The Securities Commission would almost certainly require all advisory firms to produce a document detailing internal business processes under coming regulations, Annabel Cotton, Commissioner for Financial Advisers, said yesterday.

AIG Life will stop offering permanent term products from August 31 this year.

The 10-member Code Committee was revealed this morning with the list dominated by non-practitioner individuals.

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZSF) has sacked ING and the NZX-owned Smartshares from two major mandates leaving AMP Capital as the only external manger of local mainstream assets within the $13 billion fund.

The Professional Advisers Association (PAA) has appointed former head of the Retirement Villages Association, Edward Richards, as its new chief executive.

The chance that financial advisers can survive as sole practitioners in a post-regulation world is "declining by the day", according to Murray Weatherston, head of the Society of Independent Financial Advisers (SIFA).

Spicers has made a number of its advisers redundant, but kept ones it acquired when it bought Gould Wealth Management - formerly Vestar. It has also ditched its finder/minder adviser model.

Australian listed financial services firm Suncorp has rebranded its insurance and asset management business 'Suncorp Life' sparking speculation the wealth management business was again up for sale.

Up to five organisations have already expressed interest in forming external dispute resolution bodies for the financial services industry, according to Evelyn Cole, Ministry of Consumer Affairs (MCA) head of consumer policy. [INCLUDES DISCUSSION DOCUMENTS]

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has issued determinations for two international bond funds that run counter to an earlier ruling allowing investors in the PIMCO Cayman Global Bond Fund ($NZ hedged), marketed primarily by Tower, to use the fair dividend rate (FDR) when calculating tax liabilities.

Less than 20% of New Zealanders have sought the help of a financial adviser in the last year, according to the second ANZ Retirement Commission 'Financial knowledge survey', ranking the industry below banks, family and friends, TV, websites and print publications as trusted sources of financial information.

AMP Capital's head of sales and marketing, Anthony Edmonds, will leave the business following a restructure that "disestablished" both his role and that of institutional head of relationship management, Andrew Johnson.

About half of the 200 or so investors gathered at the ING roadshow in Napier yesterday indicated they were ready to accept an offer from the fund manager to redeem their units in the group's two underwater CDO funds.

The Life Brokers Association (LBA) has "put to bed" the issue of a merger and will continue to operate as a stand-alone industry body, according to newly-elected president, Ron Flood.

Wellington-based online insurance firm Inform has merged with the like-minded Christchurch company LifeDirect in the first phase of creating a financial services "mega-site", according to director, Mark Solomon.

Joint venture partners ING and ANZ have stumped up with $400 million in a revised offer to investors in ING's two CDO funds that will sidestep the need for a unitholder vote and stave off further legal action.