New Zealand Financial Adviser List
Our independent, fee-based financial adviser list, rebuilt from the ground up in 2026
Updated 13 June 2026
Summary
Our View: No one cares about your money more than you do. A list of advisers is a starting point for your own research, not a substitute for it. We intend to make this the most honest adviser list in New Zealand by being upfront about fees, investment selection and commissions.
How this list is ordered
The standard we used, and why it changed
To appear on this list, a firm must:
Here is the reasoning:
Who rebuilt this list, and who maintains it
- This list began life as Mary Holm's original fee-only adviser list - MoneyHub now publishes and updates it exclusively, and in June 2026, we rebuilt it from scratch.
- We did not just refresh the names, we commissioned an independent specialist to review every firm against a clear, published standard, then reorganised the whole page so you can see exactly how it was put together. Some firms stayed, some came off.
- The reasoning behind every decision is set out below, because a list like this is only useful if you can see the workings.
- Inclusion is on merit against the published standard below. This is the unpaid, journalistic heart of the page, and the direct descendant of Mary Holm's original fee-only list.
Our View: No one cares about your money more than you do. A list of advisers is a starting point for your own research, not a substitute for it. We intend to make this the most honest adviser list in New Zealand by being upfront about fees, investment selection and commissions.
How this list is ordered
- This list is not ranked. No position implies endorsement, quality or preference. We want to be honest about why the order still matters.
- Most directories run A to Z. That quietly rewards firms whose names start early in the alphabet, because readers anchor on whatever sits at the top and rarely scroll to the bottom. It is a small but well-documented bias, and on a list that is explicitly unranked, it is unfair to two-thirds of the firms on it.
- We have reversed the list to run Z to A as a first step, and we will periodically rotate the order so that the same firms do not permanently hold the top spots. If you are choosing an adviser, read the whole list, not the first few rows.
The standard we used, and why it changed
- The original list carried a strict promise - the adviser receives only explicitly stated fees charged to you, and passes on all commissions in full. The problem is that almost no full-service firm in New Zealand actually meets it to the letter, and the old list had drifted to include firms that plainly did not meet it.
- So we set a standard that the list can actually defend, firm by firm.
To appear on this list, a firm must:
- Offer a genuine fee-only or fixed-fee option that you can pay for directly, rather than only being remunerated through the products it recommends.
- Publicly disclose how it is paid and its conflicts of interest, in a current disclosure statement on its own website.
Here is the reasoning:
- A fee that scales with how much you invest (an "assets under management", or AUM, fee) is not a commission. So a firm charging it can honestly say it takes no commissions, and still appear here.
- Small KiwiSaver commissions are the one exception we accept. As Mary Holm's original note put it, an adviser who takes a modest KiwiSaver commission, discloses it, and does not charge a fee on top is acting reasonably, because hourly fees on a small KiwiSaver balance would cost you more than the commission ever does. Disclosure is the price of admission.
Who rebuilt this list, and who maintains it
- The relaunch of this list was led by MoneyHub, which commissioned an independent specialist to review each firm against the standard above.
- MoneyHub exclusively publishes and updates Mary Holm's original list, and we are grateful for the foundation she built. The standard, the reasoning and the ongoing maintenance are now ours, and we own every call on this page.
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MoneyHub Founder Christopher Walsh shares his view:
"I am often asked what I think of financial advisers. I will not comment on anyone individually. But I will give you the one question I would ask: Did the adviser suggest spreading your money across different managers and asset classes, or did they want to tip everything into one fund and then send you updates? If it is the latter, ask them to explain why they are not following a diversified approach. They may tell you the fund is already diversified. Fine. Ask how you would know. Most advisers are genuinely good at what they do. But I have seen expensive, poor-performing funds dressed up as advice, and structures that always seem to land heads-I-win, tails-you-lose for the firm. Whatever you decide, diversification is what protects you from a single investment going wrong and taking a big chunk of your money with it. And please, ask how the adviser is paid. Read what they send you. Are you paying them a percentage of your investment each year, or are the people they invest your money with paying them? The difference is the whole game." |
Christopher Walsh
MoneyHub Founder |
Meeting an Adviser? Test Them First
A good adviser who puts your interests first should ask at the start whether you have debt. If you do, and the interest rate is higher than the mortgage rate, they should tell you to repay that before investing a cent.
