Institute of Financial Advisers president Nigel Tate says the resignation of his organisation’s chief executive after less than a year came as a surprise.

A former Financial Markets Authority regulator says the fine handed down to Christchurch adviser Rodney Bourke-Shaw was not severe enough, but the Financial Advisers Disciplinary Committee had its hands tied.

Loan-to-value restrictions kicked in today – just as Realestate.co.nz was reporting the country’s average asking price had hit a record high.

New Zealand may be set to follow the lead of Australian insurers who offer scaled trauma products, industry sources say.

The most difficult thing about investment advice at the moment is the fixed interest component of a client’s portfolio, says Steve Barton, of financial planners Pascoe Barton.

It's not a name a lot of the people working in the financial sector want to hear mentioned in the news, but David Ross has been making headlines again this week.

An investment adviser who lost more than $500,000 through his association with Ross Asset Management has been fined for not disclosing adequate information to his clients.

Despite the attention they have received, product providers’ bills for adviser trips may be as little as 2% of their total annual budget. But commentators say it is still vital for advisers to make clear what incentives they receive and why.

Low-deposit mortgages will not only be harder to get from the end of this month, but they will be a lot more expensive.

[UPDATED] Many first-home buyers have had their hopes and dreams quashed by ASB's move to cancel preapprovals, outgoing Loan Market boss David Hart says.

KiwiSaver accounts are pushing many New Zealand equities managed funds to the limit.

This week advisers were told they needed to look at looming opportunities but also be prepared to report regularly on what they had been doing.

The FMA, in its bid to understand the financial advice business, has now turned its attention to authorised financial advisers who work for sharebroking firms.

Advisers need to take into account New Zealand’s ageing population when planning for the future of their businesses as well as their clients.

Authorised financial advisers will have to provide the Financial Markets Authority with an annual in-depth report on their businesses and the advice they are giving under regulatory reporting requirements it is proposing.