Our current Target Market Determinations
A Target Market Determination (TMD) is a document designed to outline who a financial services product (in this case your insurance policy) is appropriate for, and just as importantly who it is not designed for, any conditions around how the product can be distributed to customers, as well as describing the events or circ*mstances that may trigger a review.
Although the requirement to provide a TMD has been determined by ASIC as part of their Regulatory Guide 274 – Product design and distribution obligations guidance in December 2020, we believe that any action that helps customers better understand the products they are considering are more than welcome.
How can a TMD help you decide if a product is right for you?
A TMD includes a number of sections that can help you determine whether a financial product is right for you. These include:
A description of the Target Market
- The target market description outlines the likely objectives, financial situation and needs of the type of customers the policy has been designed for.
- Just as importantly, it can help identify the type of customer that may not benefit from that particular product.
An overview of the Distribution Conditions
- The distribution conditions explain and details any potential conditions or restrictions surrounding the sale of the product.
Establishes any reporting requirements
- The reporting requirements set out by the TMD sets out the relevant information that must be provided to the product issuer and the required frequency of that reporting. At a minimum, a distributor must provide regular reporting around the number of complaints they receive about the product to the issuer, as well as any significant dealings in the product that are inconsistent with the TMD.
Depending on the product, Guild Insurance can act as either an issuer of a product, or a distributor. In both cases, we have key obligations to meet to ensure all customers can make an informed choice.
In our capacity as the product issuer, our key obligations are:
- To create and maintain a TMD for each of our products that are covered by DDO
- To take all reasonable steps to ensure our products are distributed in line with those TMDs.
In our capacity as the product distributor, our key obligations are:
- To ensure there’s a TMD in place for each of the products that we distribute that are covered by DDO
- To understand and follow the distribution conditions and reporting requirements set by the product issuer in the relevant TMD
- To take all reasonable steps to ensure the product is distributed in line with the TMD
- To keep all relevant records of distribution information
- To report information to the issuer as required by the TMD.
It is important to note that from time to time we may update the information in a TMD, or make changes to the product. Be sure to familiarise yourself with the TMD relevant to your product before you renew your policy.
Our most up to date TMD’s can be downloaded below:
