Fidelity Life welcomes record number of advisers to Career Connect programme

Fidelity Life has announced the fourth intake of its adviser programme, Career connect, for new advisers. This year sees the programme expand to welcome its largest cohort to date - 30 emerging advisers. The company will also soon invite adviser businesses to join the Career connect registry; to signal their interest in offering work experience opportunities to newly qualified financial advisers. 

Submissions this year attracted greater diversity, , with 56% of applicants under the age of 35, 62% coming from female applicants and just under 30 ethnicities represented across the more than 70 applicants.

The Career connect programme awarded eight scholarships this year, up from seven last year, with each valued at up to $5,000. The recipients of the 2025 Career connect scholarships are:

• Grace Leaso, Auckland - Kōwhai scholarship (for an outstanding Pasifika applicant)  

• Grace Shearer, Hastings - Toe Toe scholarship (for an outstanding young applicant aged 21-25)

• Jada Mandery, Auckland - Women in Finance scholarship (supported by Kaplan Professional)

• Marcel Stenning, Auckland - Pāua scholarship (for outstanding applicant demonstrating excellence)

• Michelle Andrews, Auckland - Women in Finance scholarship (supported by Kaplan Professional)

• Milly Elworthy, Mosgiel – Rural scholarship (supported by FMG) 

• Olivera Vasic-Wooller, Auckland - Rāngi Po scholarship (for an underrepresented community in financial services)

• TK Buchanan, Christchurch - Pounamu scholarship (for an outstanding Māori applicant)

Fidelity Life Head of Solutions Michelle Doyle said

“By taking part, advice businesses play a vital role in mentoring fresh talent… It helps new advisers gain industry experience and build confidence as they transition into the profession.” 

The 2025 cohort of 30 will start their journey this week. Over the next six months, they’ll take on part-time study to earn their Level 5 qualification through Kaplan Professional. Fidelity Life will host a graduation ceremony early next year to celebrate their accomplishments.  

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Financial Advice NZ Community of Practice: Christchurch 12 June

Introduction to Quotemonster webinar 9am, 27 May

Demystifying Advicemonster webinar 11am, 27 May

Business Risk Research and SOAs with Quotemonster webinar 12pm 29 May

Introduction to Kiwimonster webinar 12pm 26 May

Katrina Shanks and Kris Faafoi recognised on the Hot List 2025

Link Financial Group NZ appoints Anton Wicken new compliance manager

The banking industry welcomes the first reading of CCCFA amendment bill

Auckland emergency departments diverting patients to urgent care clinics with vouchers to cover the cost

New Zealanders will soon be able to receive 12-month prescriptions for their medicines

Budget 2025 includes a range of health initiatives

Nominations for the FSC industry awards open

The Financial Services Council (FSC) has opened entries for their 2025 Awards programme. The awards will be presented at the FSC Awards Dinner on 11 September 2025, at the Cordis Hotel in Auckland, as part of the FSC25 Conference. Entries are open to individuals, teams and organisations, with nominations closing 29 June 2025.

There are two new award categories this year.

• New: Innovation of the Year

• New: Excellence in ESG

• Emerging Trailblazer: sponsored by Swiss Re

• Excellence in Wellbeing and Inclusion: sponsored by Swiss Re

• Contribution to Community

• Team of the Year

• Workplace Savings

• Chair's Award for Service to the Industry

More news:

mySolutions webinar 'Getting more of the 'right kind' of referrals' is on 14 May

Investment News NZ produce  ‘Welcome to FAP-land’ report

Jon-Paul Hale talks about how service commissions could be structured

Gen Z expect the same digital experience with life insurers as they have with banks

MAS announce appointment of new CEO

Jo McCauley has been appointed new Chief Executive Officer of MAS, starting 4 August 2025. McCauley is currently CEO of Southern Cross Travel Insurance, and she has a general insurance and consumer finance background, having led marketing, sales and product teams.

MAS Chair Brett Sutton said

“Jo brings a rare combination of leadership experience, commercial insight and strong people skills. We are excited to work with Jo as we build on a strong FY25 result and invest further in technology and service enhancements for our Members”.

