Connect Tour 2026 targets underserved clients, including self-employed borrowers and SMEs
Financial Advice New Zealand is taking its annual Connect Tour to eight locations nationwide from 7 to 18 September, with one session specifically aimed at reaching self-employed clients and small business owners.
Barriers keeping Kiwis from advice
The organisation points to cost, confidence, financial literacy and life circumstances as the key barriers keeping many New Zealanders from advice at the moments it matters most.
"Too many Kiwis still miss out on trusted guidance at the moments that shape their financial lives," Financial Advice New Zealand said.
The scale of that gap was quantified earlier this year: the FMA's Access to Financial Advice Review found seven in ten New Zealanders went without financial advice last year, despite strong evidence it improves outcomes, with the review also identifying Māori, Pasifika and lower-income households among the most underserved groups.
Reaching self-employed clients and SME owners
Against that backdrop, one of the tour's sessions will focus specifically on how advisers can reach "under-served advice needs and support the long-term financial wellbeing of self-employed New Zealanders and SME owners" — a cohort that often falls outside standard advice models due to variable income, complex structures, or limited engagement with traditional planning services.
Capacity, capability, and standards
The remaining sessions address the operational and professional side of scaling advice delivery. These include building "greater advice capacity through better practice design, workflows, governance and client data," strengthening professional capability "beyond minimum standards," contributing directly to profession-led conversations shaping future advice standards, and linking financial education to professional advice to build financial capability across a client's lifetime.
The tour's faculty includes Financial Advice New Zealand chief executive Nick Hakes alongside Paula Damen, Ryan Edwards, Josh Daniell, David Greenslade, Yasmin Frazer, Anna Cuming, Maryann Pratt CFP, and Cecilia Farrow.
Each Connect Tour session carries 2.5 CPD hours, with dates and venues as follows:
Dunedin – Monday 7 September, Fabel Hotel
Christchurch – Tuesday 8 September, Riccarton Park Raceway
Invercargill – Wednesday 9 September, The Langlands Hotel
Wellington – Thursday 10 September, Lower Hutt Events Centre
Napier – Tuesday 15 September, Napier War Memorial Centre
New Plymouth – Wednesday 16 September, Novotel
Hamilton – Thursday 17 September, Zealong
Auckland – Friday 18 September, Hilton Hotel Viaduct
Full programme details and registration are available through Financial Advice New Zealand's website.
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