Gamma Factor and the value of financial advice, Claude Montmarquette, Natalie Viennot-Briot, 2016.
Life Insurance Claims Acceptance Rates 2021 Calendar Year.
Death: Advised = 97% / Non-Advised = 89%
Total Permanent Disability (TPD): Advised = 81% / Non-Advised = 67%
Trauma: Advised = 86% / Non-Advised = 86%
Short Term Disability: Advised = 95% / Non-Advised = 85%
Source: APRA Life Insurance Claims Statistics 2021.
We have been offering our financial services since 2011 and pride ourselves on a truly client-first approach.
We measure this with several metrics but to simply all of them, we’ve displayed our latest client retention statistics. As an industry comparison, we’ve exceeded and outperformed by a large margin.
These two metrics below are updated quarterly:
Investment client retention rate: 99%.
Life & Health Insurance client retention rate: 97.4%
See client testimonials here: https://www.bridgefinancial.nz/testimonials
Nature & Scope
The following are the areas of financial advice that can be provided:
Cashflow, retirement modelling
Investment planning
Kiwisaver planning
Life & Health Insurance planning, specifically:
• ACC planning & restructures
• Income and/or Mortgage Repayment cover(s)
• Trauma/Critical Illness cover
• Total Permanent Disability cover
• Life & Terminal Illness cover
• Health/Medical cover
• Key Person/Business Preservation planning
• Shareholder/Business Succession planning
• Group Health Insurance
• Group Life Insurance
Providers
Bridge Financial holds agencies with and sources insurance products from the following life and medical insurance companies:
ACC, AIA/Sovereign, Accuro/Unimed, Asteron Life, Fidelity Life/Tower, Generate Wealth, Home Advantage Ltd, Milford, NZ Funds, Partners Life and Southern Cross Health Society.
Duties Information
We have duties and obligations under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 relating to the way we give advice. We are required to:
Ensure you understand the nature and scope of advice you ask us to provide.
Provide a service that is relevant to that agreed scope of advice and suitable to your circumstances and needs.
Listen to your needs, concerns, preferences and to treat you fairly and with respect.
Act with integrity and give priority to your interests and not our own.
Exercise care, diligence, and skill.
Meet the necessary standards of competence, knowledge, and skill required.
Ensure you understand our recommendations and any associated risks.
Keep you informed along the way and communicate in a timely, clear, and effective manner.
This is only a summary of the duties that we have. More information is available by visiting the Financial Markets Authority website at www.fma.govt.nz/compliance/role/financial-advice-provider/#dapDuties
Remuneration & Fees
Our service is holistic in nature. We aim to not only design and implement a retirement, investment and/or life and health insurance plan for you, but to assist you with ongoing reviews, maintenance, and claims over time.
You will also have free access to the Planolitix software, and advice, to model ideas you may have and keep track of your expenses in detail. Please understand that we can only grant you access to the software, and ongoing advice, once you have implemented a product through us or transferred the product to our agency.
To make our service possible, Bridge Financial receives servicing and advice remuneration from the providers on whose products we give financial advice. We are independent and are not tied to a sole provider, and do not recommend products or services we don’t utilise ourselves. Your personal situation, preferences, objectives and requirements will determine the providers we recommend. It is ultimately your decision as to where you place your products and/or services.
We understand that the better we assist with your retirement success and the products and services that make that retirement successful, the better your situation and ours will be over time so a percentage-based remuneration that incentivises us to retain your enthusiasm in our service long term is a much better outcome for you than charging you a fee directly on an annual basis.
Our remuneration will be clearly disclosed to you in the Letter of Advice (report) you will receive, however the structure of our remuneration is explained below.
Fund management providers:
Servicing & Advice (Kiwisaver and/or Investment fund(s)):
For some fund management providers, our servicing and advice remuneration of 0.50% is included within their fees to you. For others, only a portion of our fee is included within their fees to you (0.20% as an example). In the instance the provider that is best suited to your needs includes a fee less than 0.50%, a top-up fee would be added. e.g. If a fund manager is remunerating us 0.20%, a 0.30% top-up would be applicable. This is paid directly to us from your fund balance, so you won’t receive an invoice to pay us directly.
In the instance you only require an investment fund and not a kiwisaver fund, our servicing and advice remuneration would be 1.00% in total. The same principal would apply as above. e.g. If a fund manager is remunerating us 0.50%, a 0.50% top-up would be applicable. This is paid directly to us from your fund balance, so you won’t receive an invoice to pay us directly.
Implementation (Kiwisaver only):
Similarly, some providers include an implementation and administration payment to us within their fees to you when your kiwisaver fund has been setup. For some others, there is no payment to us to cover our time spent with implementation. In the instance the provider that is best suited to your needs does not include an implementation fee, a fee of $150 per kiwisaver fund would be charged. This is paid directly to us from your fund balance upon transfer or setup, so you won’t receive an invoice to pay us directly.
Investment Property Providers, Real Estate Agents and/or Finders:
From time to time, we work with and accept remuneration from preferred investment property providers, real estate agents and/or finders (if applicable), and offer thorough property investment analysis and advice inclusive of our holistic retirement planning service.
Like all products or services we recommend, we only work with long standing, trustworthy professionals who have achieved sustainable and measured success in what they do for people.
This payment will be a percentage of the proceeds attained by the service provider, so we are able to assist with your investment property analysis over time. Do note that this percentage is not in addition to any property cost you agree upon with the provider, as the developer or agent pays this directly from your agreed settlement value. Whether you have an adviser or referral source, or not, this does not influence your purchase price.
Life & Health Insurance(s) providers:
If you are implementing or transferring life and/or health insurance under or to our agency, we do not charge fees or expenses directly from you. Instead, the provider pays us a percentage of your annual premium as the policy is implemented and is continued over time.