More news:

AIA Group’s operating profit after tax reached $6.61 billion for 2024

Arthur J. Gallagher acquires First Capital Financial Services and First Capital Wealth Management

Gail Costa thanks advisers in her farewell message

Financial Advice NZ Special General Meeting 2025 is on 19 May in Auckland

Banking Reform Coalition wants ComCom to prosecute big four banks

AMP are looking for a Senior Application Analyst

IBANZ chief executive Mel Gorham will step down on June 26

BNZ offer relief for customers affected by recent severe weather events

ASB offer tailored emergency relief to customers affected by severe weather

Westpac's net profit after tax for the six months to March 31 was $565 million

Paddy Gower calls for Health Minister to better fund paediatric palliative care 

Health workers across NZ take part in “May Day” strikes

Partners Life announce new Chief People Officer

Partners Life has announced that Helen Meade has been appointed as their new Chief People Officer, effective April 2025. Most recently Meade was Chief People Officer at Les Mills International and she has over 20 years’ experience in human resources, transformation and communications, having worked in the insurance, wellness/health, technology and FMCG sectors.

Partners Life CEO Michael Weston said

“I'm delighted about Helen joining our executive team. She's a dynamic leader with a proven track record of attracting, developing and retaining great people and teams – who are our most important asset and competitive advantage.”

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Banking Ombudsman Service cases up 3% more than the previous quarter

ICNZ finds 20% had switched insurance providers in the last two years

Bigger not necessarily best when it comes to KiwiSaver

Consumer NZ has taken a look at how KiwiSaver is going. Big banks, with their brand recognition and big budgets, have long been an almost default choice for people deciding who to invest their KiwiSaver funds with. That looks like it’s starting to change. Encouragingly, 29% of new members chose their KiwiSaver scheme independently, and 8% consulted a financial adviser about what their best option would be, though 14% were automatically allocated a default scheme. There is still some reluctance to change providers, with 12% of people feeling it’s too much hassle to change provider, 8% having thought about switching but haven’t gotten around to it and 5% not knowing where to start.

With more than 3.3 million members and more than $111 billion of total funds under management, it’s worth putting in a little effort to see which fund best suits your situation.

While banks in general are big spenders on advertising, ANZ outspends them all. Yet ANZ’s KiwiSaver returns are underwhelming, coming in last (12th) for its management of conservative KiwiSaver funds, 6th (out of 12) for moderate funds, second to last (out of 15) for balanced funds and 10th (out of 12) for growth funds, according to Morningstar’s December 2024 results. Yet ANZ holds the largest share of the KiwiSaver market, with $21.9 billion funds under management.

As of 2021, ANZ and ASB are no longer default KiwiSaver providers, leaving BT Funds (Westpac) and BNZ as the only default big bank providers for new members. It will be interesting to see how this impacts the various banks’ KiwiSaver market share over the next decade or two.

In good news, Consumers NZ’s annual survey on KiwiSaver satisfaction highlights growing satisfaction, with February 2025 results showing 82% were satisfied with their provider.

And what do people most want from their KiwiSaver provider? Good returns with responsible investments came out top (42%), followed by the best returns (37%) and investing responsibly, even if it comes with slightly lower returns (14%)

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Southern Cross Health Society using Patient Feedback to celebrate surgeons

Shaun Phelan is retiring from his role as National Manager of MAS Business Advisory Services

AML Summit 2025 is on 8 - 9 May in Auckland and livestreamed

This week is World Immunisation Week

Report finds increasingly, pregnant people are presenting for care with no, or minimal, antenatal care

Concerns and scepticism about AI

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly being rolled out globally, concerns remain around privacy, cybersecurity and accuracy and reliability of outputs.

A survey by the Financial Planning Standards Board of more than 6,000 individual practitioners in finance found that 54% of respondents were either already using or piloting AI in their business (with a further 10% planning to rollout AI in the next 12 months). Respondents believe likely uses of AI will include collecting client information, analysing data and developing recommendations. Yet almost half worried about data privacy and cybersecurity and 42% worried about accuracy and reliability of outputs.

