[Weekly Wrap] Regulation still a key concern

Three conferences in less than two weeks - it's been a hectic fortnight for the Good Returns team and many in the financial advice sector around the country.

Friday, May 24th 2013, 1:46PM

by Susan Edmunds

Philip attended the SiFA conference in Napier, and we were both at the PAA conference at Sky City and the IFA conference at Waipuna, Mt Wellington.

Talking to advisers, one of the most common things that comes up in conversation is regulation - and whether the rules are being applied fairly and effectively.

At the IFA conference, FMA chief executive Sean Hughes responded to concerns about banks' KiwiSaver sales practices. Many advisers across all the conferences held the view that there seemed to be one set of rules for banks and another - a lot more stringent - for financial advisers.

But many thought that Hughes was being a bit cheeky when, at the PAA, he asked advisers to dob in other people in the sector who weren't adhering to the rules. We had commentators questioning if that's really their role - or perhaps something that's better left to the regulators.

Whatever your view, it seems likely that more regulation is looming. There's a review of the FAA on the horizon and Nigel Tate, president of the IFA, told me at Waipuna that he doesn't think delineation along product lines is a good way to decide who must be authorised and who can just be registered.

An Ask the Experts panel audience at the PAA conference heard that this might be an irrelevant concern eventually - FMA would like to see more registered financial advisers become authorised, partly to deal with the problem of how to offer advice to KiwiSavers effectively.

In other news, the LM saga drags on, and PM Capital advised this week that investors might be better to put their money in US banks than the big Aussie lenders.

On the insurance front, I attended a Partners Life presentation at the IFA conference, where advisers were told that trauma could sometimes be an option for older people looking to offset the risk of illness or medical care costs.

There's also news on our people page, and action - as always - in mortgages.

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