Niko: Media acting without thinking on Mighty River accusations
by Niko Kloeten on 11 March 2013
A financial advisory business was stunned last week when it found itself in the middle of a conspiracy theory involving a talkback radio caller, the Treasury, the upcoming Mighty River Power float and some overzealous news reporters. More »
BNZ scheme may bring bank sales issue to a head
by Philip Macalister on 24 January 2013
BNZ’s much awaited, full-scale entry to the KiwiSaver market is an opportunity to address one of the biggest issues facing advisers. More »
End this ridiculous war on selling
by Niko Kloeten on 11 May 2012
Financial advisers are about to become collateral damage in the latest round of successive governments' war against our right to think for ourselves. More »
KiwiSaver rot runs deeper than defaults
by Niko Kloeten on 11 April 2012
The flawed KiwiSaver default provider system is symptomatic of wider problems with the scheme that need to be addressed if it is to achieve its objectives. More »
Did the ISI/FSC miss an opportunity?
by Philip Macalister on 25 March 2012
There's a game of musical chairs, with a diminshing number of chairs going on amongst the various lobby groups at the moment, More »
What to make of the Kiwibank deal
by Philip Macalister on 18 January 2012
Rumours had been circulating for a while that Gareth Morgan’s KiwiSaver business was on the market. Today we learnt that Kiwibank was the successful buyer of this business plus the other funds management and advice offerings from GMI. More »
Selling through employers
by Russell Hutchinson on 13 January 2012
I always thought selling insurance to people through their employers was the flimsiest of propositions - why would anyone talk to you about insurance in the work café, with their mates hanging around for the ‘convenience' of paying for the same thing they can buy in the plush, private, offices of the bank for the same price? More »
FATCAT. Opps I mean FATCA
by Goldie on 2 December 2011
I’m sure someone with a sense of humour thought up this acronym. Now some of you may be asking what an earth is FATCA? It is the: “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” to be imposed by the United States of America in 2013. What does this mean for little ol’ New Zealanders in the financial industry? More »
Greens KiwiSaver policy nice idea but...
by Philip Macalister on 7 November 2011
The Green Party released its KiwiSaver policy yesterday which has all the hallmarks of a nice idea but probably not that realistic. More »
Forget about personality; Labour's policy has balls
by Philip Macalister on 28 October 2011
I’ve said it before and yesterday’s savings policy announcement from Labour demonstrates it again. Labour understands savings issues far more than National. Its package is potentially a circuit breaker for this year’s election and will get people talking. More »
Where oh where are the KiwiSaver accounts?
by Philip Macalister on 4 October 2011
Earlier this week we reported that a number of KiwiSaver funds had missed their deadline to prepare and send their annual reports to members. It has transpired that there is a common thread amongst the schemes that missed filing. That theme is the company which provides registry and accounting services to the providers. Yes another three letter name starting with A – AON. More »
It's not ethical for managers to keep getting fees on frozen funds
by Goldie on 11 September 2011
Is it ethical for fund managers to continue to get management fees on funds that have been frozen? More »
Where are the regulators when you need them?
by Philip Macalister on 6 September 2011
There are some things I don't get about the newly regulated world at the moment. One is the story we ran yesterday where to advisers with dishonesty convictions recently in Australia are allowed to be registered advisers. More »
8 reasons why state asset sales will struggle
by Philip Macalister on 2 September 2011
There are lots of things on my mind at the moment, but the one for today is the government’s proposed sale of state assets. It’s on my mind as National Radio asked me about it yesterday. As a general... More »
Risk is the likelihood of losing your hard earned wealth; Volatility is the wobbles
by Goldie on 24 August 2011
We all learned from the finance company debacles that valuing a portfolio with a capital item that remained at the same value, lulled many financial planners into a false sense of security. That is, using... More »
Darren Pratley talks about tie up with PAA
by Philip Macalister on 11 August 2011
Here is one of our first videos. In it Philip Macalister asks Darren Pratley about the NZMBA/PAA tie up; what it means for members; whether it's a merger and what the possible roadblocks will be. ... More »
The truth about managing retirement income
by Goldie on 7 August 2011
Too many advisers remain fixated on the outmoded income or growth bias when constructing portfolios. This is short-sighted and leaves the client losing out on returns they could achieve in many economic... More »
Mel's Farewell Blog
by FMA on 5 August 2011
It’s been great to receive some really positive messages of support in my last few weeks at FMA. Regulators don’t expect to be popular but most of the people I’ve met over the course of the last... More »
Shoe Shop Compliance
by Philip Macalister on 28 July 2011
Some (young rascal) sent me this....I had a good chuckle. Read on! "I'd like to buy a pair of black leather shoes, please" "Sir, if it were only that simple. Here's my card and here's your Buyer's Guide." “What's... More »
Perimeter enforcement underway
by FMA on 21 July 2011
Since 1 July I've noticed several advisers asking when are we going to take action against advisers who are breaking the new rules. That's an entirely fair question and a function expected of FMA. Now... More »
Financial summit needs to cover life risks too
by Darrin Franks on 18 July 2011
Whether it be devastation on a grand scale like Canterbury’s earthquakes, or localised events like the tornadoes that have hit Albany, Northland, South Auckland and the Kapiti Coast in recent weeks,... More »
First monitoring feedback complete
by FMA on 13 July 2011
Amongst the comments we’ve seen in recent days, we’ve seen a challenge for us to give advisers more guidance on what we expect from them. That process started some weeks back when a small group... More »
Your advice (on FMA ads) please
by Philip Macalister on 7 July 2011
Here’s a curly one you can give me your advice on. Clearly financial advisers are not particularly happy with the FMA and its advertising rolled out this week. You just have to read through the... More »
Hot air bubbles
by Darrin Franks on 23 June 2011
New Zealand would have an untapped source of energy if we had the ability to harness the hot air that’s permeating the insurance industry. That’s if the comments arising from the article “Changing... More »
Why so much time on Hubbard?
by Philip Macalister on 23 June 2011
Was I surprised that Alan Hubbard has be charged with 50 counts of fraud relating to the way he ran his investment vehicles? No. I was surprised though by the number of charges? 50. Yes. Do I think... More »
More regulatory madness
by Philip Macalister on 17 June 2011
The MED discussion document on FMA levies landed quietly in my inbox last Friday. However its arrival had created a big bang in the industry. The mainstream media may have ignored it, but it is big... More »
Providers’ responsibility for their KiwiSaver distribution
by FMA on 17 June 2011
You may have seen recent reports that, in response to complaints received, FMA has stopped a KiwiSaver provider’s unregistered sales rep from engaging in unacceptable sales practices. The rep’s activities... More »
AFA applicants moving – but slowly
by FMA on 7 June 2011
There are now 733 AFAs and it’s good to see the recent publicity about incomplete qualifications has resulted in a lot more information being sent through over the last week. I sit along the corridor... More »
Time for health insurance industry to speak up
by Darrin Franks on 3 June 2011
The recent focus on Pharmac’s place in the progress of trade talks with the United States has been more than a bit myopic. It has centred on powerful and politically connected US pharmaceutical companies... More »
It’s time to engage investors about the new regime
by FMA on 30 May 2011
Those who attended the PAA conference would have heard FMA’s Chief Executive Sean Hughes talking about how, at its heart, regulation is about getting better outcomes for the people who need and use... More »