GlobalData’s 2024 Emerging Trends Insurance Consumer Survey, which polled more than 5,500 people across 11 countries, found consumers believed AI could have some benefits. Perceived benefits using AI included shortened time required to reach a customer service representative (73.8%), gains in operational performance (71.5%) and better pattern recognition than humans (71.2%). Those who have engaged with AI insurance chatbots were impressed, with 74.5% reporting being satisfied or very satisfied with the interaction. Despite these beliefs, consumers were found to have data privacy concerns and trust issues.

GlobalData’s 2024 Emerging Trends Insurance Consumer Survey (Q3), found that 39% of respondents would be quite or very comfortable having an AI tool decide the outcome of their insurance claim.

More news:

Fidelity Life held first adviser council meeting of the year

Tony Vidler writes about the importance of a prospecting system

NZUAC Christchurch Expo is on 7 May

Apex Advice are looking for a Head of Marketing and Communications

mySolutions webinar 'The journey of building a multi discipline practice' is on 30 April

Code of Banking Practice updated with new commitments to better protect customers against scams

Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector

17 Apr 2025 - RBNZ’s Assistant Governor/General Manager Strategy, Engagement and Sustainability Simone Robbers will be leaving at the end of May 2025 after six years in the role. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/04/ag-gm-strategy-engagement-and-sustainability-leaving-rbnz

23 Apr 2025 - CoFR has released a joint Issues Paper on Access to Basic Transaction Accounts. CoFR is seeking feedback on the proposed introduction of basic transaction accounts to better support customer groups that are currently excluded. The consultation will remain open for eight weeks and will close on 18 June 2025. https://www.cofr.govt.nz/news-and-publications/cofr-seeking-feedback-on-access-to-basic-transaction-accounts.html

23 Apr 2025 - NZ Police Financial Intelligence Unit release “The CASH Report” for March 2025. https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/fiu-monthly-report-mar2025.pdf

23 Apr 2025 - Banks are updating their Code of Banking Practice with five new commitments to better protect customers from scams. The five commitments introduced to the New Zealand Banking Associate Code of Banking Practice include:

• a Confirmation of Payee service for customers to check that the name of the person they are paying matches the account number, which has already commenced roll-out

• pre-transaction warnings to consumers based on the payment purpose

• identification of and response to high-risk transactions or unusual account transaction activity, and the ability to block or delay transactions in some cases

• providing a 24/7 reporting channel for customers who think they’ve been scammed, and responding to protect accounts

• sharing scammer account information with other banks to help prevent criminal activity, and freezing funds where appropriate

The updated Code comes into force on 30 November 2025. 

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/better-compensation-scam-victims

23 Apr 2025 - The FMA release ‘5 mins with the FMA’ podcast #12: Access to Financial Advice Review. https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/podcast/5-mins-with-the-fma-podcast-12-access-to-financial-advice-review/

Proposed changes to Health and Safety Laws

You may have seen the proposed changes to Health and Safety laws, whereby the government wants to reduce compliance costs and provide greater certainty for businesses. Bell Gully have a good summation of the proposed reforms here, but basically the Government is endeavouring to reduce the compliance burden, clarify health and safety duties (including limiting obligations for small, low-risk businesses) and clarify the distinction between governance and operational health and safety responsibilities.

There are many opposing points of view on the changes. Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff has said

"It's disappointing to see the minister has ignored the widespread consensus on what New Zealand needs to do to improve its poor track record and instead has chosen to carve out small businesses from good health and safety practices.

Exempting small businesses from best practice health and safety makes no sense when we know that small business are riskier and need more support."

Institute of Directors general manager Guy Beatson said

"Clarifying that boards are accountable for risk management and safety culture - not hands-on management - will mean directors can better focus on their core governance role without inadvertently overstepping."

Mike Cosman, chair of the Institute of Safety Management said

"The reforms are focused instead on costs to businesses of prevention and not the much greater costs of harm.

This seems to be looking through the wrong end of the telescope to us because the cost of our poor health and safety record is north of $4.9 billion per year to say nothing of the impact on workers and their families."

Russell Hutchinson has taken a look at the proposed regulations and put in his two cents.

