The quality of financial advice is particularly relevant in the current environment. Photo: 123rf
Financial advisors must now be fully licenced to provide advice to retail clients, which should give consumers more confidence when making financial decisions.
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko - said the two-year transitional period to become fully licenced ended last week - four years since the legislation was put in place.
More than 2500 financial advice providers had been either directly licensed or operating as an authorised body, which included licences to sole operators as well as small and large entities employing multiple advisers.
FMA director Michael Hewes said the quality of financial advice was particularly relevant in the current environment.
"The new regime is designed to give people greater confidence to go and get professional advice while making important financial decisions - like planning for retirement or getting the best mortgage structure or insurance policies - and greater confidence in whatever advice they receive," he said.
Consumers would be able to check whether their advisor was licenced via the Financial Service Providers Register.
"The total number of advisers covered by those full licences will be known in June, once their details have been linked to each licence-holders' registration on the Financial Service Providers Register," Hewes said.
"Our focus on advice will now turn to monitoring and supervising the licensed advice providers, having finalised the questions for regulatory returns that licensees must file every year, the first due in September 2024."
