In Partnership with
What comes next for
New Zealand’s aggregators
Shrinking trail, rising AI and the long-awaited arrival of open banking are reshaping what New Zealand’s mortgage aggregators do – and what advisers will expect from them in the future
Jenny Campbell
Finsure
Industry experts
Lenska Papich
Mike Pero Mortgages
Bruce Patten
New Zealand Financial Services Group
Heading up the New Zealand arm of one of Australasia’s largest mortgage adviser aggregators, Jenny Campbell is a familiar face to many within the NZ lending community. Having previously run peak professional bodies in the financial adviser space, as well as a large, branded mortgage broker group, she brings a wealth of experience and is a relentless cheerleader for advisers and a champion of the power of ‘great advice’.
Finsure
Jenny Campbell
Lenska Papich is general manager of Mike Pero Mortgages, bringing expertise in management, brand, communications and marketing. She has successfully run her own business, held senior corporate affairs roles and spearheaded initiatives to strengthen brand awareness and transform lead distribution systems in financial services businesses. Her work has significantly improved both business efficiency and marketing effectiveness, demonstrating her ability to align strategy with measurable outcomes. Now leading Mike Pero, she brings a people-first perspective to the role, underpinned by her respect for franchise owners and commitment to enhancing both customer outcomes and network performance.
Mike Pero Mortgages
Lenska Papich
With more than 20 years in the mortgage and financial services industry, Bruce Patten has built a respected Loan Market Chairman’s Club business, mentored high-performing advisers and helped countless Kiwis achieve homeownership. As CEO and managing director of New Zealand Financial Services Group (NZFSG), he is focused on empowering advisers to build sustainable businesses, strengthening strategic lender and insurer partnerships, and continuously improving the adviser experience across New Zealand. Passionate about leadership, innovation and long-term growth, Patten believes success comes from consistency, trusted relationships and surrounding yourself with great people committed to excellence.
New Zealand Financial Services Group
Bruce Patten
Warwick Slow is CEO of the Kiwi Adviser Network (KAN). He focuses on building genuine partnerships with financial advisers, helping them grow their operations and step confidently into business leadership. With a deep understanding of the New Zealand market, Slow is passionate about guiding advice businesses to navigate industry shifts, scale sustainably and deliver better financial outcomes for everyday Kiwis. He is a strong advocate for continuous industry growth and also hosts the KAN Podcast, a popular resource designed to help advisers learn proven strategies from the best in the business.
Kiwi Adviser Network
Warwick Slow
Forget the days when aggregators were simply the invisible plumbing between mortgage advisers and banks. That old blueprint has been rolled up, and the model is being rebuilt from the ground up.
The shift is being driven by a convergence of forces: reduced trail commissions, the creep of artificial intelligence into every corner of the advice process, the slow but inevitable arrival of open banking and the growing realisation that advisers need more than a pipeline to lenders. They need business partners. That tension, between what aggregators have traditionally offered and what advisers increasingly expect, is reshaping one of the more quietly significant parts of New Zealand’s financial services sector.
NZ Adviser recently gathered representatives from across the lending aggregator and mortgage advisory sector at Onemata Restaurant in Viaduct Harbour, Auckland, for a roundtable to discuss the forces reshaping their industry.
At the table were Jenny Campbell, country manager for Finsure in New Zealand; Bruce Patten, chief executive and managing director of New Zealand Financial Services Group (NZFSG); Warwick Slow, chief executive of Kiwi Adviser Network (KAN); and Lenska Papich, general manager of Mike Pero Mortgages. Joining them were April Hastilow, founder of Factor Financial, and Cameron Muggeridge, partner and mortgage adviser at Loan Market Central, bringing a frontline perspective to topics ranging from diversification and AI adoption to open banking and the evolving role of the aggregator as a genuine business partner.
Beyond trail: revaluing the advice business The most pressing issue for many advisers right now is how their businesses are valued and how to build something worth selling. Patten at NZFSG sees a fundamental shift already underway.
“In five years, we’ll have a really clear understanding of what a business is worth,” said Patten. “We’re moving away from a multiplier of trail as a way of valuing a book into an EBITDA [earnings-based] valuation.”