As a country we have a not-terrible, but not-so-good track record on health and safety. One measure is fatal accidents, here I have selected countries we often use in comparisons:

Clearly, we are not as bad as, say, the United States. If we delved into that we would see significant variation on a state-by-state basis – but let’s not worry about that for now. Compared to Australia, for roughly every three people who die in a workplace accident there, four will die here. Not so good. What’s surprising is how well the UK performs – better than France and much of the EU, and better than Japan, places I normally consider to be better organised and more prescriptive in terms of employee protections. Not so! I like it when we find good data which challenges my pre-existing view. It’s a reward for paying attention to the data.

Are the proposed changes to governance liability right or wrong? One argument could be that by reducing liability on directors the workplace will become less safe. Another view is that by ensuring we place responsibility on the people who are closest to the problem we will better target the point at which better decisions can be made. Probably we will not know which until we have seen this operate for some time. Progress always seems to be so slow. Incentives also count – and the role of ACC, which has many benefits to our economy, also has some negative effects, somewhat masking the price signal in this case. I wonder if that will also get talked about.

More news:

Russell Hutchinson explains Non-Pharmac medicines coverage

AIA introducing a new excess option to AIA Private Health

AIA have updated Rules to Reinstate Policies

FSC Workplace Savings Half-Yearly Function 2025 is on 21 May

Financial Advice NZ are holding a 'Community of Practice: Central District' on 29 April

How to reduce chronic inflammation in your body

Eating well and getting regular exercise are most effective longevity tactics

Report finds deposit insurance scheme could see deposit interest rates fall significantly

Commerce Commission puts banks’ clawbacks, conversions and disincentives under scrutiny

Health Infrastructure Plan released, which sets out a national, long-term approach to renewing and expanding public health facilities

nib research finds more adults are staying on top of essential health screenings

Recent nib research has found that more adults are staying on top of essential health screenings, but costs remain a barrier. The research was carried out in February 2025 and surveyed 1,010 Kiwi, building on the last survey conducted in December 2023. Some of the key findings include:

• An increasing number of adults are keeping up with necessary health screenings - up to date with eye checks (45% up from 43%), dental check-ups (36% up from 35%), and heart health screenings (31% up from 28%).

• 30% believe their health is better than their peers, up from 25% in 2023.

• Financial concerns are increasingly preventing Kiwi adults from accessing health checks, with 36% citing cost as a barrier (up from 29%).

• 80% of those with health insurance are committed to health screening checks (vs 72% overall).

• More parents feel clear about which screening checks their children need (72% up from 58% in 2023).

• More parents believe an annual health check is essential for their children (84% up from 75% in 2023).

• More children are staying up to date with common screening tests - hearing checks (54% up from 48%), dental check-ups (66% up from 55%), eye checks (57% up from 50%) and general health exams (59% up from 57%).

Rob Hennin, Chief Executive Officer at nib New Zealand, said

“Proactive health screenings can be lifesaving and it’s really encouraging to see that Kiwi are taking the reins when it comes to their wellbeing. It’s clear to see that accessibility and cost issues continue to be barriers.”

More news:

Jason Gunn announced as new AIA Vitality Ambassador

Gallagher introduce new fundraising initiative, Gallagher Club Kickback

Partners Life go live with “no signature required” for majority of policy administration processes

mySolutions roadshows run across May in Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland

mySolutions webinar 'Exclusive Small Business Group Health' is on 23 April

Financial Advice NZ are holding an Ethics Workshop on 8 May

TAP webinar 'Ready to see TAP in action?' 8 May

Westpac launches a pilot for a basic transactional bank account

Banking Reform Coalition wants FMA to get tough on banks not passing on OCR cuts in mortgage rates immediately

Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector

1 Apr 2025 - The RBNZ Board is in the process of preparing a recommendation for the appointment of a Governor for six months and will be sending it to the Minister soon. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/04/process-for-the-appointment-of-a-governor-for-a-six-month-term

2 Apr 2025 - FMA announce a review of the advice sector to help drive better outcomes for industry and consumers. It will focus on four key themes, which are:

