Money Week is being run this week by the Commission for Financial Literacy and Retirement Income. It is designed to promote financial literacy and education in New Zealand.

The IFA is offering an 0800 number for members of the public to receive free class advice from financial advisers.

But Tate said much of the population still did not understand what financial advisers did – or had a bad impression because of stories such as Ross Asset Management.

Advisers needed to take every opportunity to turn that around, he said.

“The public is aware only of things going wrong. They think financial advisers are inherently no good when actually it’s only particular members of the industry.”

Advisers could take the opportunity to get out into schools or community groups and present the fundamentals of financial advice and the advantages of planning, he said. Some branches of the IFA even have people going to local supermarkets to talk to people about financial advice.

“That raises the recognition of the need to plan and the fact that planning is not that difficult.”

Such efforts would not be commercially driven but could lead to new clients, he said. 

“A number of individuals provide advice to a range of community groups to raise their profile as much as anything. It’s good marketing. Advisers should be piggy-backing off Money Week to raise awareness and develop knowledge that’s lacking in the community.”