“We’re moving away from a multiplier of trail as a way of valuing a book into an EBITDA [earnings-based] valuation”
Bruce Patten,
New Zealand Financial Services Group
“In a reducing trail environment, we think the branded advisory business proposition adds immense value”
Lenska Papich,
Mike Pero Mortgages
Read on
Finsure is one of the fastest-growing aggregators in the Asia-Pacific, providing maximum value and helping advisers reach their goals. We have achieved this success by getting to know our advisers’ needs and the nature of adviser success, as well as understanding how we can support our network members to become some of the best in the industry. In speaking with our partners in New Zealand, we have identified the need for a holistic and comprehensive aggregation solution for Kiwis and have created award-winning services to bring to the table.
Find out more
Share
Published 06 Jul 2026
Cameron Muggeridge
Loan Market Central
April Hastilow
Factor Financial
Warwick Slow
Kiwi Adviser Network
April Hastilow is an award-winning mortgage adviser and the founder of Factor Financial. She specialises in complex lending strategies and portfolio structuring, working across first-home buyers through to seasoned investors. Known for her clear, practical approach, Hastilow is regularly sought out for her ability to navigate challenging lending scenarios and deliver commercially smart outcomes. She works closely with banks on lending-policy discussions and provides frontline adviser insight into how policy impacts real clients. Hastilow was recognised as Metro Adviser of the Year by Kiwi Adviser Network.
Factor Financial
April Hastilow
Cameron Muggeridge is a partner and mortgage adviser at Loan Market Central and the 2026 Top Adviser of the Year. With over a decade of financial expertise, Muggeridge applies an analytical lens to property finance. He has helped Kiwis secure over $1 billion in home loans within five years, earning a reputation for future-proofing mortgage structures. Based in Remuera, Auckland, Muggeridge holds Platinum Elite status, placing him in the top 1% of Loan Market advisers nationwide. His 'integrity first' philosophy prioritises long-term strategy over simple transactions, ensuring clients – from first-home buyers to seasoned investors – achieve the best possible outcomes.
Loan Market Central
Cameron Muggeridge
New Zealand Financial Services Group (NZFSG) is the country’s leading financial services provider, empowering more than 1,000 advisers with the technology, products and support they need to excel across insurance, residential, commercial and asset finance.
Find out more
“Compliance isn’t just a secondary annoyance; it’s essential for success”
Warwick Slow,
Kiwi Adviser Network
Mike Pero Mortgages has been operating in New Zealand for over 35 years and is one of the country’s most well-known and trusted mortgage advisory brands. With close to 50 franchises nationwide, the business is proud to “Get Kiwi Mortgages”, having supported hundreds of thousands of New Zealand homeowners and investors. Mike Pero is a proud member of the Liberty Financial Group.
Find out more
Recognised as the 2026 Aggregator of the Year and New Zealand’s fastest-growing network, the Kiwi Adviser Network (KAN) provides a premier platform for ambitious financial advisers. Moving far beyond basic lender access, KAN delivers an industry-leading ecosystem designed to elevate advice businesses. Members benefit from tailored compliance frameworks, cutting-edge CRM technology and strategic support to expand into broader revenue streams like business lending and KiwiSaver. By fostering strong connections across the fintech and product provider sectors, KAN equips its members with everything they need to build efficient, future-focused operations.
Find out more
“I think [mortgage advice] is a landscape where everybody still remembers that we’re the same team”
April Hastilow, Factor Financial
“It’s such a no-brainer to be able to have all of your banking information in one place and to be able to easily transport it to a new provider”
Jenny Campbell,
Finsure
“Six months ago, what you could do with AI was impressive, let alone where it is today and where it’s going to be in another six months”
Cameron Muggeridge,
Loan Market Central
He argued that the question of business worth cascades into every decision an adviser makes, from what services to offer to how they structure succession. The Westpac trail change, which shifted advisers from a 0.60% upfront plus 0.20% trail model to a single 0.90% upfront payment, triggered a complete rethink of how adviser businesses are built and exited.
Slow at KAN takes a more optimistic read on the same pressures. He points to a new generation of entrepreneurial operators who are building businesses with an eye on eventual sale from day one.
