Financial Advice NZ has announced “a New Zealand first” Advice Policy Summit for the financial advice sector, held in conjunction with its hosting of the Financial Planning Standards Board Asia-Pacific Forum in July.
The FPSB Asia-Pacific Forum brings together CEOs and leaders from 14 APAC territories – New Zealand, Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Australia, South Africa and the United States alongside its CEO Advice Forum.
The Advice Policy Summit 2026 will take place on July 28 at the Hilton Viaduct in Auckland and Financial Advice NZ says “…together the Summit will examine global financial advice standards and stress test the policy and regulatory settings shaping our profession in New Zealand.”
…If we are serious about closing the advice gap, it will require a unified and consistent response from the profession…
Financial Advice NZ Chief Executive, Nick Hakes, says the data is unequivocal.
“Only 28 percent of New Zealanders accessed financial advice last year, despite 63 percent thinking about their finances at least weekly. If we are serious about closing the advice gap, it will require a unified and consistent response from the profession. Our collective opportunity is how we use the flexibility in our regulatory framework to better reach and serve the public so more Kiwis can access the quality financial advice we know they need.”
The association says there is real value in learning from other markets “…by understanding what worked, what did not, and how to avoid the unintended consequences of getting the policy and regulatory settings wrong. There is also an extraordinary opportunity to improve public awareness of the transformative value of quality financial advice.”
It notes that the regulatory framework gives the profession flexibility. “The Financial Advice Code enables us to apply professional judgement. The opportunity is how this flexibility is used to better reach and serve the New Zealand public.”
Financial Advice NZ says the next evolution of growth for financial advisers will be framed by recent regulatory reviews, including:
- The Commerce Commission’s Competition Report into Personal Banking Services (2024)
- The New Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services (2025)
- The Financial Markets Authority’s Access to Financial Advice Review (2026)
…These reviews raise important questions the profession must answer…
“These reviews raise important questions the profession must answer. Too many New Zealanders are making KiwiSaver, mortgage, insurance, budgeting, and retirement decisions alone, and the cost to Kiwis’ financial wellbeing is material.”
The organisation says the summit programme focuses on turning theory into practice and tackling the issues holding back good advice outcomes, including:
- The direction of regulation and advice practice standards across Asia Pacific
- Refining the scope of advice to real client scenarios
- Clarifying what good advice looks like in practice
- Drawing clearer lines between financial information and financial advice
- Considering the place of non-personalised and personalised financial advice
- Identifying client scenarios requiring deeper capability
- Understanding how Open Banking and AI can enable better client outcomes
- Removing unnecessary friction without lowering standards
- Taking collective ownership for closing the advice gap
- Understanding the role advisers can play in advancing the profession
It notes the Advice Policy Summit is a first for the New Zealand financial advice profession.
The association says this is a “pivotal event for all Financial Advice Providers, practising financial advisers, CEOs, and senior leaders of financial institutions with oversight of financial advice, compliance, and governance.”
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