GoodReturns
Jon-Paul Hale returns for part two of Disability Benefits
Jon-Paul Hale

Jon-Paul Hale returns for part two of Disability Benefits

As I mentioned before, giving advice on two and five year disability benefit periods can be tricky, especially if you focus on short-term coverage.

Mon, Apr 20th 2026 07:08PM
Short-Term Disability Benefits

Short-Term Disability Benefits

7 min read
Embracing Change

Embracing Change

7 min read
Trauma Cover; the good, the bad, and the ugly

Trauma Cover; the good, the bad, and the ugly

8 min read
Trauma Cover: Are we thinking things through or just doing what we have always done?

Trauma Cover: Are we thinking things through or just doing what we have always done?

8 min read
Modern-Day demands of income protection

Modern-Day demands of income protection

6 min read
Service levels and transfer of workloads

Service levels and transfer of workloads

6 min read
Should FAPs be accepting signature-less policy processing

Should FAPs be accepting signature-less policy processing

6 min read
Medical premiums and the public system

Medical premiums and the public system

8 min read
CoFI: Is this the catalyst for changing service commissions?

CoFI: Is this the catalyst for changing service commissions?

5 min read
Medical premiums and the public system

Medical premiums and the public system

8 min read
Should we be commoditising life insurance?

Should we be commoditising life insurance?

6 min read
Complaints processes and the rules can be two different things

Complaints processes and the rules can be two different things

6 min read
Policy value and retrospective advice

Policy value and retrospective advice

5 min read
CPI, it's simple, right?

CPI, it's simple, right?

8 min read
Appalling agency application processes

Appalling agency application processes

6 min read
Insuranmce Briefs
AIA and Police Association complete digital overhaul of group insurance scheme
1 min read
Trail insurance research moves to paid service
1 min read
Chubb Life expands Life Lens eligibility across full Assurance Extra range
2 min read
The importance of health insurance tools
2 min read
Latest Comments
Advisers embrace Westpac after trail commissions removed
Doesn't this result call into question the criticism from certain quarters that Mortgage Advisers are driven predominantly by commission considerations?
2 hours ago The Laird
FMA wants clearer fees
@first time caller - I can see the complexity you highlight, but as above, investors should be able to see what they are paying without having to reference multiple documents. Investment admin can track and report deductions for tax, withdrawals, fees et al, would be /should be straightforward to aggregate advice fees into costs at member level... at least I hope so.
1 day ago Goldcard
FMA wants clearer fees
@goldcard - how would you propose that a fund manager calculates the TER to include adviser fees given not all clients pay them and different advisers charge different fees, not to mention some advisors charge different fees to different clients? The advice fee gets disclosed in the adviser's disclosure statement and the statement of advice, so the client can add that to the published TER of the fund they are invested in to see how much they are paying overall.
1 day ago First time caller
FMA wants clearer fees
Schedule 4 of the FMCA regs 2014, particularly clauses 2(1) and 53(3) provide the basis for excluding individually charged advice fees from the statutory TER. This was introduced with the best of intentions, but now it is little more than an invisibility cloak for deductions from member accounts.
2 days ago Goldcard
Ideas for reforming KiwiSaver
@Ross The evidence is pretty clear on that. When advisers work in the best interests of their customers, as opposed to putting their customers into the products that pay them the most, outcomes are improved. (Makes sense doesn't it? Financial advisers go from sales people for fund companies to client fiduciaries.) It might reduce access, but does someone with $50K in a KiwiSaver really need investment 'advice'? A risk profile questionnaire or similar is a much better way to help consumers get into the right fund, i.e. move from a Balanced Fund to a Growth Fund. Why have more developed investment markets, e.g. US, UK, Canada, Aus, Netherlands etc. have banned adviser commissions from fund providers? I'd also add that there is a large group of KiwiSaver customers that are paying someone an advice fee without getting anything beyond a cursory email once a year in exchange. As @Paul says, it's 'easy money' for advisers...
5 days ago Market Commentator