This percentage differs from provider to provider but is generally within the range of between 130-170% upon implementation and 5-20% ongoing. This remunerates us to build a recommendation for you, manage the implementation of the policy(ies), maintain the policy(ies), and manage claims for you over time.
Circumstances where a direct fee may apply:
The amount of Life or Health Insurance remuneration is based on the amount of your premium and will be disclosed in the report we write for you (Statement of Advice). We have a 24-month responsibility period whereby our remuneration is clawed back by the insurer if the benefits are reduced or terminated within 24 months. In this case, you would be asked to pay a fee at the amount of the remuneration we have clawed back.
If you are wanting financial advice such as retirement planning but do not require the products i.e. life insurance, health insurance, kiwisaver or investment funds. In this instance, we can quote a price based on our time spent assisting you. Please ask if this is of interest.
Conflicts Of Interest
To ensure that we prioritise your interests above our own, we follow an advice process that ensures our recommendations are based on your objectives, needs and circumstances. We further manage possible conflicts of interest by:
Utilising financial planning software technology which clearly outlines your risks and therefore erases potential bias towards over or underinsurance
Choosing product providers based on your needs and not on the commission we may receive
Avoiding any production requirements for one product provider. As a boutique service, we do not set sales targets
Not accepting any gifts or incentives offered by product providers
Having access to a range of product providers
Undergoing regular training to retain and build on our knowledge
Terms Of Engagement
Any advice provided as a result of this needs analysis can only be as good as the information received from you so we ask that you provide us with the information requested. If you are unsure as to why we need certain information, please ask so that we can explain.
For any planned meetings, we ask for notification of confirmation or postponement with as much notice as possible. This gives us enough time to prepare your work proficiently.
Please return any communications we make to you in a timely manner. This helps us serve you best within a reasonable timeframe.
We may require financial statements, existing insurance or health details.
Privacy Statement
We are committed to your privacy
This document sets out how we collect, hold, use and share your personal information. This does not limit or exclude any of your rights under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.
If you provide us with personal information through this website, we will protect your information as set out below. ,We may amend this privacy statement from time to time.
Collection of your Information
We may collect personal information about you when you provide information to us directly, and when you obtain services from us. We may also collect personal information about you from third parties where authorised by you and from public sources.
The type of personal information we may collect may include:
your contact details: name, address, phone number, email
documents that confirm your identity: your driver’s licence, passport etc.
other information relevant to the service we will provide to you
Use of Your Information
We only collect and use personal information from you to be able to provide you with the products and services you have requested from us. We may provide you with information on our other services from time to time. We do not sell our client information or share it with third parties without your permission.
Retention and Security
We will not hold your personal information for longer than is required for the purpose(s) for which it was collected (subject to any obligations at law to hold the information for longer periods).
We have cyber security safeguards in place to protect the information and we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that information will not be disclosed to any unauthorised person or organisation. Our security measures include:
Security software – Windows Security
Anti-virus software – Windows Security
Back up process – Google Drive Cloud storage plus monthly copy to hard drive
Other security measures such as Password keeper on all computers, phones, and applicable documents
Where is information hosted?
Our website and customer relationship management systems are hosted in New Zealand. We also use Gmail, Streak, Mailchimp, Google Drive and Documents which are hosted in the USA and are compliant with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
When we share your data with a third party, we have contracts in place with them which requires them to have in place the technical and organisational measures necessary to protect your personal data, however many such providers are subject to different privacy laws and controls to New Zealand and hence we cannot provide absolute surety that those providers will not comply with their obligations to us, and divulge your personal data.
Your right of access and to correction
We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that personal information held by us is accurate and up-to-date. You are entitled to obtain from us confirmation as to whether or not we hold personal information about you and you are entitled to reasonable access to this information, and to ask for it to be corrected if you think it is wrong.
If you’d like to ask for a copy of your information and have it corrected, or would like to be removed from any of our subscription lists at any time, then please contact us at chris@bridgefinancial.nz.
Internet use
While we take reasonable steps to maintain secure internet connections, any information you provide over the internet is provided at your own risk.
Our website may, from time to time, contain links to and from other websites. Please note that those websites will have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility for the actions of those websites.
Reliability History, Complaints & Disputes
Bridge Financial has no history of any complaints that we have not been able to resolve directly with our client. We welcome open communication, positive or not positive as we understand that finding resolve is the basis of a healthy long-term relationship.
If you are not satisfied with our service or financial advice, please tell us as soon as possible so that we can try and resolve this for you to the best of our ability. It is our intention to provide the best possible service we can for our clients and will do our best to try and resolve any complaint received as quickly and effectively as possible.
You can make a complaint by calling Chris on 021 028 26357 or emailing chris@bridgefinancial.co.nz. You can also write to us at P.O Box 49, Leigh, Auckland 0947.
We will follow our internal complaint process:
We will consider your complaint and let you know how we intend to resolve it. Where possible, we try to resolve your complaint immediately.
If we are unable to resolve your complaint immediately, we will acknowledge your complaint within 2 business days. We may contact you to get further information about your complaint.
We aim to resolve complaints within 10 working days of receiving them. If we need more time to investigate your complaint, we will let you know when you can expect to receive a response to your complaint.
We will contact you by phone, email, or letter to let you know whether we can resolve your complaint and how we propose to do so.
If we cannot agree on how to fix the issue, or if you decide not to use our internal complaints scheme, you can contact our external disputes resolution scheme, Financial Service Complaints Ltd. They provide a free and independent dispute resolution service that may help to investigate or resolve your complaint if we have not been able to do so to your satisfaction.
Call: 0800 347 257 | Email: complaints@fscl.org.nz | Write to: FSCL, PO Box 5967, Wellington 6145