Unless you’re very wealthy, or struggling to get by, it is very difficult to get independent financial advice in New Zealand, one researcher says.

There’s less need for financial advisers within the younger “do-it-yourself” generations, an international research firm says.

Offering low or no-interest loans to people banks wouldn’t normally lend to carries a risk, but it’s one BNZ is willing to take, says the bank’s director of strategy and business performance.

Customers’ move to fixed mortgage rates has kept the pressure on Westpac’s lending margins in the first half of 2014 but that is not likely to last forever, the bank’s chief executive says.

Online applications are just another tool for advisers to use in their ongoing relationships with clients and should not be seen as a threat, says AMP’s chief customer officer, Jeff Ruscoe.

An official cash rate of just 4.5% would stretch Auckland house price affordability to a level similar to that seen at the peak of the last cycle, ASB’s economists say.

Small businesses and those on low incomes would be negatively affected by Labour’s proposal to introduce a variable contribution rate for compulsory KiwiSaver, one banking expert says.

More should be done to provide accurate data on what is happening in the housing market, commentators say.

Institute of Financial Advisers president Nigel Tate is compiling a full list of the regulatory expectations placed on financial advisers, and the time and cost involved with meeting them, to give to the Financial Markets Authority.

Expect more heat in the property market if the Labour Party gets its way and makes the changes it’s proposing to the Reserve Bank Act.

Expect more heat in the property market if the Labour Party gets its way and makes the changes it’s proposing to the Reserve Bank Act.

State-owned asset sales could have been a lifeline for AFAs – but the Government didn’t give them a chance, one adviser says.

How the New Zealand economy responds to the new rising interest rate environment will dictate the extent of official cash rate rises this year.

A new suite of tools is being offered to New Zealand teachers to help them improve their students’ financial literacy – and one adviser says it’s the most positive move he’s seen in his 40 years in the financial sector.

ASB is following the lead of banks around the world in its issue of $400 million of subordinated, unsecured debt securities, one adviser says.

Advisers would find a system of auditing each other for AML/CFT compliance doesn’t pay off, says the head of one compliance company.