Finance New Zealand is a New Zealand owned asset and business finance advisory firm. We have a team of 32 business finance advisers who work with Kiwi businesses nationwide to facilitate finance solutions to help them grow. In our industry our business finance advisers are unofficially called 'brokers'. With the increase in the 'broker' or 'adviser' model in the commercial & asset finance sector in New Zealand, let's look at what defines a broker versus an adviser.

Brokers handle their clients' money through specific financial transactions, while advisers facilitate transactions. In our case, the transaction takes place between the lender and the client (Finance New Zealand does not handle the money). To put it simply, we match clients with lenders who are the best fit for them. An example of a broker is a stock broker, who receives money from the client and buys shares on their behalf.

Our definition of a ‘finance broker’ here at Finance New Zealand is "a go-between" that arranges financing for you and negotiates with lenders on your behalf. We define "our service" as the facilitation of business finance solutions sourced from a range of lenders on behalf of our clients. While this is technically what we do, to comply with the ‘Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act 2019', we are not permitted to use the term broker under New Zealand law. Therefore, our team of experts are known as ‘Business Finance Advisers’.

To use the term 'Financial Adviser' in New Zealand you must be registered on the Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR) and engaged by a licensed financial advice provider (FAP) (or authorised body). For example, Finance New Zealand Limited, trading as Finance New Zealand, is a Financial Advice Provider (FAP) licensed and regulated by the Financial Markets Authority to provide financial advice. Our FSP number is (FSP468730).

When it comes to mortgages, the term 'broker' is more recognised because it is widely used in the residential home loan industry. This industry is strong in New Zealand with more than 50% of main bank mortgage lending delivered via mortgage brokers. However, more recently, mortgage brokers have also transitioned away from the term broker to ‘Mortgage Advisers’ as their titles. This is also to comply with the Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act 2019.

The term ‘finance broker’ is widely used in Australia where the ‘broker’ model in the commercial & asset finance sector is well established. The model dominates the asset finance industry with around 70% of loans for asset finance handled by brokers. Whilst still an emerging concept in New Zealand, we are excited to see an upward trend in the broker / adviser sector as we enter our tenth year in business. In 2015 when Finance New Zealand was founded, there were relatively few commercial lending & asset finance focused brokers in New Zealand. Today, there are around 100. With an eight-person team in 2015, and a 38-person team today combined with over $3.85 billion in settled sales, across 14,900 transactions the demand for this commercial finance service is evident.

Over the last 10 years in business we have worked with a wide range of new and existing clients on a range of different finance solutions. We survey our clients along the way. Our survey results via our NPS (Net Promoter Score) sit around 96% with over 88% of that score attributed to our dedicated personal service and advice. What these high client satisfaction rates show is that clients appreciate the personal and dedicated service we provide, especially in an age when banks are moving away from relationship-based models to faceless and automated ones. We are excited to be a part of a growing industry that offers Kiwi businesses finance choices.

To learn more about how a Finance New Zealand adviser can help your business, contact us today.