I have to say I was surprised to hear the FMA say that after three years of regulation advisers still aren't up to scratch. Advisers have been working bloody hard, at the detriment to their day-to-day business, of doing the ever-increasing list of chores the regulator throws at them.

Then to make such a broad statement, which implies it's everyone who needs to lift their game isn't something which comes out of the How to Win and Influence Advisers playbook.

As I have noted before after three years of regulation there is very little evidence to suggest advisers are doing a bad job - just look at how little the Financial Advisers Disciplinary Committee has had to do.

We did ask the FMA for an interview to discuss these comments, however that request was turned down.

My message to advisers is keep up the good work and helping your clients.

The other comments which came from the speech were about banks and their KiwiSaver selling practices.  This is another surprise that nothing has happened here. At Good Returns we have reported and editorialised on the issue many times over the years. It is one topic I have seen advisers really get worked up over during FMA presentations at conferences, yet nothing has happened.

One FMA person said to me all they had was anecdotal evidence there was a problem. Perhaps the most interesting comment was that if the FMA could find "evidence of potential harm occurring" then “yes that is something we will take action over."

The inertia in this area does tend to fuel theories that the big end of town exerts undue influence over things and that the regulators aren't keen on smaller KiwiSaver schemes.

Today we have run some interesting graphs on KiwiSaver funds and their fees versus performance - they make pretty interesting reading and have already started a good debate. We hope to be able to update this at a later stage with more info.

AML continues to occupy the minds (and task list) of advisers. The first annual returns are due in at the end of this month and we understand just over 100 of nearly 1000 responsible entities have filed their returns so far.

On the insurance front we are starting to see annual results come in. Partners Life has seen a big turn around from profit to loss. Story here. We will have some Sovereign numbers later today.