“One of the most popular podcasts that I’ve recorded in the last two or
three years was one where a business owner talked about selling his advice business for eight figures,” said Slow. “The feedback I had from that was people thinking, ‘Wow, I didn’t even consider that when building my business.’”
The implications are significant. If advisers begin treating their practices as assets to be sold rather than income streams to be managed, the entire logic of how they invest in technology, marketing and staff changes accordingly.
Patten went further, pointing out that even paid tools carry risks that most users never investigate. “Everybody’s paying to use stuff. Nobody checks their security protocols,” he said. “I would have three approaches a week from somebody with an AI tool. The first thing I ask them is, ‘Do you have SOC 2? Do you have an ISO certificate?’ None of them do, not even some of the really big ones that have quite a few advisers on.” He is direct about the potential consequences: a security breach caused by an insecure AI tool could end an adviser’s career.
Slow sees issues beyond AI tools specifically, pointing out that basic cybersecurity hygiene remains poor across much of the industry. “While advice businesses deal with a lot of personal data, there are easy steps they can take to protect themselves,” he said. “Simple things like locking doors, computers and phones when unattended are immediately actionable and provide a significant safety net against risks.”
His prescription is practical: two-factor authentication, strong passwords, a password manager and locking your computer when you leave your desk. “As well as these steps, making sure you have robust data and AI policies and procedures can protect your customer’s sensitive data.”
Papich at Mike Pero Mortgages sees diversification through the lens of volume and efficiency and is measured about the complexity it can introduce. For her, the priority is optimising what already works.
“We need to be increasingly volume focused in a reducing trail environment,” said Papich. “The opportunity for advisers is to embrace that shift by optimising the back end, their systems and processes, to supercharge the front. What I mean by that is a continued, unwavering focus on the relationship with the customer that is optimised by the piece the customer doesn’t see.”
“In a reducing trail environment, we think the branded advisory business proposition adds immense value,” she added. “Therefore, brand investment to maintain trust and recognition is key for us. Diversified revenue streams remain very important; however, the complexity and implementation costs that come with diversification need to be carefully considered.”
The diversification push Opportunities for advisers centre squarely around diversification. From commercial lending to KiwiSaver and insurance, the range of adjacent products that residential mortgage advisers have historically left untouched is becoming harder to ignore.
Finsure’s Campbell pointed to the gap between what advisers could be doing and what most actually are doing. “They’re just leaving so much on the table with their clients,” she said, “and it’s an area that is just so underused in New Zealand.”
Slow sees KiwiSaver as particularly significant, partly because of its revenue potential and partly because remuneration changes are pushing advisers to think harder about enterprise value. “A lot of the time, these businesses have spent the money and resources to bring in a customer,” he said. “You’ve built that relationship. Why not support them with other services that they can benefit from?”
Muggeridge at Loan Market Central framed commercial diversification as a service-quality issue as much as a revenue one. Bank service levels for SME clients have weakened, he argued, creating a genuine opening.
“We see it as a multifaceted opportunity,” said Muggeridge. “Not just helping commercially but also helping the staff of those business owners as well.”
The commercial opportunity extends to how advisers think about the whole client experience. Muggeridge has been building what he describes as a fiscal roadmap for clients, giving them visibility of their financial position over time.
“How do we help them potentially plan for the future better?” he said. “How do we achieve their fiscal goals? Building out a roadmap for them, where they can see their fiscal position and see that improvement over time, and what they’re building towards and how it’s tracking – that’s a great thing for us.”
Hastilow at Factor Financial added a note of caution to the diversification conversation. “The risk is that advisers chase product breadth at the expense of the relationship depth that actually differentiates them from a chatbot or a comparison website,” she said.
AI: the tool that worries everyone If there is one topic that generates both the most enthusiasm and the most unease in this room, it’s artificial intelligence. The excitement is about efficiency gains and the ability to do more with smaller teams. The worry is about data security, liability and advisers who do not know what they do not know.
Campbell has been watching the cybersecurity dimension with growing concern. “A lot of people don’t realise that using stuff for free off the internet is not necessarily secure,” she said, “and they’re putting a lot of personal information, or their clients’ personal information, up into the ether.”
