Regulation, AI, and an advice gap: NZ's profession faces a defining moment
Financial Advice New Zealand is hosting its first-ever Advice Policy Summit in Auckland on 28 July, targeting the regulatory and practice gaps holding back Kiwi clients.
A striking disconnect between financial awareness and financial action is prompting New Zealand's peak adviser body to convene a national event focused on regulation, practice standards and public access to quality advice.
Financial Advice New Zealand has announced its Advice Policy Summit 2026, to be held on 28 July at the Hilton Viaduct in Auckland. The event will run alongside the Financial Planning Standards Board Asia-Pacific Forum, bringing together CEOs and senior leaders from 14 FPSC member territories spanning Asia-Pacific and beyond, including Australia, Japan, Singapore, India, and the United States.
Chief executive Nick Hakes (pictured) said the core problem was hiding in plain sight.
"The data is unequivocal. Only 28% of New Zealanders accessed financial advice last year, despite 63% thinking about their finances at least weekly. If we are serious about closing the advice gap, it will require a unified and consistent response from the profession,” Hakes said.
Regulation is at a crossroads
The summit arrives at a pivotal moment for the profession. Three significant regulatory reviews are reshaping the landscape: the Commerce Commission's Competition Report into Personal Banking Services (2024), a new Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services (2025), and the Financial Markets Authority's Access to Financial Advice Review (2026). Together, these reviews are forcing hard questions about scope, standards, and access — and their human consequences are already visible.
Too many New Zealanders, Hakes said, are navigating KiwiSaver, mortgage, insurance, budgeting and retirement decisions without professional support, and the financial wellbeing cost is real. The advice shortfall, the organisation says, "risks poorer financial outcomes for New Zealanders and presents a clear opportunity for our profession to respond differently."
The FMA's Access to Financial Advice Review, published March 2026, put numbers to the problem: it found 28% of New Zealanders accessed advice in the past year, with Māori, Pasifika and lower-income households the most underserved, and identified structural and operational barriers — including adviser uncertainty about how to tailor the scope of advice for different client circumstances — as key obstacles.
What the summit will tackle
The programme targets the practical barriers to better advice outcomes, including where to draw the line between financial information and personalised advice, how open banking and AI can improve client outcomes, and how to remove unnecessary friction without compromising standards.
The pace of that shift is already visible: the FMA's April 2026 regulatory returns report shows the number of clients receiving digital advice nearly doubled in a year, rising 90% to more than 164,800.
"Our collective opportunity is how we use the flexibility in our regulatory framework to better reach and serve the New Zealand public so more Kiwis can access the quality financial advice we know they need," Hakes said.
For mortgage advisers in particular, the summit's focus on clarifying advice scope, client scenarios, and the place of non-personalised advice makes it a timely and relevant event.
For registration details, visit financialadvice.nz/advice-policy-summit.
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