1. Consumer preferences and demographics

2. Industry business models

3. Digital advice and innovation

4. Ease of provision of financial advice

https://www.fma.govt.nz/news/all-releases/media-releases/fma-unveils-review-into-financial-advice-accessibility/

2 Apr 2025 - The FMA release a Regulatory Returns snapshot for 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024. Key statistics (as of 30 June 2024)

• 1410 licensed financial advice providers submitted regulatory returns

• 8472 financial advisers compared to 9300 in 2021

• Life and health insurance are the most common financial products advice is provided on

• 36 FAPs are providing digital advice and 86,500 retail clients received digital advice

• 97% of complaints received were settled within 3 months.

https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/reports-and-papers/financial-advice-providers-industry-snapshot/

2 Apr 2025 - The FMA publish Samantha Barrass' speech from the Financial Advice New Zealand Conference. https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/speeches-and-presentations/financial-advice-new-zealand-conference/

2 Apr 2025 - The FMA release Jess Learns to Invest Episode 3 | Understanding Managed Funds with Tom Hartmann. https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/podcast/jess-learns-to-invest-episode-3/

3 Apr 2025 - APRA has accepted a Court Enforceable Undertaking from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) to address ongoing weaknesses in the bank’s non-financial risk management practices and risk culture. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-accepts-court-enforceable-undertaking-from-anz-and-increases-capital-add

4 Apr 2025 - Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Hon Scott Simpson, March 2025 diary released with the following potential financial services sector related meeting noted:

• 6 Mar 2025 – MEET: Commerce Commission Chair and CE (Dr John Small, Adrienne Meikle)

• 10 Mar 2025 – MEET: NZ Banking Association CE (Roger Beaumont)

• 10 Mar 2025 – MEET: FMA Chair and Acting CE (Craig Stobo and Liam Mason)

• 10 Mar 2025 – MEET: Financial Services Stakeholders (Carl Blanchard & invited guests)

• 10 Mar 2025 - SPEAK: Financial Services Forum

• 11 Mar 2025 – SPEAK: Fintech Hui

• 13 Mar 2025 – MEET: Financial Ombudsman Reviewer (Nanette Moreau)

• 18 Mar 2025 -MEET: Financial Services Council CE (Kirk Hope)

• 18 Mar 2025 – MEET: ASB CEO (Vittoria Short, Louise Griffin)

• 19 Mar 2025 – MEET: FAMNZ (Leigh Hodgetts)

• 24 Mar 2025 – MEET: NZBA (Roger Beaumont and Dan Huggins)

• 25 Mar 2025 -MEET: CE of Westpac (Catherine McGrath)

• 26 Mar 2025 – MEET: Banking Ombudsman CE and Chair (Nicola Sladden and Miriam Dean)

• 26 Mar 2025 – MEET: Retirement Commissioner (Jane Wrightson)

• 27 Mar 2025 – MEET: FINCAP (Jake Lilley, Fleur Howard)

• 27 Mar 2025 – MEET: Financial Service Federation (Katie Rawlinson)

• 28 Mar 2025 – ATTEND: NZ Banking Assoc Council

• 31 Mar 2025 - MEET: Suncorp CEO (Jimmy Higgins)

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2025-04/Proactive%20Diary%20Release%20Simpson%20Mar%2025%27%20.pdf

4 Apr 2025 - The Council of Financial Regulators (CoFR) held its quarterly meeting on Monday 24 March 2025. The Council discussed the key external factors that could impact the financial system, noting in particular the rapid developments in artificial intelligence and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. The Council reviewed developments in New Zealand’s payments system and noted the importance of upcoming developments like the passage of the Customer and Products Data Bill. https://www.cofr.govt.nz/news-and-publications/quarterly-statement-by-cofr-march-2025.html

4 Apr 2025 - The FMA have published their fair conduct programme insights report. https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/reports-and-papers/fair-conduct-programme-insights-report/

7 Apr 2025 - The RBNZ is welcoming applications to the Exchange Settlement Account System (ESAS) under new access criteria announced on 31 March 2025. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/04/rbnz-welcomes-new-applications-to-the-exchange-settlement-account-system