Licensing began at the end of November but as of last Friday only 54 had been issued.

All advisers will need a transitional licence, or to work under another entity with a licence, if they want to continue to advise after next June.

Former IFA chief executive Fred Dodds said 54 was not many, if it was correct that about 2,000 licences would be needed.

He said some of the delay could be blamed on the time of the year. Some life insurance advisers might be waiting to see what groups were going to offer before deciding whether to take their own licence.

Dodds said there should still be sufficient time to process the remaining applications.

Financial Advice NZ chief executive Katrina Shanks agreed it was probably a timing issue.

With licensing opening near Christmas, advisers had been busy with work and then on holiday.

“Currently many advisers are on leave and unplugged from work so you would not expect them to be online registering a FAP. There is also a number of unknowns in the marketplace for some advisers who are seeking to belong to a group or aggregator's FAP and are in a holding pattern until they have more information to make an informed decision.”

She said advisers who were not sure if they wanted their own licence could still apply for a transitional licence for themselves, and then move to another entity's licence when it came time to apply for a full licence.

Adviser Regan Thomas said there were some indications that some advisers had not been as engaged with the process so far as they should have been and there were concerns that not all would take the necessary steps in time for the end of the transitional period.