How to Choose a Financial Adviser in NZ (2026): 9 Questions That Reveal a Good One

Nine questions that separate a good NZ financial adviser from a salesperson, plus the three checks that must pass before you sign anything: FSPR registration, FAP licence, and a named dispute resolution scheme.

TL;DR: Knowing how to choose a financial adviser in NZ starts with three checks: they are on the Financial Service Providers Register, they hold or operate under a Financial Advice Provider (FAP) licence, and they name a dispute resolution scheme. If any of the three is missing, walk away. There are 9,197 financial advisers in NZ; the questions below sort them.

Anyone can call themselves a "financial adviser." Not everyone is allowed to give you regulated financial advice. Learning how to choose a financial adviser in NZ is mostly about knowing where to look, because in New Zealand the gatekeeping is real and it is public. As at the FMA's latest industry snapshot (year ending 30 June 2025, published 29 April 2026), there are 1,553 licensed Financial Advice Providers and 9,197 individual advisers operating here ²³. The good ones answer the questions below without flinching. The ones to avoid get vague, get defensive, or steer you straight at a product.

This guide gives you the three must-pass checks, the nine questions to ask in a first meeting, and the red flags that should end the conversation. Then we answer all nine for ourselves, with the links so you can verify us.

The 3 must-pass checks before anything else

Before you weigh personality, fees, or fund picks, three things have to be true. They are not negotiable, and they take about five minutes to confirm.

1. They are on the Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR). To give regulated advice to retail clients, a person must be registered and either hold or operate under a FAP licence. Not registered, not linked to a licensed FAP? Walk away ¹.

2. They sit under a FAP licence. The licence is what makes the advice regulated and the adviser accountable to the FMA.

3. They name a dispute resolution scheme. Every business advising retail clients must belong to an approved scheme and must name it in disclosure or on the FSPR. It is free for you to use ⁵.

Get all three confirmed and you have filtered out the people who should not be advising you at all. Everything after that is about whether they are a good fit.

How do I check they are on the FSPR?

Go to fsp-register.companiesoffice.govt.nz and search by the firm's name or its FSP number. You are looking for three things: that the business is registered, that it (or the adviser) is linked to a licensed FAP, and what dispute resolution scheme is named. The register is the official source of truth; a polished website is not ¹.

A genuine adviser will volunteer their FSP number without being asked. If someone hesitates, or tells you registration "doesn't really apply" to what they do, that is your answer.

A good adviser will give their FSP number readily and is happy to be looked up on the register.

What licence class are they, and why does it matter?

A FAP licence comes in three classes, and the class tells you about the scale and structure of the business, not the quality of the advice ⁴:

The mix is heavily weighted toward smaller practices. In the FMA snapshot for the year ending 30 June 2024, of 1,410 licensed FAPs that filed a regulatory return, 406 were Class 1, 948 were Class 2 and 56 were Class 3 ⁶; total FAP numbers have since risen to 1,553 in the 2025 snapshot ². None of these classes is "better" for you as a client; a sole Class 1 adviser can be excellent. What matters is that the class exists, is current, and matches who is actually advising you.

More important than the class is the scope of what they can advise on, which is the first of your nine questions.

The 9 questions and what a good answer looks like

This is the table to take into the meeting. Ask all nine. The pattern of answers tells you more than any single one.

You don't need a finance degree to read this table. You need to notice whether the answers are specific and offered freely, or vague and dragged out.

Independent vs tied vs bank: who can recommend what?

This is question two, and it changes everything downstream. The label determines the menu you'll be offered. (For a deeper breakdown, see our guide on independent vs tied advisers in NZ.)

• Independent adviser. No in-house product to sell. Compares across the market and recommends what fits you. The recommendation can land on any provider, because the adviser doesn't profit from one winning over another.
• Tied adviser. Contracted to one provider or a small panel. Often competent and well-trained, but the menu is fixed. If the best KiwiSaver fund for you sits outside the panel, you won't hear about it.
• Bank. Generally only recommends the bank's own products. A bank can sell you the bank's KiwiSaver scheme; it cannot tell you a rival's fund is cheaper or better, because it doesn't advise on rivals.

None of this is hidden. A tied or bank adviser is allowed to be tied; they just have to be honest about it. The problem is only when someone tied talks like they're independent. That's why question two is phrased the way it is: make them use the word.

This matters most on a real KiwiSaver decision. The default contribution rate rises from 3% to 3.5% from 1 April 2026 (then to 4% from 1 April 2028) ⁷, so the fund a recommendation lands you in is now taking a bigger slice of your pay. A panel-of-one adviser can only point you at their own fund; an independent can weigh Simplicity, Milford, Generate, Booster, Kernel and Fisher Funds against each other for your situation. To see how the numbers stack up before you book, run your own options through our KiwiSaver fund comparison tool.

How do I read a disclosure statement in 5 minutes?

By law, FAP disclosure happens at four stages: publicly available information, when the nature and scope of advice is known, when advice is actually given, and if you make a complaint. These are set out in regulations 229A to 229J of the Financial Markets Conduct Regulations 2014 (the publicly available information sits under reg 229C) ⁸.

