"Our value proposition is in being a safe pair of hands"
NZFSG says the process of merging with fellow dealer group Kepa is going “smoothly,” and that the majority of Kepa’s advisers have applied to become part of NZFZG’s FAP.
Head of strategy Brendon Neal said NZFSG has formally launched its proposition to Kepa’s advisers, and that the response so far has been positive – especially from the advisers who had already applied to operate under Kepa’s license.
“The process has been really positive,” Neal commented. “There were a subset of advisers who were going to join the Kepa FAP who have since applied to join the NZFSG FAP, which is great – we’re really happy with that. We’re in the middle of the due diligence process there, but it’s going really smoothly.”
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“We’ve run an event which launched NZFSG properly in terms of its value proposition, and we’ve been rolling out new advice tools to our member network,” he explained.
“Kepa members have been invited to participate in those training sessions, and we’re more than satisfied with what’s happened so far.”
Neal says NZFSG will be focusing on the technology and record keeping aspects of its operations over the next few months, and will be getting its newest advisers up to scratch. He says its aim is to be a “safe pair of hands” for advisers, and he is confident in the group’s maturity in terms of its offering.
“Managing technology and record keeping is going to be really important for us,” Neal said.
“Some advisers are very mature and know how to manage that, but some are going to need a bit more help. As a dealer group, our value proposition is in being a safe pair of hands and being able to help with those types of things.”
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“The bar is going to be set higher for us,” he added.
“We’ve obviously already had certain obligations, being a mortgage aggregator and with banks needing to see standards lifted – so we already have onboarding processes in place, training frameworks for CPD, and Level 5 training through our own facilitator. We’re a fairly mature group in terms of what we’ve developed, so we’re expecting to apply to become a fully licensed FAP fairly early on.”
