1 Comment 1 Commentby Sally Lindsay
Finance and Mortgage Advisers Association of New Zealand (FAMNZ) and Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) managing director Peter White is leaving once a successor is found.
White, who has more than 45 years in the finance industry, has been with the 14,000 member FBAA for 23 years, starting out as a volunteer before moving to senior leadership roles, including national president, before becoming managing director.
He set up FAMNZ in early February 2024 as a branch of FBAA. Leigh Hodgetts was appointed country manager to build membership, focus on advocacy, engage with regulators and boost adviser standards.
FAMNZ started taking membership applications two months later and when Hodgetts resigned from the role at the end of July last year, FAMNZ had about 100 members.
Rival body Financial Advice New Zealand (FANZ) has significantly more members, but does not categorise mortgage advisers separately.
Soon after Hodgetts left, White announced a search for a new country manager and told TMM he had about 100 applications.
Nobody has been appointed to the job so far and questions about whether FAMNZ can survive in New Zealand have gone unanswered.
At the time of Hodgetts’ departure he said FAMNZ was proud “to have commenced this journey to stand beside advisers in our sector, who for too long have not had an exclusive voice”.
White says he has decided to retire from his FBAA leadership and will work with the association while a successor is bedded into the role.
He says being FBAA managing director has been an amazing journey and he has met countless lifelong friends, as well as having had the privilege of being part of the tremendous growth and impact of the association.
“The association is a leading voice for our sector, respected by those at the highest levels of government and industry due to our credibility and expertise.”
He added that “change was not only good but necessary for any organisation” as it brings new ideas and fresh vision.
During his time with FBAA, White has been a staunch defender of the Australian broker and New Zealand adviser channels, fair broker commissions, advocating for the removal of clawbacks and better treatment for advisers by the major banks.
At the international level, he established the International Mortgage Brokers Federation, leading it as the inaugural chair of the global board of governors, helping promote best practice and professional standards for brokers worldwide.
FBAA chairman Brett Spencer says White’s departure was a difficult decision, but he believes the “time is right for him and the association”.White to leave top broker and adviser role
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It’s worth remembering that FANZ is an amalgamation of both the PAA & NZMBA who made the decision to merge their two organisations based in part on lack of membership. FANZ’s former chief executive Katrina Shanks was quoted in late 2023 as saying then that she doubted there was room for another association in NZ.
The above realisation has clearly dawned on FAMNZ hence them announcing plans last year to lobby the government to force all advisers to be part of a professional body sighting "education standards" as the need for this change. It seems we have an outfit from Australia that decided it wanted a piece of the adviser market in New Zealand and things haven’t gone as planned for them. Essentially, they arrived too late to the party.
When it comes to professional bodies been voluntary organisations it’s about demonstrating value and relevancy. With the mortgage adviser industry now licenced many mortgage advisers struggle to understand where associations fit in the landscape that we have today. Unfortunately, associations have been shown to have no teeth with the lenders in this country and next to zero recognition by the NZ consumer. Mortgage advisers now originate 60%+ of all new home loans in New Zealand and we got there without the help of associations thank you.
Again, it speaks volumes about the value that the FMA itself saw in advisers belonging to an organisation like FAMNZ that they didn’t make membership of a professional body compulsory with licensing’s introduction. Clearly the regulators did not see a benefit to the NZ consumer not when the adviser now must be licenced to provide financial advice.