Katrina Shanks (pictured) is leaving Financial Advice New Zealand on November 10, with the confidence that the professional body and the country’s financial advisers are in a good place amid better engagement and industry reforms.
Speaking with Insurance Business, the outgoing chief executive said: “I think we’ve done some incredible work around efficacy, in particular around the CCCFA (Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act) and the CoFI (Conduct of Financial Institutions) Bill, where we’ve got a much better framework now because of the work that we did in that space. [I consider these] big steps and big, significant gains for an organisation of our size and for advisers.
“We’ve got our advisers over the line in the new regime – the most defining achievement for the organisation. We provided a lot of tools and assistance, which we believe empowered advisers to be able to get to the end game and get their licence and be confident with their licence. What we did over COVID and the support that we gave our members is something I’d always reflect on.”
Shanks recalled holding daily webinars while in lockdown as a “great way” to engage with advisers and give them a sense of community. According to the CEO, the professional body moved fast to make members feel connected while ensuring there was something for them on a regular basis.
“Because when things are uncertain and unknown, structure is your friend,” she said. “Reflecting back on that, I think that was quite an achievement that we managed to do what we did by such a small team in such a short period of time.
“[In the] long term what it’s done is create a platform for what we now know as ‘Bring in the Experts’, which last year engaged 7,200 advisers to come on to our webinars. It’s pretty successful in terms of engagement and bringing something which has relevance to members.”
In 2022, Financial Advice New Zealand conducted around 50 webinars.
Shanks added: “We’ve done a lot around standards and around ensuring that we’ve got good professional development, good continuing education. We’ve got a new partnership with Kaplan, and we’re providing professional development through there. New courses are put up every single month for advisers. So, they’ve got access to some great learning, and the new CEO will come in and develop that even further.
“I’m quite excited about where we’ve landed as an organisation. We can be really proud of some of the things that we’ve done. Most importantly, I think what we’re doing is striving to get good outcomes for consumers.”
For Shanks, the biggest challenge has been the new financial advice regime, the full implementation of which gives her assurances about where the sector stands.
“The new regime has been relatively challenging in terms of getting advisers to the place where they’ve got the confidence to apply for a licence and what does the licence look like, how do you get licensed, who needs to get a qualification, what does that qualification look like,” she told Insurance Business. “That’s been pretty challenging for many of our advisers.
“I think the other side of that, the challenging part, is the change in the environment they work in, in terms of do you work for a FAP (financial advice provider), or do you provide services to a FAP, or do you have a FAP yourself. That certainly changed the environment that we’re working in as the FAPs and aggregators and groups all were trying to find how they fit into the new regime. So, there was certainly a lot of disturbance.
“Then of course we’ve just come off high inflation, high interest, uncertainty in the markets, which has caused, once again, another upheaval in the sector.”
With the regulatory and legislative changes now in place, however, Shanks knows her camp has done what needed to be accomplished.
“I’ve been in this role for five years, and I’ve given it everything I’ve got over that five-year period,” she said. “I feel like they’ve got a good regulatory and legislative framework around them. So, I’m confident the framework’s good and solid and will work well for advisers. I think the advisers now are in a really good space having been fully licensed. I feel confident that we, together, have worked to get everybody over the line to get their full licence and to have a business model that will work.”
To her still-to-be-named successor, Shanks has this piece of advice: “Put quality advice and good outcomes for consumers at the centre of your decision-making. You have to have a passion for quality advice and a passion for good outcomes for consumers.
“You have to have the ability to be strong and to lead and to have an opinion that is based on fact and to be able to articulate that opinion across all decision-makers. So, that is across the legislators, the regulators, the officials, the other stakeholders, such as the product providers, and have a clear voice about what you’re trying to achieve.”
Shanks already has a new role lined up, which she said will be revealed in the coming weeks.
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