Learnings from Our Clients

Compared to OECD standards, financial literacy and uptake of financial advice in New Zealand is low. The challenging economic environment makes understanding clients' wants, needs, and support requirements crucial to providing meaningful advisory services.

Friday, August 9th 2024, 1:57PM

By NZHL CEO Kip Hanna

At NZHL, our annual client surveys are purposely in-depth to give a real measure of our performance and service and a deep understanding of our clients and what they are looking for from their advisers.

The 2024 NZHL Client Survey highlighted the importance of advisers who assist their clients through their changing circumstances. Findings include:

40% say they are in a better financial situation than 12 months prior (unchanged from 2023).
Optimism for the next 12 months has risen somewhat, with 13% believing they will be worse off (down from 19% in the year prior).
Changes in financial situations were largely driven by the cost-of-living and interest rate increases, and inflation.
Just under half (45%) made a major financial decision over the last 12 months with purchasing a new home or investment property remaining top of the list.
Clients who paid down debt increased by 7% - overtaking those who took on more debt.

One of the most powerful insights from the survey is that New Zealanders are looking to financial advisers to support them not only with advice around lending, insurance, and wealth creation but also with more tools, support, and advice on basic budgeting and financial management.

Pleasingly, our client satisfaction is on the rise despite a higher cost of living and affordability challenges due to the personalised ongoing local support offered by NZHL advisers. Our clients told us that having the ability to build an ongoing relationship with an adviser rather than dealing with ever changing bank employees or self-service advice is key.

Client satisfaction is largely influenced by the frequency of contact and ongoing service, with those contacted at least once per year almost twice as likely to indicate a high level of satisfaction and consider NZHL for future use - those who have had a review within the last 12 months were almost another 20% more likely.

Additionally, the survey emphasised the value of a holistic approach, with clients utilising their adviser for both their home loan and insurance needs indicating a great level of client satisfaction and financial well-being.

When looking at why our clients would (or wouldn’t) recommend our services, and what they value most, our clients chose:

Helpful and knowledgeable staff.
Good advice and communication.
Great customer service and experience.
A good relationship with their adviser and personalised service.
The ability to pay off their mortgage quicker and save money.

Our clients are placing increased value on consistency in service, trusted relationships, availability and time when needed, and personalisation. In exchange, 76% are willing to recommend their adviser to their friends, families, and colleagues as they see a tangible benefit to the service provided.

Maintaining a regular contact programme and taking the time to listen to and have a solid understanding of clients, their priorities, sentiments, and any changes over time, allows for an enhanced service offering and client experience resulting in client loyalty and business growth, a priority for all advisers.

About NZHL Group

NZHL Group is a Kiwi-owned, respected, and trusted brand – a purpose-driven (financial freedom, faster) home loan and insurance network that offers a solution to support advisers and help put Kiwis in a better financial position.
Part of Kiwi Group Capital Ltd (KGC) which is 100% Government owned, NZHL Group operates with an Independent Board and local business owners nationwide.

About the NZHL 2024 Client Survey

The NZHL survey was run by Key Research from April 15 to May 26, 2024. Current clients and clients who left NZHL within the last two years were invited to participate. Findings were based on 4,177 responses. The data collected has an expected 95% confidence interval (margin of error) of +/- 1.48% at an aggregate level.

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