[The Wrap] Gotta love disruption; New life for old war horse; What we weren't meant to tell you about
There's been a theme of disruption to financial services this week, and it's one worth keeping an eye on. While new ways of doing things have been in the news, so to is the future of an old warhorse. And of course the week wouldn't be complete without more discussion on the proposed new code of conduct for financial advisers. More »
[Opinion] The future of advice is at risk
In my 30-odd years covering this financial services I don't think there has ever been a more important time for the future than right now. More »
[Opinion] Serious concerns over Code Working Group behaviour
Advisers should be worried about what is happening with the Code Working Group. It's meant to be consulting with the industry but is trying to gag Good Returns and others. More »
The key ingredient for success
After more than 25 years of working with, and observing, membership organisations there is one major factor which determines the success or failure of the association. More »
Let's get these adviser rules right
It's been a couple of weeks since the Exposure Draft of the proposed new financial adviser legislation was released and something funny has happened. Lots of people in the financial advice sector agree on things. More »
Back to the novel for holiday reading
I thought every financial advisers’ holiday reading this summer would be a copy of the Exposure Draft of the revised Financial Advisers Act. More »
Nice 5th birthday present for Partners Life
Partners Life has just been given a cheque for its fifth birthday and it's a pretty big one - $200 million. More »
Share sale may help Kiwibank get back market share
Much of the discussion around the sale of 45% of Kiwibank to the NZ Super Fund and Accident Compensation Corporation has been around politics and this of state asset sales. This post is about what it means for Kiwibank why the deal is probably a good idea. More »
MJW report scores a D
[OPINION] Despite all the money spent on the MJW report and all the discussion the authors had with people in the life insurance industry its conclusions are flawed. Unfortunately though some may take the findings seriously. More »
The time is up for the FSC
[OPINION] The Financial Services Council is dead and its chief executive Peter Neilson should resign. More »
What is the problem the FAA is trying to fix?
As the review of the Financial Advisers Act slowly rolls on we have had a few interesting reports come out. Here I take stock of what we’ve learnt so far. More »
Is the FMA looking in right places?
Ever since news broke that the FMA was investigating Milford Asset Management over market manipulation allegations I’ve said there can’t be smoke without fire. More »
Fund research options disappear for AFAs
News that FundSource has all but closed down its research operations in New Zealand spells bad news for AFAs. More »
Research houses agree on something - a winner
This blog runs the risk of being seen as a little sycophantic – I hope it isn’t taken that way. It's genuine, as you will find out at the end. More »
Game on for financial advisers
Advisers acquired their "ticket to the game" six years ago when the government chose to regulate their sector. They've played their first game and are about to find out what the rules for the next game game will be. More »
Match-fixing in funds management
Whoever leaked information the FMA was investigating Milford Asset Management for suspected market manipulation had very good timing. More »
What's behind the FMA investigation into Milford?
Milford’s decision to out itself and fess up to being the fund manager at the centre of the FMA’s market manipulation investigation earn the company a tick. More »
[Weekly Wrap] Is there any truth to market manipulation rumours?
It's probably fair to speculate that most fund managers and advisers are sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to find out if there is any truth to the on-going chatter that a portfolio manager at a leading funds management firm is being investigated for market manipulation. More »
[Weekly Wrap] Let's not follow Australia
New Zealand advisers should be watching what is happening across the Tasman with more than just a curious interest. More »
Hughes prepares to saddle up
Financial Markets Authority boss Sean Hughes has, somewhat unexpectedly, announced he's only doing one three-year term in the role. Good Returns publisher Philip Macalister reflects on the FMA's early years and Hughes's performance. More »
BNZ scheme may bring bank sales issue to a head
BNZ’s much awaited, full-scale entry to the KiwiSaver market is an opportunity to address one of the biggest issues facing advisers. More »
Did the ISI/FSC miss an opportunity?
There's a game of musical chairs, with a diminshing number of chairs going on amongst the various lobby groups at the moment, More »
What to make of the Kiwibank deal
Rumours had been circulating for a while that Gareth Morgan’s KiwiSaver business was on the market. Today we learnt that Kiwibank was the successful buyer of this business plus the other funds management and advice offerings from GMI. More »
Greens KiwiSaver policy nice idea but...
The Green Party released its KiwiSaver policy yesterday which has all the hallmarks of a nice idea but probably not that realistic. More »
Forget about personality; Labour's policy has balls
I’ve said it before and yesterday’s savings policy announcement from Labour demonstrates it again. Labour understands savings issues far more than National. Its package is potentially a circuit breaker for this year’s election and will get people talking. More »
Where oh where are the KiwiSaver accounts?
Earlier this week we reported that a number of KiwiSaver funds had missed their deadline to prepare and send their annual reports to members. It has transpired that there is a common thread amongst the schemes that missed filing. That theme is the company which provides registry and accounting services to the providers. Yes another three letter name starting with A – AON. More »
Where are the regulators when you need them?
There are some things I don't get about the newly regulated world at the moment. One is the story we ran yesterday where to advisers with dishonesty convictions recently in Australia are allowed to be registered advisers. More »
8 reasons why state asset sales will struggle
There are lots of things on my mind at the moment, but the one for today is the government’s proposed sale of state assets. It’s on my mind as National Radio asked me about it yesterday. As a general... More »
Darren Pratley talks about tie up with PAA
Here is one of our first videos. In it Philip Macalister asks Darren Pratley about the NZMBA/PAA tie up; what it means for members; whether it's a merger and what the possible roadblocks will be. ... More »
Shoe Shop Compliance
Some (young rascal) sent me this....I had a good chuckle. Read on! "I'd like to buy a pair of black leather shoes, please" "Sir, if it were only that simple. Here's my card and here's your Buyer's Guide." “What's... More »
Your advice (on FMA ads) please
Here’s a curly one you can give me your advice on. Clearly financial advisers are not particularly happy with the FMA and its advertising rolled out this week. You just have to read through the... More »
Why so much time on Hubbard?
Was I surprised that Alan Hubbard has be charged with 50 counts of fraud relating to the way he ran his investment vehicles? No. I was surprised though by the number of charges? 50. Yes. Do I think... More »
More regulatory madness
The MED discussion document on FMA levies landed quietly in my inbox last Friday. However its arrival had created a big bang in the industry. The mainstream media may have ignored it, but it is big... More »
Hard work ahead to sell the Budget
So this was a savings and investment Budget. Lots of attention has been focused on the KiwiSaver changes and quite rightly. It’s one of the most successful products the country has ever seen and has... More »
National just doesn't get saving
National governments seem to have a genetic disorder when it comes to savings schemes. They just don’t seem to get them and always make changes – often to the public’s detriment. Schemes like... More »
Borrowing could boost fund's impressive returns
The NZ Superannuation Fund’s results for the 12 months to March 31 were truly impressive I thought and also an interesting lesson in investing. While some media reports focused on the month of March... More »
Advisers needed to sell KiwiSaver
We’d been waiting for a big KiwiSaver deal and now we have it. Fisher has landed the Huljich business. This is probably no surprise as many had speculated Huljich was only in the game for the short... More »