You don't need to read the regulations. You need to find five things in the document:

1. Who licenses them — the FAP and its FMA licence.

2. What they advise on — the product scope (and what's excluded).

3. How they're paid — fees, commissions, and any bonuses.

4. Conflicts of interest — and how they're managed.

5. The dispute resolution scheme — named, with contact details.

If a disclosure statement is missing any of these, or you can't get hold of it before advice is given, that's not a paperwork hiccup. It's a sign the basics aren't in order. You can read our disclosure statement here and tick off all five.

Why does dispute resolution scheme membership matter?

Because it's your free, independent recourse if something goes wrong and you can't resolve it with the adviser directly. Every business serving retail clients must belong to an approved scheme and name it; using it costs you nothing ⁵.

There are four approved schemes in NZ ⁹:

Note (as at 16 June 2026): A merger of IFSO and FSCL was proposed to take effect 1 July 2025 but is still being worked through, so four separate approved schemes remain in operation. Check an adviser's named scheme on the FSPR rather than assuming.

It doesn't matter which of the four an adviser belongs to. It matters that they belong to one, that they name it, and that you know how to reach it. Smiths Financial is a member of the FDRS. If you ever needed it, our complaints process explains how to escalate.

Red flags that should end the conversation

Some answers are deal-breakers. If you hear any of these, you have enough information to leave:

• Not on the FSPR, or won't give an FSP number. Without registration and a FAP licence, the advice isn't regulated and you have far less protection ¹.
• No named dispute resolution scheme. A missing or unnamed scheme means no clear, free recourse — and it breaches the disclosure rules ⁵.
• Won't show a disclosure statement before advising. The duty exists for a reason; reluctance is the red flag, not the form itself ⁸.
• Guarantees returns, or pressures you to "sign today." Real advice is unhurried; guaranteed returns don't exist in markets.
• "I only use one provider." A panel of one is product distribution, not advice.
• Won't explain how they're paid. You're entitled to know, in dollars and in commission terms, before you commit.

You don't have to be rude about it. "Thanks, I'll think about it" is a complete sentence. But you shouldn't talk yourself out of a clear warning sign.

How Smiths Financial answers all 9 questions

We'll save you the meeting on the basics. Here's where we land on every question, with links to verify us:

1. Scope: personal risk insurance, health insurance, general insurance, KiwiSaver and managed funds.

2. Independent. No in-house product. We compare across the market — see our approach.

3. Paid via a mix of fees and provider commissions, disclosed up front in writing.

4. We compare across every major NZ provider rather than a fixed panel.

5. Conflicts are disclosed and managed; our disclosure statement sets out how.

6. Yes, we review annually — meet the people who'll do it on our team page.

7. Dispute resolution: FDRS. Free to you; our complaints page explains the path.

8. Disclosure statement is available before we give advice, every time.

9. FSP number: FSP712931. Look us up on the FSPR — you'll see our Class 2 FMA licence and named scheme.

Financial Advice NZ's Trust in Advice research found 81.9% of consumers believe financial advice leads to better outcomes, and 88.3% of advised consumers are satisfied or very satisfied with the help they receive ¹⁰. The point of the nine questions is to make sure your adviser is one of the ones delivering that.

Book a free review with a Smiths adviser. Book a review

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if a financial adviser is registered in NZ? Search the Financial Service Providers Register at fsp-register.companiesoffice.govt.nz by the firm's name or FSP number. Confirm they're registered, linked to a licensed FAP, and that a dispute resolution scheme is named. If they're not on the register, they can't give you regulated retail advice ¹.

What's the difference between a FAP licence Class 1, 2 and 3? Class 1 allows a maximum of one adviser (sole practices), Class 2 allows multiple advisers, and Class 3 covers larger structures with authorised bodies ⁴. The class reflects the size and structure of the business, not the quality of advice — a good Class 1 adviser can be every bit as good as a large Class 3 firm.

Do I have to pay to use a dispute resolution scheme? No. All four approved schemes — BOS, IFSO, FSCL and FDRS — are free for consumers to use ⁵⁹. The adviser pays the scheme; you don't.

Is an independent adviser always better than a bank adviser? Not automatically, but an independent compares across the whole market and has no in-house product to push, while a bank generally recommends only its own products. For decisions where the best option might sit with a rival provider — like which KiwiSaver fund to be in — independence widens the menu.

Why does the financial adviser I choose matter more for KiwiSaver now? Because contributions are rising. The default rate goes from 3% to 3.5% on 1 April 2026 and to 4% on 1 April 2028 ⁷, so more of your pay is being invested — making the choice of fund, fees and PIR more consequential than it used to be.

What should I do if I think my adviser gave me poor advice? Raise it with the adviser or firm first through their complaints process. If it isn't resolved, escalate — for free — to their named dispute resolution scheme, which you can find in their disclosure or on the FSPR ⁵.

General information, not personalised financial advice. Seek advice tailored to your situation before acting. Craig Smith Business Services Ltd (FSP712931), trading as Smiths Financial, holds a Class 2 licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority and is a member of the Financial Dispute Resolution Service (FDRS). Written by Henry Smith, Financial Adviser; reviewed by Craig Smith, Principal Adviser. Last reviewed 16 June 2026.