New Code Committee chairman David Ireland said he’s aware of “mixed feedback” on the quality of CPD available in the New Zealand market, but he said advisers have the power as consumers to influence what is offered.  

“I think the market will hopefully dictate here and advisers will vote with their feet if they’re not happy with what’s on offer.

“There’s a market opportunity here; there’s some good stuff going on out there with providers trying to lift their game while others are looking for a commercial opportunity from it.”

Ireland said the Committee would look into whether there needed to be changes to the current regime, which lets advisers choose what to attend based on what they consider they need to do to maintain professional competence.

“It was deliberately made flexible to get advisers thinking like adults and making their own decisions… we don’t want to overly prescribe ways of doing it.”

Brent Sheather of Private Asset Management said many CPD courses in New Zealand are “counter-productive” as they are often run by “niche, high-cost providers” who encourage investment in risky, expensive and complicated products.

He cited recent US research that found most clients are better off in low-cost, diversified index funds.

“The more training a product needs the less likely it is going to be appropriate for your clients; the simpler the product the better.”

Sheather also questioned the relevance of some of the courses available.

“I recently saw a course advertised that was about how to drum up new business; I think it was called ‘how to network with high net worth individuals’.  While it might be useful to know I don’t see how it has anything to do with your competence as an adviser.”

Norman Stacey of Diversified said CPD is a good concept and much of what is on offer in New Zealand is quite useful, although there is “widely differing quality” between courses.

“Some of the product providers use it as a way of coercing attendance of their product pushes which is probably not a beneficial outcome.”

He said the other shortcoming of the current regime is the lack of recognition for attendance at overseas events.

“You might go to the FPA conference in the US, or the BCA New York conference or the Australian conference, all of which can be very valuable if not superior in broadening an AFA’s professional knowledge but they don’t fit within the current structure.”