A strategic alliance between JP Morgan and Craigs Investment Partners should bring New Zealand advisers more access to global research, Craigs' managing director Frank Aldridge says.

Craigs Investment Partners have formed a strategic alliance with one of the best known names in investment banking.

Reserve Bank deputy governor Geoff Bascand has piled pressure on banks to slash mortgage rates as wholesale borrowing costs fall.

Commerce Minister Kris Faafoi has acknowledged concern at how the Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill (CoFI) will interact with the new financial advice regime – but says he thinks the advice regime is the most appropriate way to regulate financial advice and advisers.

“For me, support means more than telling – it involves doing.”

Some advisers might have hit hard financial times due to the Covid-19 outbreak but large numbers are focusing on the future, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) says.

Financial markets have priced in an increased chance of a negative official cash rate after the Reserve Bank mooted the idea last week.

Global investment firm T Rowe Price has appointed a head of distribution for Australia and New Zealand.

Investors’ optimistic view of the New Zealand sharemarket is likely to continue in the wake of yesterday’s Budget announcements, according to Milford Asset Management Senior Analyst Frances Sweetman.

This week has really hammered home how big the economic impact of the Covid 19 pandemic will have on New Zealand.

Cigna will double service commission payments to financial advisers through June and July.

This year’s Budget will provide a boost for struggling financial advisers, Financial Advice New Zealand says – and should shore up confidence in the sector with funding for the Financial Markets Authority.