[Weekly Wrap] KiwiSaver-only adviser mooted

It's been an FMA week with lots of news from the regulator. And be warned next week is likely to have a heavy FMA focus too. As we report today the authority is due to release a number of papers next week which will no doubt capture the attention of advisers.

Friday, July 19th 2013, 11:30AM

Undoubtedly the biggest news of the week was the naming of four advisers that are due to hear before the Financial Advisers Disciplinary Committee next month. They are the first advisers to be referred to the committee by the FMA since regulations came into force two years ago.

One of the things which we have seen before is that the wheels of justice turn slowly and can't keep up with the movement of defendants. In this case one of the advisers facing charges, Stephen Musaphia, is now with Preferred NZ, however the charges relate to his time at another firm. We saw the same thing happen a couple of years ago too with a case before the courts.

Part of the reason we have had an FMA week is that the organisation held its second quarterly stakeholder meeting where it discussed some of the things it was working on. The story which received the most headlines was around KiwiSaver, particularly its recent review of 15 managers and its decision not to name two managers who needed to up their game. The FMA still won't name them, but it does give some more details on what was going on here.

One thing is clear is that more change is on the way for advisers. Today's lead story on Good Returns reveals the FMA is about to put out some more discussion papers and guidelines and also the Code Committee are considering a KiwiSaver-only adviser category.

This week we have also posted a couple of new videos on Good Returns. For investment advisers I highly recommend this one with Jonathan Pain. JP, as he is known, spoke at the recent Perfecting Investment Portflios conference in Auckland. His view on the world is quite a step change from last year's doom and gloom. Please have a watch as I am sure you will find it interesting.

Also we have AMP NZ chief economist Bevan Graham on interest rates, the OCR and macro-prudential tools. Watch him here.

A story which was interesting was GFNZ, the old Geneva Finance, coming of its moratorium which it ended on Guy Fawkes Day six years ago. Geneva was, from memory, the first to go into this state and one of the only finance companies to exit the self-imposed quarantened state. It seems like a good result for the company, however S&P wasn't clapping loudly. One suspects the ratings agency's gun-shy with its comments on finance companies or, as we know them now, non-bank deposit takers. Go to depositrates.co.nz for the full story.

Sticking with this topic I attended a meeting of the Financial Services Federation which represents many in this area. The FSF is now run by former IFA President Lyn McMorran. I was impressed with the federation and what it is doing with its members and the high standards it set. You can see a list of its members here.

Insurance news this week included more from Asteron and the changes it is making; news TOWER is in discussions with the regulator; a report on the MDRT conference and an excellent piece from Russell Hutchinson. He says there are six keys to good insurance and, in his opinion, they aren’t all about product. Read on

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