Broker group mySolutions recently formed a partnership with Prosper Group and Kiwi Adviser Trail, and CEO Kevin Smee said the new alliances will bring compliance, software and aggregation benefits to member advisers.
mySolutions director Keith Kerr said the partnerships would lead to ‘positive outcomes’ for advisers, particularly as many are already well ahead in their compliance journeys.
“Some market commentators suggest advisers are dragging their heels on compliance, but I think otherwise,” Kerr said.
“I still have some stuff to finish building before I feel I am ready for full licensing, but none of that is about my advice, service or competency standards. It’s just fine-tuning some of our internal organisation, and implementing the new technology which will sit at the core of how we run our business moving forward.
“At the same time, I have never been busier as an adviser than I have in the last 12 months,” he said.
“There are a lot of advisers in the same position as me, and many are our mySolutions members.”
Kerr said that the last year and a half has likely been the busiest time that New Zealand advisers have ever experienced, and, despite that, an enormous amount of effort has gone into being compliance ready.
Kevin Smee acknowledged that not every adviser was at the same stage in their compliance and business development journey, and said that mySolutions was ready to support advisers with a range of tools and resources.
“My own practice has put in double the work over the last 12-18 months, and we think we are pretty well placed for the new regime,” he said.
“But the curious thing is that the more effort we make, the more aspirational we become about innovating, building, and doing things in a different way. We already feel we now have an even better business than we used to, and we can see so many possibilities and an incredibly exciting future.”
“Not all advisers are at the same stage of development though, and we know that,” he added.
“Stepping out and creating your own practice is something relatively new for some, as there are quite a few advisers who thought they’d be working under someone else’s structure - until they found out the fine print at the eleventh hour.
“There are some who have a lot of organisational work going on while they also try to earn a living and grow what is essentially a new business. That’s why mySolutions is running monthly workshops alongside our usual support programme to offer support to members who still have a bit to do before they’re confident about submitting their full license applications.”
