Weekly Wrap: Spicing it up

The story which has tickled my fancy this week is Bluestone's efforts to grab control of Geneva Finance's assets. I know it is not a story which has major impact on advisers as few would have had any of their clients' money with Geneva.

Thursday, April 24th 2008, 4:26PM

It's fascinating because Geneva has done a good job in getting through its difficulties (and Monday is D-Day when debenture holders vote on its future). Bluestone adds spice, as on the face of things its offer looks quite attractive. (My Mum always said the secret of a good meal was looks and presentation – doesn't matter what it tastes like. Not sure it's the same here. I want to know the flavour and texture).
More spice is added as Bluestone has pulled back from its specialist lending in New Zealand; management recently took over the business and its focus is now on the home equity release market.

This week we have a further update on what is happening with adviser regulation. Commerce Minister Lianne Dalziel says public anxiety in the wake of continuous financial product failures has pressured the government to amend the Financial Advisers Bill.

Sticking with this theme is news of the Institute of Financial Advisers which has called elections for a new president and board. It is interesting that very few risk advisers have put their names forward.

On two of our other websites we have reports on investor confidence. The key points are that people are losing confidence in rental property as a place for good returns and that term deposits are on the up.

This morning we have had the Reserve Bank saying it is keeping its official cash rate the same at 8.25%. The market perceived Bollard's comments as a softening in the Reserve Bank.

During the week we have seen plenty of rises to mortgage rates with ANZ, BNZ and National Bank increasing four and five-year rates. In addition to that many AMS-funded non-bank lenders pushed up mid-term rates. Full details here.

Lombard says that although its finance company has collapsed its mortgage businesses, Tasman and United, continue to trade at acceptable levels in a very tough market.

Good Returns is beefing up its Insurance News section to cater for risk advisers. This week we have a couple of items. One is our first ever Comment piece, looking at what Asteron is up to. We also have a report on Asteron's recent roadshow and AXA's strong group risk sales.

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Have a great weekend.