Opportunity to match-make advice

David Boyle, general manager of investor education at the Commission for Financial Capability (CFFC), which runs Sorted, said the financial advice industry faced a challenge because consumers were not sure where to go to find an adviser.

“Notwithstanding the Financial Advisers Act review, how do New Zealanders get access to know where to start to get specific advice. People don’t wake up and think ‘I really need personalised advice’. We get people asking ‘where can I go to find an adviser?’”

He said the FMA's register was an option, as were the websites of the PAA and IFA. “But the content doesn’t demonstrate the skillset.”

He said moves across the Tasman to show advisers' specialties in a register could help Kiwi consumers, too.