FAMNZ boss steps down

Australian-based managing director Peter White said Hodgetts had served "as a fierce advocate for New Zealand's finance and mortgage advisers, pioneering the association’s work and shining a light on the issues that matter most to the sector."

He said the association will soon appoint a new senior team member to lead the New Zealand association.

White said that since inception, the association has made significant progress despite challenges in an environment where advisers were not compelled to join a professional body.

“We are proud to have commenced this journey to stand beside advisers in our sector, who for too long have not had an exclusive voice.

“FAMNZ is already the recognised voice of the industry, respected across government, mainstream media and regulators, because our interest is to work in the best interests of advisers and consumers,” he said.

“We have raised the public profile of our industry, brought about real changes through advocacy, and played a part in delivering better outcomes for borrowers.”

White said Hodgetts helped to deliver a dedicated voice and seat at the table with government and regulators.

“Leigh has successfully engaged with key regulatory bodies such as the Commerce Commission, and made good ground in this area.

White said the work of FAMNZ is ongoing and again called on finance and mortgage advisers to join the association so that “we can be even more effective for you.”

“Advisers must realise that the gains we achieve benefit them directly, but the industry won’t grow by accident.

“We have vast experience in professional development, growing market share and helping members become more successful through support, training and advocacy, and I’d like all finance and mortgage advisers to join with us.

Comments from our readers

On 30 July 2025 at 11:52 am Good Hamish said:

Leigh, I know it would have been somewhat a thankless task to try and really the troops at times. Good effort by a genuinely nice person. I know that Financial Advice NZ has always appreciated your past input into the main industry body. The last few years, there is been a lot of resources required to stay on the bow wave with regulators as the changes come in thick and fast.

On 1 August 2025 at 1:00 pm Amused said:

"White said that since inception, the association has made significant progress despite challenges in an environment where advisers were not compelled to join a professional body."

If organisations like FAMNZ were adding real value to mortgage advisers and their businesses, then advisers would never need to be compelled to join them. It speaks volumes about the value that the FMA itself saw in advisers belonging organisation like FAMNZ that they didn’t make membership of a professional body compulsory with licensing’s introduction. Clearly the regulators did not see any benefit to the consumer.

Standards have been lifted across the industry by licensing’s arrival but advisers having to pay yet more money annually to belong to voluntary organisations that have been shown to have no teeth with the lenders and next to zero recognition by the NZ consumer is simply not logical. Associations are businesses at the end of the day so if they want members then they need to be demonstrating value and relevancy.

Maybe it’s different for insurance and investment advisers but as far as the mortgage adviser industry goes associations have clearly been missing in action for years now. Some would argue decades. They were silent when banks first increased adviser clawbacks and when banks tried to shut us out of the refix process. When we needed associations the most to be vocal for us as an industry, they were silent. The same can be said also for aggregators.

The head of Finance and Mortgage Advisers Association of New Zealand has resigned.

Wednesday, July 30th 2025, 9:54AM 2 Comments

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