Support for advisers 'vital'

He said Fidelity Life was positive about the future and felt it was well-positioned for the changes ahead.

Because it was New Zealand-owned and operated, it could make decisions locally about the best way forward, he said. “We’re not relying on people offshore.”

But he said he was concerned about the prospect of advisers dropping out of the industry instead of going through the new licensing process, which starts next month.

Fidelity Life launched its Building Better Businesses programme to try to tackle that.