Vega is becoming the home of choice for NZ advisers

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Group is turning into a full-service platform, giving advisers cross-category income, lead generation, compliance support, and data tools to keep clients with advisers they trust

There is a particular kind of frustration that ambitious mortgage advisers know well. You spend years building client relationships, developing trust and honing your craft, and then you hit a ceiling. The compliance burden grows. The leads dry up. The bank that was enthusiastic last quarter has quietly shifted its appetite. And the clients who once came to you for a home loan now need insurance, commercial finance or wealth advice, but you have no easy way to help them without sending them elsewhere. Vega, a New Zealand financial services group, was built with that frustration in mind. What began as a mortgage business has grown into what chief executive Harry Ferreira describes as a vertically integrated ecosystem, spanning mortgages, insurance, commercial lending, wealth, auto finance, asset finance and medical finance.

Vega is a forward-thinking financial services group committed to helping people build stronger financial futures. From its origins in mortgages, Vega has grown into a vertically integrated ecosystem spanning lending, insurance, commercial, wealth and asset finance. Built on strong leadership, innovation and a culture of excellence, Vega focuses on long-term relationships, trusted advice and delivering meaningful outcomes. At its core, Vega is about growth, opportunity and creating lasting value for the communities and clients it serves.

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“By expanding into complementary services, our advisers could continue guiding their clients across every stage of their financial journey”

Harry Ferreira, Vega

Published 16 Mar 2026

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“Digital tools streamline applications, compliance and communication. Human advice provides strategy, context, relationships and, most importantly, trust”

Harry Ferreira, Vega

“We started with a simple idea: create a better home for advisers and a better experience for clients,” says Ferreira. “Today, Vega spans mortgages, insurance, commercial, wealth, auto finance, asset finance and medical finance.” Vega is building a platform that lets advisers support clients across mortgages, insurance, commercial lending, wealth and specialist finance within one aligned ecosystem, while providing the leadership, compliance, marketing and technology backbone to turn individual books of business into long-term careers and equity value. It’s a response to rising compliance demands, shifting bank appetite and higher client expectations, offering advisers an alternative to working independently by combining diversified income, operational support and data-driven technology all in one place. From mortgage business to ecosystemThe shift from a single-product mortgage business to a multiservice platform didn’t happen by accident. Ferreira says Vega made a deliberate early decision to avoid the trap of becoming a one-product business. “By expanding into complementary services, our advisers could continue guiding their clients across every stage of their financial journey instead of handing them elsewhere,” he says. “That shift strengthened trust, created recurring income and built long-term value for both advisers and clients.”

The logic flows naturally through the client life cycle. A home loan leads to a conversation about protection. A property investor needs commercial and asset finance. A client building wealth eventually needs longer-term financial planning. In each case, Vega’s model is designed to keep the adviser at the centre of the relationship rather than allowing that relationship to fragment across multiple providers. The second deliberate investment was in what Ferreira calls the backbone of the business: leadership, compliance, marketing and operations. These are not glamorous priorities, but they are the ones that determine whether

advisers can build sustainable careers rather than simply writing business for a few years before burning out. “Writing business is one thing, but building a lasting career requires real support,” says Ferreira. “That foundation allows our advisers to focus on what matters most – relationships, advice and outcomes – while the platform supports their growth behind the scenes.” What clients want nowThe broader context in which Vega is building its platform is one of rising client expectations. Speed, accuracy and transparency are no longer differentiators; they are the baseline. Clients are comfortable moving digitally through the early stages of a process, but they still want a trusted person at the other end when the decisions get serious. Ferreira is clear that technology is an enabler in this environment, not a replacement for advice. “Clients don’t want advice replaced; they want it strengthened,” he says. “AI may play a bigger role over time, but right now it’s freeing advisers from administration so they can focus on strategy, relationships and delivering the best outcomes for their clients.” For advisers, this shift creates genuine competitive advantage if they choose to embrace it. Better systems, smarter automation and faster response times mean more capacity for the kind of high-quality conversations that build client loyalty. The advisers who hesitate risk falling behind, not because clients will stop valuing human advice but because they will increasingly gravitate towards advisers who can deliver both the personal relationship and the seamless digital experience.