The same broadly goes for your mortgage. There are arguments for putting a little into shares and bonds for diversification and to learn how markets behave. That argument is strongest inside KiwiSaver: contributing the minimum to capture all the KiwiSaver incentives usually beats putting that money on the mortgage. Beyond that, attacking the mortgage is hard to argue with.
Before you commit to any adviser, ask:
Warning: The numbers matter more than people realise. For a $500,000 portfolio, a 0.5% annual fee is $2,500 per year. A 1.5% fee costs $7,500. Over 20 years, that gap can compound into roughly $200,000 of lost wealth. Cheap is not the goal, but you should know exactly what you are paying for and what you get for it.
The promise we ask of advisers
What if you got the wrong advice?
You have a right to complain. You cannot complain about how an investment performed, only about how you were advised. Complain to the adviser first, in writing, with as much supporting paperwork as you can gather. If you do not get a fair response, escalate to the firm's dispute resolution scheme, and use the Financial Markets Authority and government guides on who to approach.
Know This: "Low risk" is not "no risk." A low-risk product can still lose money, and if the adviser explained that, you have no grounds for complaint. But if you were told a product could not lose money and it did, you were advised incorrectly.
The same broadly goes for your mortgage. There are arguments for putting a little into shares and bonds for diversification and to learn how markets behave. That argument is strongest inside KiwiSaver: contributing the minimum to capture all the KiwiSaver incentives usually beats putting that money on the mortgage. Beyond that, attacking the mortgage is hard to argue with.
Before you commit to any adviser, ask:
- How are you paid?
- What will I pay in year one, in dollars?
- What will I pay each year after that?
- Do you earn more from some products than others?
- What range of products and providers do you consider when giving advice?
Warning: The numbers matter more than people realise. For a $500,000 portfolio, a 0.5% annual fee is $2,500 per year. A 1.5% fee costs $7,500. Over 20 years, that gap can compound into roughly $200,000 of lost wealth. Cheap is not the goal, but you should know exactly what you are paying for and what you get for it.
The promise we ask of advisers
- The firms on this list operate on a fee-based model and are publicly disclosed. Mary Holm's original list went further, asking advisers to sign a strict guarantee. We have kept it here as the gold standard, and we encourage you to ask any adviser, on this list or not, whether they will put it in writing:
- "I guarantee that when I give a new client investment advice, the only money I receive is explicitly stated fees I charge the client. Any commissions or other considerations I receive are passed on in full to the client."
- You can also ask for a signed letter stating that the adviser believes they have given you the best advice they can, having considered a wide range of products, and that they have told you about all real or potential conflicts of interest. We urge you to ask for it. A good adviser will not shy away from this request.
What if you got the wrong advice?
You have a right to complain. You cannot complain about how an investment performed, only about how you were advised. Complain to the adviser first, in writing, with as much supporting paperwork as you can gather. If you do not get a fair response, escalate to the firm's dispute resolution scheme, and use the Financial Markets Authority and government guides on who to approach.
Know This: "Low risk" is not "no risk." A low-risk product can still lose money, and if the adviser explained that, you have no grounds for complaint. But if you were told a product could not lose money and it did, you were advised incorrectly.
Disclaimers and must-know facts
If your experience with any adviser on this page is positive or negative, contact our research team. We use that feedback in our annual review.
- This list is journalistic. MoneyHub has no financial arrangement with these firms, and inclusion is free of charge. MoneyHub has not reviewed the work of these advisers, and inclusion does not constitute a recommendation.
- The exclusion of any adviser does not suggest that their service is inferior to that of those listed.
- Always read a firm's disclosure statement and do your own due diligence before contacting or investing with any adviser.
