Reasons to be cheerful - Part 2. Intention, Incredulity, Integrity....and Christmas Cheer

Adios 2016 - almost! A review of any year highlights the good, bad, and the indifferent - or events that have seen intentions delivered, or have left us incredulous,  or present us with benchmarks of integrity to be admired and acknowledged. Despite some bad and distinctly indifferent aspects, there are still reasons to be cheerful and optimistic - and to look forward to 2017.

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It's like déjà vu all over again...

Attributed to the baseball coach Yogi Bera, this quote could apply to the current delay in the process of the Financial Services Industry legislation. First time around, last minute changes saw the introduction of Qualifying Financial Entities confuse a complicated structure of adviser and product categories even further.

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Reasons to be cheerful.......Part 1

Sat in a busy Cafe in Little Collins Street, Melbourne, contemplating the past week in Australia on behalf of SuiteBox Ltd. If you've been somehow indisposed for the past few months, and haven't come across SuiteBox for some strange reason, check out this innovative technology - you'll soon wonder how you ever functioned without it.

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A New Era Dawns

The emergence of Financial Advice NZ, heralds the start of a new era in the country’s financial services industry. For the first time in NZ history – and possibly for the first time in the OECD territories – there is a real opportunity to develop a united representative body aimed at embracing advisers from all parts of the industry.

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Of cliches, common sense, and clarity.

Seldom tempted to join with journos in their sometimes precarious grasp of the issues facing the financial services industry, and to be honest, the opening of this piece by Diana Clement in last Saturdays's NZ Herald did little to change that view. The usual caterwauling and prattling on about advisers - or as the author insisted - "agents" - lining their pockets at the expense of clients, greedy intermediaries, etc., etc.

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Regulatory Review Reports Released

In recent weeks, we’ve seen the release of two documents, “Replacing life insurance – who benefits?” from the FMA, and the “Final Report – Review of the Financial Advisers Act 2008 and the Financial Services Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008" from MBIE. Reaction has been, as you might expect, mixed – ranging from resigned acceptance to frustration, and everything in between – much of which has been vented on the Good Returns website following the announcement of the release of the documents.

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We Need to Talk...........

With the release of the FMA’s report on policy replacement, reactions have been many and varied. There have been calls for government intervention, investigations into non-adviser channel practices, and focus given to the methods of gathering new business for other non-life risk products in the market. So let’s drill down and put some perspective on the issue.

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More about Suitebox......

The impact of technology on financial services has already been dramatic and set to continue for the foreseeable future. The term 'fintech' has now been incorporated into everyday language, and we are only at the beginning of this phenomena. I've mentioned Suitebox on previous posts as a perfect example of how technology will change the way business is conducted, and last week in Melbourne, a fintech conference event recognised and rewarded Suitebox for their innovation

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Oh What a Lovely War......

Some years back in Australia and NZ, the banks declared war and entered the hallowed turf previously controlled by life insurance companies. By way of retaliation, a few of the larger life offices obtained banking licenses and went after the banks' market share of the retail banking industry.

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