Advisers fear IFA’s help could haunt them

The issue was raised yesterday at the institute's professional development day in Auckland, where president Nigel Tate outlined the IFA's latest guidance.

It was prepared in light of recent court judgments that caused uncertainty among advisers, particularly the Armitage v Church case, which the IFA's lawyers reviewed extensively.

Tate joked that the lawyers' response to the judgment had been "thou shalt not give any advice as there is too much risk."

Instead of heeding this advice and packing it in altogether, the IFA put together new recommendations on how to deal with a range of potentially hazardous issues such as risk profiling, scope of advice and diversification.