[The Wrap] Singing to a New Zealand tune

Here's two random and seemingly unrelated thoughts...but they are very Kiwi and yes they relate to financial advice!

Thursday, April 18th 2019, 6:55PM

Last night I watched the You Are Us/Aroha Nui Concert in Christchurch to raise money for the victims of the mosque attacks a month ago. While singers like Stan Walker aren't necessarily on my playlist, I was blown away by the concert and the amazing musicians we have in New Zealand.

The concert showcased a wide array of talent and musical styles from; all home-grown talent.

What's this got to do with financial services, you may well wonder?

Well, it was a comment Mint Asset Management chief executive Rebecca Thomas made during her appearance on Good Returns TV.

"One of the things we don't do well is talk about how well the New Zealand markets have done.

"Our long-run rates of return are very high by international standards."

We, arguably, don't talk enough about the good things that make New Zealand's financial services industry different - and better - than many other jurisdictions.

A good example is how we regulate financial advisers. You may think from some of the things you read and people say, that our advisory industry is a bit dodgy.

I'd argue we do a much better job than countries we like to compare ourselves against. Here, I am thinking about Australia, the UK and the United States. It's much easier to give financial advice in New Zealand than any of these places.

Often over the years I have talked about how good our advisers are. When you look across the Tasman, and read the press, often there are advisers and firms getting into legal trouble. Sometimes I think an adviser is banned nearly every week. That's a euphemism to say they have far more crooks and shonky operators than we do.

The best exhibit is our Financial Advisers Disciplinary Committee. It's been largely redundant ever since it was established with the Financial Advisers Act. Indeed its most recent case was, in the FMA's counsel's own words, at the low level end of offending.

When it comes to other sectors, New Zealand does well, too. There are many excellent boutique fund managers that provide great solutions for investors and our life insurance sector can't be too shabby if the likes of Blackstone and the NZ Superannuation Fund are prepared to invest in companies.

Tags: Opinion