[The Wrap] Reflecting on a year of surprises

Well that has been a roller coaster ride of a year. Here at Good Returns we are heading off on holiday for a while, but the site will be continuing to deliver you news and information. Here's my wrap for the year.

Friday, December 25th 2020, 8:40AM

Looking back on 2020 I’d say financial services has been strong and resilient, particularly advisers who have faced many challenges ranging from dealing with clients during the pandemic to getting their businesses ready for a new regulated environment.

Thanks to Covid-19 advisers, arguably, dodged a bullet. There was no way the industry was ready for FSLAA. To have to have it pushed back to March 2021 was a fortunate break.

There’s been some surprises during the year too. Included in this list are AMP Wealth dumping its sister company AMP Capital and moving to a passive investment strategy. It would be fair to say AMP is the story which keeps on giving. Readers are really interested in anything we publish about AMP which probably says something about its long history and the place it had in the financial services world.

With a US private capital firm looking at buying AMP Wealth it is bound to make headlines in 2021.

The latest surprise was NZI deciding not to offer professional indemnity since to firms with three or fewer advisers. It makes a mockery of the whole regime that so many people have worked to build for so many years. Basically NZI are saying small adviser firms won't be able to meet the new regulations.

Under the current rules small firms of AFAs have been able to cope no problem and arguably what they have had to do, compared to RFAs, is roughly equivalent to what's required in the FSLAA world.

When I look back over the vast number of stories we have produced and published one company which stands out is Partners Life. While the company polarises some people, it is clear they are trying to do things differently and change the life insurance world

Newpark selling to SHARE was a surprise in some ways. The writing had been on the wall for the group for some time, but picking SHARE as the buyer is something I would never have expected. We also saw Kepa get sucked up by NZ Financial Services Group.

The insurance world won't be the same with these organisations and their personalities.

Reflecting on losses some great personalities left us this year, including Fred Dodds and Ron Flood. Two real characters which made financial advice special.

I’ll leave predictions for another post over the holiday period. In the meantime all of us here at Tarawera Publishing wish you and your families a safe and happy Christmas.

Tags: Obituaries Opinion