Defining your own regulation
Registered Financial Advisers (RFAs) can sidestep the confusion surrounding replacement insurance as long as they make the scope of their services clear to clients from the start.
Monday, June 18th 2012, 11:04AM
by Benn Bathgate
Independent Development Solutions director Barry Read said he had reviewed more than 100 adviser businesses and completed compliance checks on more than 1,500 advisers and that issues around replacement insurance were "a major topic."
"I have definitely seen advisers worry about their obligations under the regulations," he said.
"Some of them are going I've got to contact every client and tell them there's a fantastic new policy on the market place. No, you don't have to."
He said the "golden rule" for advisers is "do what you say you do."
"If they say to a client when they give the advice we'll review this every year they've got to do it, if they say I'm going to sell you some insurance for your mortgage, and you'll never see or hear from me again, that's fine, there's nothing illegal in that."
"The adviser actually sets their own level of requirements," he said.
Read said advisers had to decide on the proposition they wanted to put forward to clients and that this was the major factor determining their regulatory obligations.
"They [advisers] design and decide on what type of financial advice or transaction they provide, that's why I say it comes down to what did they say they would do for the client, and are they doing that?"
Benn Bathgate is a business reporter for ASSET and Good Returns, email story ideas to benn@goodreturns.co.nz
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