The association launched last week and has amassed 1570 members – about 200 shy of the previous combined total of the IFA, PAA and NZFAA, the association’s founding bodies.

Chief executive Katrina Shanks said the association’s focus over the next couple of weeks wold be on signing up those remaining members.

Then it will broaden its reach to the advisers who were not a member.  There are believed to be more than 20,000 people in NZ operating as advisers, including those within QFEs

Shanks said it would be important to make clear to them what the value proposition of the association was, and how having a united voice would help to influence the framework advisers existed in as well as promote the value and accessibility of advice to New Zealanders.

She said the public promotion of advice and advocacy pillars of Financial Advice NZ’s strategy were new and were not key parts of the PAA and IFA approach.

But building a strong association voice in those areas would be good for consumers and advisers, she said.

The association was also pondering new issues such as how to encourage young graduates into the adviser workforce, she said.

The industry had had a focus on compliance, she said, and while that was part of the picture for those giving financial advice, there were other important issues to help New Zealanders improve their financial health and wealth, she said.

People should know that they could access financial advice at the key points in their lives when they needed it, and should know where to do so.