He said it was the only way that enough advice could be provided to a sufficient number of New Zealanders.

Significant numbers of KiwiSaver investors shifted funds earlier this year when markets fell as the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak started to be felt around the world. It is estimated $1.4 billion in funds was moved to more conservative investments, potentially costing investors over the long term.

New Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson has suggested a collective effort is needed from financial advisers to help worried investors.

But kōura said that was hard to implement.

“We live in a world where it’s a lot of work giving advice to individual people … by the time you’ve met someone, discussed it and filled out all the paperwork, that’s at least three or four hours of work to even give someone a piece of advice … my question to [Wrightson] is how do we do it in a way that’s affordable? People aren’t willing to pay for it.”

He said commission models allowed consumers to access advice without having to pay but meant that advisers were reluctant to work with people on business that would not generate large enough commissions to make it worthwhile.

“That’s where I see digital advice coming into play.”

Clients who had received digital advice about their KiwiSaver accounts had panic-shifted much less during the market volatility, he said.

He said digital advice had been talked about a lot last year but seemed to have been forgotten for now. The delay in the implementation of FSLAA changes meant a lot of current practices were continuing for the time being, he said.

Providers who offered online signup for KiwiSaver should be compelled to offer advice with it, he said.

The fund selection aspect was “clearly an afterthought” for many, he said.

“All product providers should have to offer digital advice if they want to do online signups, that’s the only way you’ll get the right customer outcomes … If you look at the big banks in particular they don’t like giving advice. Advice is really hard for them but I don’t think that should be used as an excuse.”