ISI reborn as Financial Services Council

The FSC, which was officially launched at a function in Wellington last night, represents most of New Zealand's large life insurance and fund management companies.

It has 20 full member and 18 associate member companies managing more than $60 billion in savings and providing other financial services to more than 1.8 million New Zealand investors and policyholders.

Members of the now-defunct ISI voted last year to create a new organisation that would focus on information and lobbying instead of the ISI's role of industry self-regulation.

FSC chief executive Peter Neilson said at the time that members wanted to create a "highly influential" pan-industry organisation that would give the financial services sector an "800-pound gorilla".