Advisers register to offer NZIG
More than 500 financial advisers have already registered their interest as possible distributors for New Zealand Income Guarantee, which its founder hopes to have up and running within the next couple of months.
Thursday, June 4th 2015, 6:00AM 2 Comments
by Susan Edmunds
Founder and chief executive Ralph Stewart said the capital raising for the variable annuity product had raised 110% of the amount sought.
NZIG has identified a space in the market for a new breed of annuities to help with decumulation, particularly for the future generation of retiring KiwiSavers who will have significant sums of money to deal with.
The NZIG capital was raised from wholesale investors investing in $50,000 parcels and via crowdfunding website Equitise in the last week of the capital raising period.
Just over $455,000 was raised via crowdfunding, 182% of the $250,000 minimum target, taking the NZIG capital raising to a total of $4.5 million.
Stewart said he and the NZIG team were now working hard to get their application in to the Reserve Bank for licensing.
He said it was a “chicken and egg” scenario because they had needed to know how much capital they would have to get a licence but then needed the licence to get off the ground.
How long it took to get the product into the market was now in the hands of the Reserve Bank, he said, but he hoped it would only take a couple of months.
Stewart said the development process had taken a much longer time than he had anticipated.
Financial advisers had been very supportive, he said, visiting the website, and asking questions. “But they’re keen now to see a product.”
About 500 had registered with the site and NZIG would be talking to them as it set up its distribution channels.
“A reasonable proportion of those [advisers] are invested in the company as well so we have a running start,” Stewart said.
They had been kept up-to-date with the process via regular email updates, he said.
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