How busy is 2015?

Advisers say 2015 is shaping up to be a good one for their businesses, with growing client numbers and increased confidence.

Monday, September 14th 2015, 6:00AM

by Susan Edmunds

Recent surveys such as ANZ's business confidence report and MYOB's Business Monitor research have pointed to increasing pessimism in the New Zealand SME sector.

But advisers say that is not the case in their industry, reporting optimism and good levels of business growth.

Simon Hassan, of Hassan and Associates, said his firm was seeing more interest in its information events for the public than it ever had before.

The number of people interested in signing up as advice clients after each event was also growing.

Hassan said there seemed to be increasing awareness of the need to be prepared for retirement. "Super on its own is a bare existence... people are looking for some luxuries."

He said regulation had improved the investing environment and boosted confidence.

"The business has been busier in the last year or two than in the previous decade."

Jordi Garcia, of New Zealand Financial Planning, said the number of new clients coming in to his firm was 10% or 15% up on six months ago.

Despite market wobbles, he said investors could still take confidence from the fact the US economy was performing well, and even with Europe's problems it still was expected to see economic growth.

Associations said the message was being echoed on a wider scale.

PAA chief executive Rod Severn said the effects of the hot housing market were filtering down to insurance advisers, because people purchasing property often needed insurance.

"For investment advisers, the economy has been pretty good for a while so people have confidence. When they have confidence, they spend."

KiwiSaver was raising awareness of the investment markets, he said. "People are starting to realise they have got money in there now and turning their attention to investments and putting more money into KiwiSaver, or other investments through advisers."

Institute of Financial Advisers chief executive Fred Dodds said the situation would be different for each adviser business but he said the low interest rate environment could push consumers to use advisers.

"People coming off a three-year term deposit at 6.5% and looking at 4.35% might want to find out what else is out there."

Moves such as those by the Commission for Financial Capability to boost public awareness about investing also prompted some people to take stock of their situations and seek advice, he said.

Tags: financial advisers