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“By activating referral networks and digital pathways, Vega Earna consistently delivers high-quality leads at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising, while giving advisers greater visibility and control over their pipeline,” he says. The platform also feeds into a broader focus on data visibility and adviser dashboards. The idea is that when advisers can clearly see their pipeline, referrals flow more naturally and performance improves. Cross-selling across the group’s service lines becomes easier when the data is visible and the infrastructure is in place to act on it. Vega is also investing in what Ferreira calls GRC innovation – the integration of governance, risk and compliance functions into a

more streamlined platform that includes online training modules and assessments. “Our journey towards GRC excellence is ongoing, but through integrated platforms, online training modules and assessments, we are streamlining oversight, improving consistency and strengthening risk management across the business,” he says. The challenges independent advisers faceThe pressures Vega is responding to are real and, in some cases, intensifying. Compliance requirements are growing. Margins are tightening. Bank appetite for mortgage lending through the adviser channel can shift without much warning, leaving advisers exposed when volume targets are not met. Ferreira points to Australia as an indicator of where New Zealand could head. Close to 80% of Australian residential mortgages now originate through the broker channel, a figure that reflects decades of consolidation around platforms and groups that offer advisers proper support and scale. This compares with surveys in New Zealand putting the equivalent figure for 2025 at 46%, and anecdotal evidence suggesting the proportion here is around 55%. “Many brokers feel the ‘tap’ can be turned on and off at a whim, despite a large share of lending consistently originating through the broker channel,” he says. The implication for New Zealand advisers is that working independently becomes harder as complexity increases. Compliance alone can consume the time that should be going into client relationships. Marketing, lead generation and technology investment are difficult to sustain without the backing of a larger operation. “The answer isn’t working longer hours,” Ferreira says. “It’s being part of a stronger platform that provides support, stability and the infrastructure to grow effectively.” What advisers actually wantVega’s pitch to advisers is built around a specific promise: that the platform can give them something more durable than transaction-by-transaction income. Ferreira describes a vision of advisers building equity value, growing teams and creating long-term careers rather than simply chasing the next deal. “Advisers want more than just transactions,” he says. “They want stability, ownership pathways and the ability to build something with real long-term value.” The goal Ferreira articulates is for Vega to become the home of choice for ambitious advisers, a phrase he uses deliberately. The word ‘home’ is doing some work here. It signals belonging, support and continuity, qualities that are often absent from the more transactional relationships advisers have had with aggregators and dealer groups in the past. “Our goal is simple: to be the home of choice for ambitious advisers, a place that supports growth, strengthens compliance, improves earnings and enables advisers to deliver outstanding outcomes for their clients within one fully integrated ecosystem,” Ferreira explains. Vega is attracting advisers who are looking for more than a commission arrangement. The combination of diversified income streams, operational support and a technology platform designed around the adviser experience is a coherent response to the structural pressures the industry is facing. For advisers weighing their options, the underlying question Vega is posing is worth considering: in an environment where compliance is growing, bank behaviour is unpredictable and clients expect more, what is the best way to build a career with longevity? “The right environment, the right support and the right platform can transform not just performance but long-term career trajectory,” says Ferreira. “That is exactly what we are building at Vega.”

Source: MFAA Quarterly Market Share survey

77.3%

71.5%

Sept 2023

74.6%

Sept 2024

Sept 2025

Share of new lending

Almost 80% of new Australian home loans originate via brokers

Quarterly share of new residential lending via mortgage brokers

Building the pipeline with Vega EarnaOne of the more concrete expressions of Vega’s approach to technology is its lead generation platform, Vega Earna. Ferreira describes it as having transformed how the business generates opportunities, both internally for its own advisers and externally.

Using AI to help serve clients better

are already using AI or plan to do so within 12 months

say AI could help them serve clients better

say AI could expand access to financial advice

believe AI could enhance advice quality

Source: Financial Planning Standards Board Global Research Report 2025: Impact of AI on Financial Planning

~2/3

73%

67%

71%

Among New Zealand Certified Financial Planners:

Source: MFAA Quarterly Market Share survey

77.3%

71.5%

Sept 2023

74.6%

Sept 2024

Sept 2025

Almost 80% of new Australian home loans originate via brokers

Quarterly share of new residential lending via mortgage brokers

80 75 70 65 60

The wider industry is moving ahead on AI. A global survey last year found, for example, that around two thirds of New Zealand Certified Financial Planners were already using AI or planning to do so within 12 months. According to the report, 73% of financial planners said AI could help them serve clients better and 67% believed AI could enhance advice quality. “Digital tools streamline applications, compliance and communication,” Ferreira adds. “Human advice provides strategy, context, relationships and, most importantly, trust.”