Third-party authorities with Colonial First State FirstChoice

Form details

'Adviser nomination/Adviser transaction authority form', code 30583/FS8113/1124 (Nov 2024 version, barcode B3BTEK), interactive PDF: https://www.cfs.com.au/content/dam/prospects/fs/8/1/fs8113.pdf. Needs: account number(s) or a tick for 'all accounts I hold with AIL and/or CFSIL'; investor name(s)/DOB; authority-level selection; client signature(s) — joint applicants must both sign; adviser section with name, phone, email, Dealer ID + Adviser ID and dealer/adviser stamp. The authority can only be applied to accounts currently advised by the adviser named on the form. Signatures: CFS accepts electronic signatures on FirstChoice forms via 16 approved vendors (Adobe Sign, Annature, Box Sign, CWT, DocuSign, FuseSign, GetAccept, Dropbox Sign, IRESS/Xplan, JustSign, Nitro Sign, OneSpan, PandaDoc, PleaseSign, SignNow, Workiro) plus sign-on-glass; single-factor authentication is accepted; the certificate of completion/final audit report must be combined into the one PDF; forms requiring witnessing are excluded. ID: signing consents to electronic DVS identity verification; POA signatories must supply a certified POA copy plus CFS's 'Power of Attorney (POA) & Guardianship Order' form (FS6817). Validity: no expiry — the authority continues until CFS receives a valid signed written amendment/revocation from the client, effective the second business day after receipt; it survives the adviser moving dealer groups (with current dealer's release) and can carry over on successor fund/intra-fund transfers; CFS may switch it off if the licensee's AFSL is suspended/cancelled.

Where and how to lodge

Two channels printed on the form: (1) e-Post — CFS's secure online document lodgement inside FirstNet Adviser (also FirstNet Investor); this is the digital channel CFS's own e-signature process instructs advisers to use ('upload the document via e-Post') and the fastest in practice; (2) post — Colonial First State, Reply Paid 27, Sydney NSW 2001. Enquiries: Investor Services 13 13 36; adviser queries via Adviser Services 13 18 36 / adviserservices@cfs.com.au.

Published turnaround

No published fixed service standard for processing authority forms or information requests (unverified). Transaction processing is unit-price-cycle based (requests before cut-off get that day's price, units allocated next working day). FirstNet Adviser's tracking statuses are the de facto progress mechanism.

Watch-outs

1) The FS8113 grants transaction authority BY DEFAULT unless the client ticks the opt-out box — advisers/clients are sometimes surprised by the breadth (adviser and their delegates can transact and modify account details; CFS 'will not accept or be on notice of any restrictions on their authority'). 2) The authority only attaches to accounts currently advised by the named adviser — lodging it for a prospect's account the adviser doesn't yet service is a rejection path. 3) E-signed forms are rejected if the certificate of completion/audit trail isn't merged into the same PDF; witnessing-required forms can't be e-signed at all. 4) CFS may place a security call-back to the client for sensitive changes (e.g. bank details), adding days if the client is unreachable. 5) Reply Paid 27 postal lodgement is materially slower than e-Post upload — use e-Post via FirstNet. 6) POA-signed forms need the certified POA plus the separate FS6817 POA & Guardianship identification form — two-document trap. 7) Countervailing honesty for the product thesis: CFS is currently regarded as one of the better-servicing platforms with heavy digital investment (adviser transaction tools, e-signature program), so fund-gone-quiet escalations are rarer here than at Insignia; adviser-forum complaints skew toward legacy paper processes, not systemic delay. No adviser-community reports of systemic FS8113 turnaround failures were found (absence noted, not proof).

If they go quiet

FirstChoice complaints: phone 13 13 36; email contactus@cfs.com.au; online form www.cfs.com.au/feedback; post Complaints Resolution, GPO Box 3956, Sydney NSW 2001. Published maximum response times: 45 calendar days for superannuation complaints (non-death-benefit), 90 calendar days for death benefit distribution complaints, 30 calendar days for non-super complaints. Escalation: AFCA — afca.org.au, 1800 931 678, info@afca.org.au, GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001. (CFS Edge, Essential Super and CFS Advice have separate complaint channels — do not mix them up with FirstChoice.)

Under s1017C of the Corporations Act, a trustee must make reasonable efforts to comply with an information request within one month. If Colonial First State FirstChoice exceeds its own published standard, a formal internal-dispute-resolution complaint starts a 45-calendar-day clock under ASIC Regulatory Guide 271 — with AFCA as the next stop.