Madison's Advisers operate across the full financial services advice and implementation spectrum. Whilst some of our advisers have chosen to specialise in specific advice segments (ie. wealth management; risk management; financial management and the like) or in different demographic bands (wealth accumulators, pre-retirees, retirees and the like), many of our advisers have chosen to be "generalists" operating across segments and bands.

When dealing with a Madison Advisor it is important to identify what type of advice you are seeking, what your attitude to risk is, what your existing and desired positions (ie. objectives) are and whether support to implement the agreed solutions and indeed manage them into the future.

At the Dealership (Madisons) level, we support our Advisers by providing them with tools, services and platforms that help them to:

• undertake the pre-advice evaluation of your needs, wants and objectives
• create for you a clear, concise and effective financial plan
• select for you the most appropriate products, services or investment options to achieve your objectives
• implement and manage your agreed plan and selections

Our experience has taught us that whilst the pre-plan implementation phase is critical for establishing the right foundations, many well thought out plans can be let down by the ultimate products or investment options that are selected and the suitability of the asset allocation to the specific objectives, risk profile and investment outlook. At a selection level, this is unsurprising when one considers the vastness of options that exist and the depth/quality of the available research that planners and dealers have at their disposal. Similarly at an asset allocation level, it is apparent that markets shift and consequently asset allocation needs to be adjusted to cope with such shifts.

At Madisons we have developed what we call the Investment Filter Process^©. Our IFP involves 3 steps:

Step 1: Identification of the known and accessible universe of investment options;

Step 2: Application of 3 Research Filters:

• Filter 1 - the commercial research house overlay: has the product or investment obtained a 'Top 2' category rating from a panel of respected research or Brokerage house ratings agencies.
• Filter 2 - the specialist panel overlay: does a panel of objective experts believe the research ratings/recommendations to be valid based on reviews of their published materials, other sources of information and direct contact with the target product or firm? Are the existing asset allocation ranges still appropriate given forecast investment, economic and market conditions?
• Filter 3 - the Madison Investment Committee overlay: does the Committee believe the recommendations and ratings from the 1^st and 2^nd filters to be appropriate?

Step 3: Outcome Phase: What are the preferred products and investment options that should be considered by the Madison planners? What are the recommended asset allocation ranges for each client risk profile?

Our intention at Madisons is to ensure you are dealing with an appropriately qualified planner that has the tools, training and supporting services needed to competently plan for and execute your investment needs.