What is a primary country of residency?
Your primary country of residency is the country where you usually live, work, and pay taxes. It’s important to declare this correctly as it determines your eligibility for this product and tax obligations.
What is a U.S. person?
A U.S. person is defined as:
A U.S. citizen (regardless of residence)
A U.S. tax resident
A U.S. green card holder
Due to regulatory complexities, we currently don't offer U.S. share trading to U.S. persons. This helps us maintain streamlined service while ensuring compliance with all applicable regulations.
What is a Politically Exposed Person (or Senior Political Person)?
Under New Zealand law, a "Politically Exposed Person" or PEP is simply someone who holds (or has recently held) an important public job in a country outside of New Zealand.
Think of people like:
Heads of state (eg. Presidents or Prime Ministers)
Senior government officials
Top politicians
High-ranking military officers
Senior managers at companies owned by a government
The definition also includes their close family members (like spouses, parents, or children) and close work associates. This is because people in these positions, or those close to them, might benefit from their political connections or influence.
We need to ask about this for regulatory reasons. If you're not sure whether this applies to you or someone connected to you, no worries! Just reach out to us at support@kernelwealth.co.nz, and we'll be happy to help clarify.
What is liquid net worth?
Focus on assets you can access or convert to cash relatively quickly, such as:
Cash in bank accounts
Investments traded on public stock exchanges (like shares and ETFs)
Money market funds
Other investments that can be sold easily
Knowing this helps us understand your financial flexibility and ensure our platform is right for you!
What is excluded from liquid net worth?
'Liquid net worth' specifically measures assets that can be converted to cash relatively quickly without significant loss of value.
Therefore, assets that typically take longer to sell or are not easily accessible are excluded from this calculation. This generally means items such as your residential property, other real estate holdings, vehicles, and personal belongings (like furniture or collectibles) are not counted towards your liquid net worth.
Instead, liquid net worth primarily encompasses readily available assets like cash in bank accounts, savings, stocks, bonds, and other investments that can be easily traded or accessed.
What is included in household income?
Household income includes all income sources for the members of your household. This typically covers salaries, rental income, dividends, and other regular sources of income.
Which circumstances would you contact my trusted contact for?
We'd only contact them if we were concerned about unusual activity that might suggest someone is trying to take advantage of your finances. We might also reach out if we couldn't get hold of you and needed help confirming your current contact information, checking on your well-being, or verifying the identity of someone legally authorized to act on your behalf (like a guardian or power of attorney). It's a safety measure we have in place.
This follows industry guidelines (FINRA Rules 2165 & 4512), which requires firms to make reasonable efforts to obtain the name and contact information for a trusted contact person upon the opening of a customer’s account.