1 Comment 1 Commentby Andrea Malcolm
Christchurch-born Nick Hakes has relocated back to New Zealand from Singapore where he worked for financial advisory bodies. He says his background is in wealth management distribution, financial advice and financial adviser representative bodies.
He has been licensed as an adviser in a representative role and worked with many financial advice practices of many “shapes and sizes” and seen the power of the adviser/client relationship but he has never hung his own shingle as a practicing financial adviser.
As the new CEO of FANZ he’d like to get more people engaged in quality financial advice. He says broadly the sector is an emerging profession and that’s no different in NZ.
There is convergence as advice practices have to grapple with technology, he says.
“For the most part financial advisers have done a great job, from what I can see, in the New Zealand market. And the opportunity for that is how do we build upon that and grow the demand for financial advice.”
On the shape of the advice market in NZ and the regulatory environment, he says, “The patterns can be similar in a lot of jurisdictions and regulators around the region are also starting to share some of their experiences.
“In terms of markets we’re actually becoming closer together at an institutional level, advisory level and regulatory level.”
Governments look around the region, see what has worked well and learn, he says. They also look at unintended consequences of regulatory reform. Recent regulatory changes in our market have been collaborative, pragmatic and sensible compared to some other markets.
He says the FMA was at the FANZ conference. “Their message around collaboration and a willingness to engage and understand what the financial advice practices are going through in terms of their client conversations and their obligations; we should embrace that.
Referring to FANZ history, he says, “We have to acknowledge the foresight in those three associations to come together. There would have been a culture involved in each of those three distinct associations and so to come together and form Financial Advice New Zealand to set a very strong platform as the voice of financial advisers in New Zealand was very strong foresight.”
Hakes says FANZ has formed strong relationships with government, regulators and industry partners and now is a time to accelerate and grow that voice in the marketplace.
“We need to innovate, stay relevant and be future focused.” Where he would like to get to is an adviser-driven, high engagement, professional body reflected in the amount of people who seek financial advice from members. “... financial advisers being respected for their craft, maintaining relationships with government and industry partners, are indicators of success.”
He says the sector needs to hold a mirror up to itself and ask, “Are we making sense from a consumer perspective?
With a new player coming in from Australia to compete with FANZ in the mortgage advice space, Hakes says, “We are the authentic voice of financial advice in New Zealand. We have a heritage of three associations/professional bodies, one of which represented the voice of mortgage broking. Financial advice is converging.
“So we’ll continue on our legacy of representing all financial advisers in this country.” He says he would love to see the Good Returns professional development day for mortgage advisers.
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However, on the bright side, feedback I have received regarding the conference, has been nothing but good and a great platform for Nick to launch his style of management moving forward.