The Code Committee, which oversees the Code of Conduct for Authorised Financial Advisers, has been considering a new qualifications framework as part of its review of the code.

The revised version of the code still says that a financial adviser must attain unit standard sets within the National Certificate in Financial Services (Financial Advice) (Level 5) that are relevant to the services provided by the AFA.

But adviser Luke McKenzie, of Move My Pension, said he thought it was inevitable that over time, more qualifications would be required. “Where we are now is a baseline.”
He said it seemed likely New Zealand would increase its standards as other countries did.

“There’s been so much regulation and red tape coming towards us, we’re all a bit punch drunk with change. But if we stand back and say ‘now that’s in place, it’s not that bad, if that’s the baseline, where do we want to go with it?’”

He said it had been a heavy few years for advisers but the outlook for the industry was very positive.

Fellow adviser Jeff Goldsworthy agreed it was likely that the rules would change. He is studying for a graduate diploma in financial services – and said there was even debate about whether that would eventually be enough.

The FMA directed inquiries to the committee. “The Code Committee is reviewing the Code at the moment, including a new qualifications framework.”

Code committee chairman David Ireland said it had been long signalled that the AFA bar was expected to be raised over time as far as the minimum standards of competency, knowledge and skill were concerned.

He said he was limited in what he could say because the committee is set to release a new code.

“As signalled in this year’s consultation round, we are likely to see that come into play when the new level 5 certificate is finalised next year. The exposure draft of the new Code released last month documents a relief mechanism for those who became authorised on a competence pathway that is no longer recognised, which can be taken as an indication that there is no current regulatory intention of forcing existing AFAs to pass further exams if the bar is raised – although of course we want to encourage AFAs to pursue higher training.”