BNZ scheme may bring bank sales issue to a head
BNZ’s much awaited, full-scale entry to the KiwiSaver market is an opportunity to address one of the biggest issues facing advisers. More »
Did the ISI/FSC miss an opportunity?
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
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 »
Greens KiwiSaver policy nice idea but...
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
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?
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 »
Where are the regulators when you need them?
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
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 »
Darren Pratley talks about tie up with PAA
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 »
Shoe Shop Compliance
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 »
Your advice (on FMA ads) please
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 »
Why so much time on Hubbard?
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
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 »
Hard work ahead to sell the Budget
So this was a savings and investment Budget. Lots of attention has been focused on the KiwiSaver changes and quite rightly. It’s one of the most successful products the country has ever seen and has... More »
National just doesn't get saving
National governments seem to have a genetic disorder when it comes to savings schemes. They just don’t seem to get them and always make changes – often to the public’s detriment. Schemes like... More »
Borrowing could boost fund's impressive returns
The NZ Superannuation Fund’s results for the 12 months to March 31 were truly impressive I thought and also an interesting lesson in investing. While some media reports focused on the month of March... More »
Advisers needed to sell KiwiSaver
We’d been waiting for a big KiwiSaver deal and now we have it. Fisher has landed the Huljich business. This is probably no surprise as many had speculated Huljich was only in the game for the short... More »
Tidy up from the top down
My heart sank this week when I switched on the television news and read the business papers of the Herald to see the faces of three directors of Nathans Finance in court. It’s not that I had money... More »
Botherway's bank job
Simon Botherway’s move to ANZ Wealth is certainly a surprise – albeit a positive one for the bank and OnePath. While no doubt he will be busy in his new role, the appointment could be seen a good... More »
Another good deed for Chch from an adviser
Last week we ran a little piece telling how Christchurch adviser Bernard Duncan was help the Student Volunteer Army in Christchurch. Today I was sent this about what another adviser is doing. Impressive... More »
The advisers' CEO moves on
It is sad to report that Ralph Stewart is leaving AXA – but little surprise really. Ralph has been at AXA for nine years now and seen the company through a lot of change. Late last year when we were... More »
Support the relief army in Christchurch
There are lots of ways you can support the victims of the Canterbury earthquake. Here is a story about what one financial adviser is doing. Please help out Bernard Duncan has been doing his bit to help... More »
How things change in an instant
On Tuesday I had a good day. Flew to Wellington then headed up the road to present my social media show to the IFA in Palmerston North. The presentation is all about helping advisers understand Facebook,... More »
A little inconvenience for Tower
GPG’s announcement last week that it intends selling all its assets – bar the biggest is a bombshell for Tower. Tower has been happily sitting there getting on with business while it seemed like... More »
How coincidental
I had a little chuckle the other day. When I was in Auckland I thought it would be useful to catch up with Naomi Ballantyne and her team at Partners Life (sometimes cheekily referred to as Sovereign Mark... More »
A bit of reality about perceptions
Perception and reality are two pretty confusing things sometimes. Last week we ran the story about NZ Funds partnering with the Institute of Financial Advisers to help provide professional development. My... More »
Christmas Greetings (and more)
Well the year is nearly over and what a year. Thinking back to this time 12 months ago I am sure none of use would have thought it would pan out as it has. Regulation has been the overarching theme... More »
Predicting research houses
The recent, poorly-attended, FundSource conference and regulatory changes have got me thinking about the research market in New Zealand. For years it has been moribund with little happening and advisers... More »
A new suitor for AXA
It must be tough at AXA. It’s been year a long courtship (with little love or passion) and now its the regulators who have decided AMP is a better suitor for the business, not BNZ’s parent NAB. (I... More »
Huljich not the only one in the gun
I thought it was worth having a go at trying to defend Peter Huljich. As readers will know the Securities Commission laid criminal charges against Peter Huljich and Huljich Wealth Management (HWM) for... More »
OnePath to the bank door
The journey of ING into OnePath and then into the newly-created ANZ Wealth business is, perhaps a salient reminder of how the funds management world is changing. It’s also one which raises interesting... More »
A bob each way on commissions
Talk about having a bob each way. Last week I went along to AMP's media presentation on what it calls "clear pricing" which in layman's terms is removing commission payments from investment products. The... More »
TOWER's bid anything but friendly
TOWER is incredibly audacious and a little bit cheeky with its takeover offer for Fidelity. It typical Tony Gibbs style he tries to portray it as something different to reality. On Friday he was using... More »
SCF's long history blurred in an instant
South Canterbury Finance’s demise, and this may seem odd, was a little bit of a surprise. Sure there were the regular commentary crowd baying for a receivership. They are a bit like the peasants in... More »
What is the Savings Work Group really for?
Making sense of the government’s oddly-named Savings Working Group is something which is not that easy; nor is it easy to understand the reasoning behind it. With a name like Savings Working Group... More »
Time is of the essence
One of the stories that has interested me in the past couple of weeks is around the types of investment products we should have for retirees. The need for these sorts of products is, if you believe... More »
What’s in a name?
ANZ announced the new name for its ING business yesterday and it certainly had got readers commenting. If you haven’t caught up with things the new name is OnePath. The range of views on the name... More »
It's time for Gareth to shut up
What planet is Gareth Morgan on? His rant, I mean article, in the NZ Herald this week attacking advisers is an odious, boring piece of copy which is best used to wrap up fish and chips. I wonder if... More »
ISI policy a gas
I had to laugh when this was sent through. It's the brochure for the ISI's business replacement policy and an ad from Contact Energy. Have a look. Which one's got more gas! HT John Ashby... More »
No fairy tale ending
It’s not a good look when the head of an association representing an industry group has to walk. But Vance Arkinstall probably had little choice in the matter after charges were laid against in his... More »