Investment advisers

Investing in the right advice

Over the past few years the news has been full of stories about Kiwis who have lost their life savings after investing in dodgy finance companies or receiving misleading financial advice. 

Financial cowboys outlawed from today

Today the new financial advisers regime, administered by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), comes into full force in an effort to restore faith in the finance industry.

Getting the right investment advice

There are no guarantees of good financial advice. But new rules mean anyone who gives investment advice to clients will now have to provide more information up-front.

Glossary: investment

Fees

This section of Sorted is mainly about the fees associated with mid-to-long-term savings and investment products.

Glossary: investment

Questions for your adviser

Advisers are required to tell you what fees they receive but these don’t cover all the fees associated with a product (such as monitoring, administration and trustee fees).

How fees add up

In general, fees are higher for higher levels of adviser service, more complex investments (such as NZ and overseas shares, and property) and smaller investors.

Glossary: adviser
Glossary: shares

Paying your adviser

See it in context

It's important to know how your financial adviser gets paid, and the impact that can have on the advice you're getting.

Glossary: adviser

Advice checklist

You can get investment advice from a range of providers including financial planners, insurance companies, sharebrokers, banks and financial advisers.

Glossary: investment

Comparing products

Once you've decided what sort of investments suit your plans, use this checklist to help you to tick off all the important factors you need to consider to make final decisions.