conflicts of interest

10 June 2026
Access to financial advice: the FMA has questions for everyone except itself

The FMA's access to advice report gets one important thing right. But a report that urges banks deeper into advice without acknowledging the risks, and that critiques sector conservatism without any a…
21 February 2020
The regulator shouldn’t be funded by those it regulates

My submission on FMA funding: the regulator shouldn't be mostly funded by the industry it regulates. That setup invites regulatory capture and muddles who the FMA is actually working for.
14 February 2020
The paradox of advice

If you engage a financial adviser, you might think the decision will leave you better off financially. Not necessarily. I often encourage clients to spend more, or point out they can afford to earn le…
1 November 2019
The minefield of ethical investing

Ethical investing sounds simple: invest in line with your values. In practice it's a minefield. What counts as ethical varies wildly from person to person, the labels on funds often don't mean what yo…
5 April 2019
Insurance, commission, and the separation of church and state

I'm very sensitive to conflicts of interest — I've built my own business specifically to avoid them. Which is why it might surprise you that I'm a strong advocate for commission as the way insurance a…
15 October 2018
The issue isn’t “bad apples”. What New Zealand can learn from Australia’s Royal Commission

Australia's Royal Commission into financial services misconduct is worth New Zealand's attention. Two themes kept recurring in the interim report: dishonesty and greed. The commission also made clear…
31 August 2018
Why Fairhaven Wealth’s fees are increasing

I'm raising my fees substantially — from $879 to $1,800 including GST. Writing this is a way of being transparent with readers and clients, and getting my head (and my feels) around the decision. $879…
11 March 2018
The absurdity of asset-based fees

Most investment advisers in New Zealand charge asset-based fees — a percentage of your portfolio. On $1 million, that's typically around $9,000 a year, every year, with no obvious link to the work bei…
15 December 2017
If you’re getting personal insurance, don’t go direct

If you need personal insurance, it's tempting to go direct to an insurer or use a comparator like Life Direct. I don't recommend it. Policies look similar but differ in ways that matter: wording, excl…
30 July 2017
Excessive fees – “a tax on smart people who don’t realise their propensity for doing stupid things”

Excessive investment fees are "a tax on smart people who don't realise their propensity for doing stupid things" — a line from a Freakonomics episode that cuts close to how I think about my job as a f…
19 June 2017
Red flags to consider if you’ve received personal insurance advice

Many insurance advisers provide terrific advice — but not always. Two red flags worth watching for: when the adviser has recommended the same level of life insurance cover for both you and your partne…
25 July 2015
“The dirt on coming clean”

Conflicts of interest are unavoidable in professional services — the question is how you manage them. Disclosure is the popular answer, but research suggests it can actually make advice worse, not bet…
19 February 2015
The perils of sudden wealth

For most people, sudden wealth sounds like a dream — a lottery win, a liquidity event, a sports or entertainment payday, a big insurance cheque. There's a school of thought that you shouldn't play the…
14 November 2014
Rating services for professionals

Online rating services for financial advisers are flavour of the month across the Tasman. There could be benefits — steering clients away from bad advisers, for instance. But the best-rated advisers p…

conflicts of interest

Access to financial advice: the FMA has questions for everyone except itself

The regulator shouldn’t be funded by those it regulates

The paradox of advice

The minefield of ethical investing

Insurance, commission, and the separation of church and state

The issue isn’t “bad apples”. What New Zealand can learn from Australia’s Royal Commission

Why Fairhaven Wealth’s fees are increasing

The absurdity of asset-based fees

If you’re getting personal insurance, don’t go direct

Excessive fees – “a tax on smart people who don’t realise their propensity for doing stupid things”

Red flags to consider if you’ve received personal insurance advice

“The dirt on coming clean”

The perils of sudden wealth

Rating services for professionals

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