A lack of high-quality talent in New Zealand is proving a challenge for the financial markets regulator with more people applying for jobs but many not possessing the right skills for some of the more specialised roles.

Stakeholders’ opinions of how easy it is to deal with the Financial Markets Authority have deteriorated in the past 12 months, according to the regulator’s latest survey.

Providers tasked with managing their clients’ portfolios on their behalf have been asked to lift their game on fee disclosure, helping investors better understand the service they’re getting and their management of liquidity risk.

Simplicity is readying to lobby harder on its goals of growing the KiwiSaver pool and seeing more investment funds directed to the likes of infrastructure and housing with the hiring of well-known economist Shamubeel Eaqub.

Bumping up KiwiSaver contributions and introducing a carer’s savings credit for those with young children are among the improvement measures identified in a new report benchmarking New Zealand against other countries’ pension systems.

Artificial intelligence will be able to handle up to 80% of advisor loan deals within seven years according to the founder of Australasian asset loan broker LoanOptions.ai.

Sharesies’ latest quarterly index shows the platform’s retail investors have become increasingly shy on company-specific investment, favoring a diversified approach in what’s been a volatile period for markets.