Vernon said many consumers thought the idea of financial advice sounded appealing, particularly around KiwiSaver, but did not want to pay for it.

The Commission for Financial Capability has found similar attitudes in the wider population. A recent survey found more than 85% of people were apprehensive about their futures.

When asked what would improve their financial security, the most common suggestion was the need for free financial advice, planning and information.

Vernon said he had talked to one adviser recently who had met a potential new client, for whom he was going to prepare a plan in exchange for a fee. "The client was not keen at all, he thought it should be a service that is provided as part of KiwiSaver but that is not feasible for the adviser."

But he said the adviser knew the client was a keen cyclist, so asked whether he would expect to get his bike repairs for nothing, too.

The client said he would go to an expert for that because it was a sophisticated machine - and would pay $100 per hour. "He had no problem paying for that but thought financial advice should be free. That's comprehensive advice to cover the next 30 or 40 years of savings.  They see it as words on a page but from the adviser's point of view, that's a piece of comprehensive analysis that they've got to stand behind. For people with KiwiSaver that's a great challenge."

He said a discussion about remuneration should form part of initial conversations between an adviser and client because it would promote transparency and remove any impression of a bias.

Advisers should disclose what fee they were charging, if any, or how they would be remunerated for any products they distributed, or how their salary and incentives would work if they were working for a provider.

He said clients needed to understand that an adviser would end up being paid one way or another.