The ASA ruled the description was fair in its rejection of a formal complaint from Camelot NZ adviser Stephen Parr against the controversial Financial Markets Authority (FMA) ‘cowboy' newspaper adverts that heralded the start of the new adviser regulatory regime.

"I think the key point is that the complaint was deemed worthy of putting to the Board, so it is significant that it wasn't dismissed," said Parr.

"The point has been made that the advisory fraternity did not think it was a very tasteful or appropriate advertisement."

In his complaint to the ASA Parr claimed the advert unfairly maligned the whole advice industry.

"The advertisement clearly undermines the professionalism and integrity of financial advisers," he said.

"The advertisement is misleading and may cause the consumer to believe that most financial advisers are cowboys, which they are not."

In their ruling the ASA said "the advertisement did not reach a threshold to cause serious or widespread offence in light of generally prevailing community standards and did not denigrate identifiable products. The board also considered that the advertisement did not play on fear."

The FMA also responded to the complaint defending the use of the term "cowboy", saying it is colloquially used to describe someone unqualified for a particular job.

"Specifically in the financial markets arena, New Zealand has unfortunately been perceived for some time as a "wild west" with few rules and little law enforcement," it said.

For Parr however, the advertising campaign remains a missed opportunity.

"We were told there was going to be a public educational campaign - we weren't expecting it in this form," he said.

"There was very little useful information, so really the public is no wiser, and that's an important point."