Westpac New Zealand is playing “catch-up” in the mortgage market because it had been losing a little market share, said chief executive Catherine McGrath.

Westpac New Zealand grew its mortgage book faster than the market in the six months ended March at the same time as it fattened its profit margins.

Philip Macalister sits down with AIA chief partnership distribution officer, Sharron Botica to talk about the evolution of change in the insurance industry, the challenges of how that has impacted businesses and the growth of AIA insurance and what that means for advisers.

New Zealand largest bank, ANZ, has reported a 14% increase in half-year profits compared to the corresponding period last year.

Mortgage brokers accounted for 32.7% of Bank of New Zealand’s mortgages in the six months ended March, up two percentage points from Sept 30 and up from 29.8% from a year earlier.

NZX’s wealth technologies platform should add at least four new clients this calendar year, chief executive Mark Peterson, told the stock exchange operator’s annual shareholders meeting.

Signs of stress are emerging in New Zealand’s housing market, with the number of people behind on loan repayments jumping as soaring interest rates bite.

New house listings last month were down 18.9% nationally, while stock remained up in almost all regions compared to April last year, data from realestate.co.nz show.

Interest being paid on housing loans across the country in the March quarter hit a high of $3.835 billion, beating the previous high of $3.548 billion in December.

KiwiSaver has always been a reservoir of untapped potential for financial advisers.