Advocacy over shouting leads the way
The demise of the Finance and Mortgage Advisers Association of New Zealand (FAMNZ) is no surprise to Hamish Patel, Financial Advice New Zealand (FANZ) mortgage and lending director.
Wednesday, June 3rd 2026, 12:08PM
by Sally Lindsay
Patel says FAMNZ was loud and a lot more aggressive than FANZ in what it was doing, but it has been FANZ’s advocacy for its members that has led the way over the past couple of years.
“It’s okay to put pressure on major banks over issues, such as long turnaround times, but they are commercial enterprises and screaming loudly is not going to shift their business decisions.”
Patel says the more important issue for advisers is getting heard about changes in legislation governing the sector and FANZ is now at the point where it is getting direct engagement from regulators. “They will often come to us now that we are being seen as a profession. We're lucky we have a mature industry and industry bodies that have opened their ears to us over the past few years.”
FANZ has 1,500 adviser members compared to FAMNZ’s roughly 196, which was cited as the reason by FAMNZ for shutting up shop yesterday.
An offshoot of the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA), FAMNZ was launched in early 2024 to advocate for Kiwi mortgage advisers but struggled to recruit enough members to make it financially viable.
FANZ has been increasing its membership. “It’s been in positive territory for the past year and the mortgage advisers who join tend to stay. The average length of membership is about 10 years and the biggest reason we lose members is retirement,” Patel says.
“Our chief executive Nick Hakes is engaging especially with the next generation community that has been set up inside FANZ to try and address the ageing problem within the sector.”
Patel says education is the key to upping the professionalism of advisers and there is an enormous space for mortgage and insurance advisers to increase the value they provide to clients.
While this has been top of mind recently for advisers as lenders scrap trail commission, making a pivot in business structures necessary for many, Patel says more changes to the sector are on the cards this year.
It is also another reason FAMNZ claimed for its decision to pull out of New Zealand. It says recent changes in commission structures and licencing by some lenders have made the market even more difficult for advisers, and requires even more time and finances that it can no longer commit.
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