Manager Financial Advice at Financial Markets Authority (FMA) (2024-07 – Present)
- Provide leadership to a team of 7 staff responsible for high-quality regulatory monitoring and supervision of Financial Advice Providers (FAPs).
- Contribute to the strategic direction of advice supervision through participation in the Financial Advice leadership team.
- Enable a systematic approach to the identification of risks and harms to consumers of financial advice products and services.
- Through education and guidance activities work with FAPs and financial advisers to uplift compliance with advice obligations and therefore support robust businesses.
- Train and mentor team members to undertake thematic reviews and projects guided by FMA regulatory priorities or strategic focus areas.
- Engage with market participants according to the FMA's Entity-Based Relationship Management (EBRM) approach, to gather insights.
- Support the team with enquiries into suspected breaches of financial markets legislation and where necessary refer conduct to FMA response and enforcement teams.
- Oversight of the team's handling of complaints and enquiries received on market participants.
Acting Head of Financial Advice at Financial Markets Authority (FMA) (2023-10 – 2024-07)
Stepped up to an acting role to cover the Head of Financial Advice while they were seconded to another project.
- Oversight of two managers, each with up to 8 direct reports.
- Responsibility for all business planning and team strategy, included quarterly planning sessions with other senior FMA leaders.
- Led the team to successfully publish the advice regimes first monitoring report titled 'Financial Advice Provider monitoring insights report', sharing key findings and observations with industry to raise standards.
- Presented to and engaged with advisers throughout New Zealand in workshops to reinforce messages from the insights report and to receive feedback.
Manager, Financial Advice at Financial Markets Authority (FMA) (2021-05 – 2023-10)
Responsibilities and achievements as above.
Acting Manager, Monitoring and Oversight at Financial Markets Authority (FMA) (2021-03 – 2021-04)
Temporary assignment to cover a manager role in an area previously worked in.
Manager, Financial Advice at Financial Markets Authority (FMA) (2021-01 – 2021-02)
- In conjunction with the Head of Financial Advice, formed a front-line supervision team. This included recruiting a team and implementing a new operating framework.
- Supporting the Licensing and Regulatory Services (LRS) team, through referral escalations.
- All other responsibilities and achievements as above.
Senior Adviser at Financial Markets Authority (FMA) (2016-06 – 2020-12)
- Management responsibilities for one direct report (Associate Adviser) and provided guidance to less experienced advisers on more complex issues and general training.
- Conducted monitoring of market participants in accordance with FMA's compliance monitoring framework, ensuring the delivery of high-quality regulatory outcomes.
- Engaged with market participants in accordance with FMA's Entity-based monitoring principles.
- Assessed compliance with relevant financial markets legislation and regulations.
- Identified harms and utilised appropriate regulatory tools to treat those harms.
- Assessed an applicant's suitability to be licensed against FMA's licensing criteria. As a Senior Adviser, peer reviewing the assessments of other team members.
- Identified and implemented continuous improvement opportunities in the Supervision team's operations.
- Handled complaints, enquiries and misconduct cases received on market participants.
- Led a project team to successfully publish a thematic report on QFE (an advice business type) replacement insurance advice practices and processes. The report titled 'QFE insurance providers' replacement business practices' was published in July 2018.
- Contributed to a joint FMA and RBNZ review of the conduct and culture of eleven of New Zealand's registered banks. The report titled, 'Bank Conduct and Culture: Findings from an FMA and RBNZ review of conduct and culture in New Zealand retail banks' was published in November 2018.
- Worked on various technical and complex misconduct cases, some resulting in enforcement action.
- Supported the implementation of the financial advice regime changes set out in Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act (FSLAA) (effective from March 2021) through the early stages of transitional licensing to full licensing (effective from March 2023).
- Publication of market guidance and information sheets to support the advice industry in meeting its obligations. Included information sheets on Record Keeping for Financial Advice Providers and Licensing Interposed Persons and Engaged Entities.
- Provided management oversight and input into the joint FMA and Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) review of governance arrangements in 29 regulated entities (FMA report).
- Provided management oversight and input into the Access to Financial Advice Review, driving successful industry and consumer engagement and strengthening the regulator's leadership in expanding access to financial advice in New Zealand (FMA report).
Key Relationship Manager at Aegis (2015-09 – 2016-06)
- Grew business by demonstrating and promoting Aegis services to adviser groups.
- Developed and maintained relationships with a portfolio of key adviser clients, providing high quality advice and support.
- Provided training and presentations to adviser clients to ensure they were well educated on the system and maximised its functionality.
- Prepared and presented to potential new clients.
- Problem-solving client issues as they occurred, liaising with other areas of the business as necessary.
- Ensuring business risks were mitigated, working in conjunction with the Compliance Manager and/or Senior Client Relationship Manager.
- Onboarded a major institutional client thereby significantly increasing Aegis's funds under management.
Senior Sharebroker at ASB Securities (2008-07 – 2015-09)
- People leader with six direct reports.
- Responsible for the day-to-day management of the retail Equity and Fixed Interest trading desk.
- Oversight through monitoring, coaching and training of staff.
- Complaints management and disputes resolution - escalating and reporting to Senior Management and implementing controls where necessary.
- Building relationships with key stakeholders and business partners within ASB and the CBA Group.
- Implementing and monitoring client distribution mechanisms, for example IPOs.
- Increased revenue by reintroducing One-Off share sales and managing the team through three major Government IPOs.
- Attained the perfect score of 100% in the staff engagement survey Kenexa (2015).
