The boards of the PAA, IFA and NZFAA have agreed and approved Financial Advice NZ’s constitution.

An appointments committee has been approved, made up of David Yates, of NZFAA, Bruce Cortesi, of PAA, Michael Dowling, of IFA, and independent director Andrew Johnston. Its role will be to confirm the make-up of the establishment board, which will comprise three practitioners representing the three advice disciplines of risk, investment and lending.

Cortesi will take up the risk position and Dowling the investment position, leaving a lending practitioner and two independents to be appointed.

The full Financial Advice New Zealand establishment board will be announced at the SGMs.

Financial adviser Murray Weatherston, a founding member of SiFA, said the association was looking more and more like a merger of IFA and PAA and less like a new body.

He said he had not seen any real effort to engage people who were not members of the existing associations. “If it turns out to be a single organisation made of up of the people who are already on the board or one or other of the two organisations I’m not sure what that means has changed.”

The board will be responsible for the initial delivery of the Financial Advice New Zealand plan, including a number of initiatives that support the primary objectives identified during the consultation process - advocacy, building public awareness and trust in financial advice, and standards.

The establishment board will remain in place during the initial formation stage of Financial Advice New Zealand and will build the operational framework of the association. The establishment phase is expected to be completed within 12 months of formation. Upon the conclusion of the establishment board role, the first full Financial Advice New Zealand board will be elected in accordance with the constitution.

"Thank you once again to all who have participated in the development of Financial Advice New Zealand," the working group said in a statement.

"Re-imagining an association fit for the future of advice, advisers and the New Zealand public absolutely demands collective insight and commitment, which as we have seen many times over the past year, this industry has in abundance."

The next step in the formation of the new association for financial advisers is to hold special general meetings for members of those organisations to ratify it.

Those meetings will be held before the end of July, which the Financial Advice NZ working group said would enable it to announce the establishment of Financial Advice NZ at the joint conference on August 3.

Another adviser, Tim Fairbrother of Rival Wealth, was optimistic. “I am excited about Financial Advice NZ.  Having one voice in going to the legislators and suppliers and pooling together our limited resources to promote the the public, is key to making our industry a more trusted profession.”