Paying advisers for KiwiSaver advice

Instead of commission or deducting a fee from a member’s accounts Amova will pay advisers who provide advice to clients around KiwiSaver.

It doesn’t want to publicly disclose the dollar amount, but it appears to be reasonable.

Amova managing director Stuart Williams told the ASSET Magazine KiwiSaver Round Table yesterday the has launched its new offer to advisers this week.

"Advising on KiwiSaver requires time and expertise. We believe advisers should be compensated for this effort."

Amova offers the Goals Getter product which uses multi-managers where advisers and members can create a KiwiSaver fund using a mix of approved funds managers.

On the menu are Amova, Generate, Milford, Pathfinder, Generate, Harbour and Salt.

Williams told Good Returns earlier Amova and researched and approved these managers before putting them on its menu.

To qualify for the advice fee payment an adviser only have to use two of the managers on the approved list. The member has to be new to Goals Getter, be a minimum of $30,000.

Technically an adviser could pick Milford and Pathfinder and still get the fee from Amova.

"At Amova, we believe that financial advice can significantly improve KiwiSaver outcomes for more New Zealanders. However, providing quality upfront advice requires time and effort from advisers - effort that isn’t always reflected in ongoing fees.

"By recognising and fairly compensating this work, we aim to make advice more accessible to members," Amova says in a note to advisers.

The fee is subject to a two year clawback.

"To encourage long-term engagement, the upfront advice fee is subject to a claw-back clause. If...the investment is withdrawn or transferred to another Scheme within a two-year period, Amova reserves the right to recover that amount."