"It's crucial that all areas of advice are well represented," says board chair
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Financial Advice New Zealand (FINANZ) has announced three new practitioner board members, who will join the organisation after having been elected by their fellow members.
John Bolton, Cecilia Farrow and Stephen O’Conner’s appointments were announced at the National Advisers Conference in Rotorua, with a total of nine nominees being considered across four advice specialities – mortgage, insurance, investment and financial planning.
John Bolton is the CEO of Squirrel, one of New Zealand’s largest mortgage and insurance adviser firms, which has overseen over $4 billion in mortgage lending to date and currently writes over $1 billion per year.
Cecilia Farrow is the founder and CEO of Triplejump Risk Management, and has had significant input into lifting standards in the life risk advice sector.
Stephen O’Conner is an AFA, CFP and Fellow Chartered accountant who currently heads the Invercargill-based Mitre Wealth Management, and has been a financial adviser since 1987.
“Our Practitioner Board Members are the expert voice for their advice specialty,” said Sue Brown, board chair of FINANZ. “As we work towards the vision of Financial Advice New Zealand – building trust and confidence with Kiwis and helping more New Zealanders benefit from quality advice – it’s crucial that all areas of advice are well represented.
“We’re extremely pleased for have such high calibre advisers joining the board. Thank you to everyone for voting, and to all our nominees for your leadership and commitment to fostering a thriving advice profession.”
The appointment also marks the stepping down of two existing board members, Bruce Cortesi and Michael Dowling, who have been on the board for one year.
“We would like to extend a very big thank you to the two departing Establishment Board Members,” said Brown. “I would like to thank them both sincerely for their tireless passion and commitment in bringing Financial Advice New Zealand to life.”
