We’re licensed to give financial advice

Life and health insurance products and services

• Medical or health insurance
• Trauma cover
• Disability cover

Our preferred providers

We refer to an Approved Product List (APL) for investment and KiwiSaver solutions, and life and health insurance products.

Products in these APL’s have gone through due diligence with research professionals.  The list is reviewed regularly and is available below*.

Our preferred life and health insurance providers are:

• nib
• Partners Life
• Southern Cross

For KiwiSaver we use the following providers

• Booster KiwiSaver scheme
• Generate KiwiSaver scheme
• Fisher Funds KiwiSaver Scheme

If we can’t find a suitable solution for you through our APL we will look at other options for you.  Our advisers can also help you with your existing products, funds and policies.

Advice Fees

We don’t expect to charge any one-off fees for the advice we provide.  If we do, we’ll discuss this with you before we charge it and confirm it in a statement of advice.

For investment advice, we charge a portfolio servicing fee (PSF) for managing your investments, based on the level of funds under management. 

Commissions and incentives from product providers

AdviceFirst receives commission from product providers if you take out insurance following advice from us. The amount of the commission varies between providers and is based on the product sold. It can include an initial commission and a servicing and renewal commission.

We also receive commission from KiwiSaver scheme providers if you choose one based on our recommendations, and an ongoing commission for as long as we help you manage your kiwiSaver scheme.

Our advisers are salaried employees and don’t receive any commission payments. They will advise you about any commission payment or other fees AdviceFirst will receive before you proceed with any recommendations. Any product recommendations your adviser give are based solely on your goals and objectives, and within the boundaries of our APL.

Conflicts of interest

All our financial advisers get annual training on how to manage conflicts of interest. We also maintain and monitor records of any conflicts of interest, including any gifts or incentives our advisers receive that are worth more than $100.

At an organisational level, AdviceFirst is owned by AMP (a long-established financial services company). We understand that this may create a perceived conflict of interest with AMP also being one of the product providers that we advise on.

We manage any potential or perceived conflict of interest with our AMP links by having our advisers follow internal processes to ensure that they give priority to your interests. Any product recommendations our advisers give are based solely on your goals and objectives, within the boundaries of our APL.

Our requirements as a licensed financial advice provider

The Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 sets out the duty of care we as a licensed financial advice provider and our advisers must follow relating to the way that we give advice. The Act requires that we:

• give priority to your interests by taking all reasonable steps to make sure our advice is in your interest and not our own
• exercise care, diligence, and skill in providing you with advice
• meet standards of competence, knowledge and skill set by the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services (these standards are designed to make sure that we have the expertise needed to provide you with advice.)
• meet standards of ethical behaviour, conduct and client care set by the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services (these standards are designed to make sure we treat you as we should and give you suitable advice.)

The points above are a summary. You can find more information about the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 and our duties to you within it by visiting the Financial Markets Authority website here.

How to make a complaint about any of our services

If you have a problem, concern, or complaint about any part of a service we give you, please contact your adviser directly so they can try to fix it.

You can also let us know about any complaints you may have by:

• email: complaints@advicefirst.co.nz
• post: PO Box 10550, Wellington, 6143
• phone: 0800 438 238.

More information about our complaints process can be found here.

* Approved Providers List