Ballantyne says while her firm is not seeing large numbers of advisers quitting their jobs, probably because they are younger than the industry average, there could be a raft of unintended consequences when the regime comes into full force next March.

She points out that when Australia set out to change the industry’s commission structure and regulate advisers in the wake of the Trowbridge report in 2015, nobody expected the ensuing mass exodus from the sector, with consumers being left without access to advice.

“That is the risk that will play out in New Zealand as well if we’re not careful,” Ballantyne says. So far that hasn’t happened which, she says, is testament to New Zealand having learned from the Australian experience. “But we haven’t reached full licensing yet.”