The discipline behind MHQ's top adviser win
Zhiyang Cheng (pictured), director and financial adviser at MHQ, had one of his best years yet in 2025 — named to NZ Adviser's Top Advisers list in a year the firm was also ranked the fifth-best brokerage in the country. But ask him what he's proudest of, and the number isn't it.
"One of our proudest milestones was achieving the top adviser position in New Zealand in 2025," Cheng says. "Together, the MHQ team settled just shy of $300 million in lending."
Even so, he immediately reframes the achievement rather than basking in it.
"While I'm proud of that achievement, what I'm most proud of isn't the number itself," Cheng says. "It's the thousands of conversations, strategies, and life-changing decisions that number represents."
For Cheng, the ranking is evidence of something else entirely — not a target in itself.
Growth isn't the goal — discipline is
That reframing isn't new for Cheng. It traces back to a lesson he says reshaped how he runs the business.
"Earlier in my career, I was heavily focused on growth and pursuing opportunities," he says. "Over time, I've learned that not every opportunity is the right opportunity and not every deal should be done."
Cheng's since prioritised protecting what he'd already built over chasing further expansion.
"Sometimes the most important thing is protecting the culture, reputation, and mission you've spent years building," he says.
That discipline, Cheng suggests, is what allowed the $300 million figure to happen in a way that actually holds up — rather than growth pursued for its own sake.
Redefining success beyond the scoreboard
That same discipline shapes how Cheng defines success at a company level, not just a personal one.
"Ultimately, success isn't measured by loan volumes or awards," he says. "Those are simply scoreboards."
Instead, Cheng measures success by something harder to quantify: "the number of lives improved, opportunities created, and families who achieve greater financial freedom because of the advice and support they've received."
That philosophy also shapes his ambitions for MHQ itself.
Cheng describes building "what we believe can become New Zealand's most trusted wealth creation platform" — a stated goal, not a claim about where the business stands today. It's a positioning that extends well beyond mortgages into property, KiwiSaver, managed funds, and broader wealth strategy.
For Cheng, the $300 million figure and the top adviser ranking aren't the destination — they're a by-product of a more deliberate approach to which opportunities are worth pursuing in the first place. As he puts it, financial freedom "isn't really about money. It's about having choices."
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