Global Preservation Strategies (GPS) aims to always provide investors with the very best customer service. We will always try to resolve any issue you have quickly and positively.

On the rare occasions when things go wrong you may wish to make a formal complaint, which you have the right to do under the rules of our regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

In order to meet our regulatory obligations GPS has established procedures to ensure that any complaints received from former, potential or existing customers are dealt with in a reasonable and prompt manner.

Definition

For the purposes of the FCA’s requirements, a complaint can be defined as any oral or written expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, from, or on behalf of, a person about the provision of, or failure to provide, a financial service or redress determination. A complaint must involve an allegation that the complainant has suffered (or may suffer) financial loss, material inconvenience or material distress.

An eligible complainant is a person who would be eligible to refer a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). An eligible complainant can be one of the following:-

• A consumer – that is an individual acting outside their trade, business or profession; or
• A micro-enterprise, which employs fewer than 10 persons and has a turnover or annual balance sheet that does not exceed €2 million; or
• A charity, which has annual income of less than £1 million; or
• A trustee of a trust which has a net asset value of less than £1 million.

How to complain

If you have a complaint with respect to any aspect of GPS or the service received you should report it to us by sending an e-mail from the e-mail address in which your membership is registered to [email protected]. Please provide as much detail as you can to ensure your complaint can be handled by us effectively.

Alternatively, write to:

Our complaints process

When we receive a complaint we will take the following steps towards resolving it:

• By the close of business on the next working day we will consider the grounds of your complaint and provide a suitable explanation and/or offer appropriate redress by way of an apology or financial compensation, or if we cannot resolve the complaint, then;
• Within 5 working days we will provide you with a written acknowledgement of receipt of your complaint and if we have still not been able to reach a conclusion within this time we will write to you explaining why we have not and we will tell you when we expect to be able to reach a conclusion.
• Within 4 weeks of receipt of your complaint we either send you a final response or a holding response if the investigation has not been resolved. The holding response must explain why we are not yet in a position to resolve the complaint and will indicate when we will make further contact. If we send a final response we will provide an explanation of the action we took, including any advice given to us, as a means towards resolving the complaint. We may offer redress by way of an apology and compensation if appropriate.
• Within 8 weeks from receipt of the original complaint we will write to you with our final response or a response explaining why we are not in a position to make a final response, if the investigation has not been resolved. The final response letter will include:
  • Acceptance or rejection of the complaint.
  • Offer of redress or remedial actions if the complaint is accepted (this may mean an apology, and not only financial redress. Where financial redress is offered it should include a reasonable rate of interest) or details of why the complaint has been rejected.
  • Information in relation to how the complainant may refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if they remain unsatisfied with the outcome, and must do so within six months.
  • Inform the complainant that the firm will regard the complaint as settled if no further communication is received from the client.
• If you have not received a reply from us that is satisfactory to you within 8 weeks, then you are entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service. If our final letter is not satisfactory you must let us know and we will provide you with a formal response.

Financial Ombudsman Service

As part of its statutory obligation, the FCA has established the Financial Ombudsman Service, a body which has the power to consider, arbitrate and settle complaints against authorised firms in the event that the parties concerned have been unable to resolve the matter between themselves.

If you make a complaint and we do not resolve it to your satisfaction you may have a right to complain directly to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Their address is South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR, and their website is at http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

You will remain entitled to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service for 6 months following receipt of our final response letter to you. After expiry of this period a complainant will be barred from referring the complaint to the FOS.

GPS will fully co-operate with the FOS in the handling of any complaints.

In addition, the European Commission’s Online Dispute Resolution platform is at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.

Our complaints officer is:

Further information may be obtained from:

Financial Ombudsman Service

Financial Conduct Authority

European Commission