Clive Atkins said there were mounting pressures on advisers.

He said the environment had changed a lot compared to when he first came to New Zealand seven years ago.

“There’s a lot more pressure on them now from a regulatory point of view. There’s more competition as well but I think the pressure of regulation will have an impact. What you’ll find its more will join together and become larger groups to not only ease pressure on their time but on their finances.  To have economies of scale, I think you’ll find number will join together to form larger groups, based on my previous experience of the UK market which is what happened there.”

He said regulation had made the New Zealand industry a lot more complicated. “It’s definitely moving towards what it’s like in the UK.”

But he said he was very optimistic about the future for advisers and financial advice in this country. “I’m looking forward to it, it’s in a good space at the moment and has a lot going for it.”

Those who had successfully negotiated regulatory change would be in a good position for the future, he said. “No one likes change but if you take change as a bell curve, they’re now coming out the other end of the bell curve and accepting they’ve got to get on with it. It won’t get any easier, it’ll get harder if anything but the ones that accept they have to deal with it will flourish from it.”

AMP was helping IFAs with everything from business planning and restructuring to identifying new markets and business opportunities, he said.

See the next issue of ASSET magazine for the full interview with Clive Atkins.