New Zealand advisers won't dodge bullet: Rickerby

AMP, Centrepoint Alliance and Fortnum Financial Advisers have all changed their commission models after the Trowbridge Report slammed Australian risk advisers' remuneration structures, which it said were leading to conflicts of interest.

Fortnum last week announced it would adopt a fee-for-service model in what it said was an effort to “self-regulate and ward off further legislative attack”.

Allan Rickerby, of Super Advice Services, said changes would have to happen in New Zealand, too. “The reality is it is going to change. It is too high. We will see it happening over here. Unfortunately some of the aggregator businesses only get paid for new business and they encourage rewriting the business after a couple of years. But it is unfair on the insurer and everyone else.”

Fortnum said the insurers were not blameless and that most knew who the advisers were who were “churning” business.