The CFA Society of New Zealand is marking May as Putting Investors First Month, as part of a global initiative.

The central focus of the month is the Statement of Investor RIghts, which financial professionals are encouraged to endorse and share with their clients and communities.

It applies to financial products and services such as investment management, research and advice, personal banking, and insurance and real estate.

It includes 10 rights that investors are entitled to expect such as objective advice, disclosure of conflicts of interest, and fair and reasonable fees.

CFA Society president David McCallum said investor rights and awareness needed a boost in New Zealand.

“With things like KiwiSaver, financial assets become a much more important part of people’s livelihoods going forward. Investors should have some understanding of what they should expect from their fund managers.”

He said the CFA society in New Zealand has 280 members, most of whom are in fund management roles.

McCallum said the society’s long-term goal was to build its AFA membership. “CFA globally has that target. Historically it grew out of an asset management and institutional focus but we have identified that more and more over time the individual wealth advisers are very important and targeting that area is something that is of interest.”

He said it fitted with the organisation’s wider goals integrity in financial markets because the advisers were a first point of contact.

AFAs would benefit from CFA status because the qualification required was a high standard.

Over the next few years steps would be taken to increase engagement with advisers, he said.

The IFA manages the CFP standard in New Zealand. President Michael Dowling said it was not a conflict because the CFA standard was a better fit for advisers in portfolio construction roles.  Advisers in financial planning positions were better suited to the CFP, he said.