- All financial advisers operating in New Zealand must hold a FAP licence and provide a disclosure document. Being licensed does not guarantee results. Barry Kloogh was an authorised adviser running a Ponzi scheme; Ross Asset Management is another cautionary tale. Understand what you are investing in, and read every document you are sent.
If your experience with any adviser on this page is positive or negative, contact our research team. We use that feedback in our annual review.
The Fee-Based Adviser List
No firm below pays to appear. Each offers a fee-only or fixed-fee option and publicly discloses how it is paid. MoneyHub has not checked the advice, and these firms are not recommendations. If you are interested in one, phone or email them, ask how they are paid, and ask for their disclosure statement.
The list runs Z to A to disrupt the standard A to Z format of lists.
The list runs Z to A to disrupt the standard A to Z format of lists.
| Firm | Adviser(s) | Phone | Areas | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your Money Blueprint | Nick Carr | 022 504 7612 | Wellington, remote NZ wide | No minimum |
| Wealth & Co | Simon Stredder | 09 412 5844 | Greater Auckland, Waikato, BoP, Northland | No minimum (comprehensive); $50,000 (investment only) |
| The Retirement Guys | James Smith, Martin Fox | 027 649 1907 | Christchurch, Canterbury, remote NZ wide | $250,000 |
| Taimana Wealth | Stephen Fitzjohn, Tony Vincent | 04 939 6601 | Lower Hutt | No minimum |
| Tailored NZ | Rosemary Hopcroft and team | 0800 878 223 | North Island | Varies |
| Simple Money | Spencer Reese | - | Throughout NZ | No minimum |
| Saturn Advice | Jean Strock and team | 0800 757 858 | Nationwide | No minimum |
| Rutherford Rede | Phil Ashton and team | 09 361 3670 | Auckland, BoP, Waikato, Wellington, Nelson | No minimum |
| Roskow Independent Advisory | Matthew Ross, Neil Salkow | 07 3102 3969 | Australia-based (Melbourne, Brisbane) | No minimum |
| Nest Egg Investments | Dean Edwards | 021 570 618 | Auckland, remote NZ wide | No minimum |
| Money Moves | Rachel Currie | 027 712 1457 | Ashburton, NZ wide | No minimum |
| Keystone Wealth | Pete Norris | 021 55 20 18 | Auckland, NZ and globally | $1,000,000 |
| Fairhaven Wealth | Sonnie Bailey | 03 421 5764 | Christchurch, remote NZ wide | No minimum (flat fee) |
| David Smart Co. | David Smart | 027 543 4455 | Auckland, NZ wide | No minimum |
| Central Financial Planning | Brent Wilson | 03 448 8613 | Alexandra, NZ wide | No minimum |
| Cambridge Partners | Andrew Nuttall and team | 0800 864 164 | Christchurch + NZ wide | No minimum |
| Auckland Financial | Paul King | - | Auckland | No minimum |
| Athena Wealth | Sumita Paul | 021 210 8787 | Auckland, NZ wide | No minimum |
Are you a financial adviser no longer appearing?
If your firm was on this list and is not here now, here is what happened and what to do.
- We hired an independent expert to relaunch this list against a clear, published standard, and every firm was reviewed on the same basis. A firm may have come off for one of a few reasons: no current disclosure statement on its website, no genuine fee-only or fixed-fee option, or an approach built around concentrating clients in a single product. None of this is a judgment on the quality of your advice. The list is journalistic, and exclusion is not a finding against you.
- We are not accepting new submissions right now. We have deliberately paused intake while we finalise how onboarding should work, so that every firm added from here is held to the same documented standard rather than added ad hoc. We would rather get the framework right than reopen the floodgates and end up back where this list was.
- If you believe your firm meets the published standard and should be reconsidered, or you want to register interest for when submissions reopen, contact our research team and we will keep your details on file. If your omission is down to a missing disclosure statement, publishing one on your website is the single most useful thing you can do.
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