Just as advisers can work more efficiently using AI, so too can cybercriminals. The latest annual Kordia cybersecurity report shows that 44% of New Zealand businesses had suffered a successful cyberattack in the previous 12 months, with almost one in six attacks involving AI vulnerabilities or misuse.
Hastilow framed the data security question not as a compliance issue but as a human one, focusing on what a breach means for the client on the other end of it. “You really do have to respect how vulnerable [a data breach] makes them,” she said. “[Advisers] are targets at the highest level with the data that we have.”
Despite the risks, she remains positive about what the technology enables smaller operators. “As an adviser, it’s fantastic,” she said. “You can work from anywhere in the world, but you’ve got to do so safely.”
Her advice to smaller businesses is to stop treating IT as an overhead and start treating it as a core business risk function. She uses an editorial test when assessing any decision. “Think of it as a newspaper heading,” she said. “Whatever you’re about to do now, think of it going wrong. Are you comfortable? Can you defend yourself? If you can’t, probably don’t do it.”
Muggeridge described a methodical approach at Loan Market Central, where AI tools have been trialled carefully and adopted only where they have demonstrably improved processes.
“We have trialled AI agents gently at this point, due to AI moving and developing so fast, and haven’t found one that is easily implemented within the business,” he said.
“Six months ago, what you could do with AI was impressive, let alone where it is today and where it’s going to be in another six months,” he added. “At this point, we haven’t committed to any one AI tool; we are just using them in order to stay current and aware of their capabilities before a version or new AI can be implemented within the business to solve our needs.”
Despite the risks, Hastilow finds practical value in AI tools at the administrative end of her business, describing tools like Claude as giving smaller firms the ability to punch above their weight.
Campbell echoed that framing, describing AI in its current state as “a really enthusiastic intern” rather than a replacement for professional
judgement. She added that financial advice provider owners have not fully reckoned with their liability exposure in the AI and cybersecurity space.
“I think that’s going to be a real focus for regulators moving forward,” she said. “We’ve seen in Australia how the regulator can really enforce much higher standards than what we have here currently around that security piece. It’s only going to take one big breach, and the hammer is going to come down.”
Papich shares the view that AI requires a measured approach and sees it playing a supporting role rather than a central one. For Mike Pero, the technology is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
“We believe AI will play a key role in streamlining adviser processes and increasing efficiency,” said Papich. “It’s an exciting time, but it also requires a measured and sustainable approach to balance security and safety for our advisers and clients. Advisers still need to be providing nuanced, relationship-based advice.”
She also pointed to a less-discussed application within her own network. “We see AI playing a significant role in powering our marketing proposition and being able to service our local marketing franchise needs at speed and scale,” she said.
Compliance as culture, not a checkbox The question of how aggregators identify and manage poor adviser behaviour before complaints surface drew candid responses. The industry consensus is that reactive compliance is not enough.
Papich ties the answer to organisational culture rather than systems alone and is unapologetic about the standards she applies within her own network. “Genuine value also looks like reinforcing a culture of doing the right thing even when no one’s looking,” she said. “The responsibility we owe our clients is enormous.”
Mike Pero has taken the logic further, launching a commission model that links remuneration directly to quality metrics. “It’s quite brave and hasn’t been without challenges,” said Papich. “But people are starting to catch on to it. Instead of just having a compliance function, it’s about how we become more professional.”
Patten draws on a cautionary example from across the Tasman to illustrate the stakes, referencing a fraud case that began at one advice business and resulted in hundreds of advisers being caught up in the fallout. “The risk is that everybody gets tarred with the same brush from one business,” he said. “We need to be ruthless in our determination of whether someone should remain in your business.”
He argued that the distinction aggregators need to be able to make is ultimately a simple one. “It’s very easy to determine whether someone either made a genuine mistake or made a mistake on purpose,” said Patten. “And that’s as simple as it gets. As responsible aggregators, we need to be the ones that actually step forward.”
Slow made a point that cuts through much of the compliance-as-burden narrative, arguing that what regulators require is simply good management practice under another name.
“Compliance isn’t just a secondary annoyance; it’s essential for success,” he said. “If you look at the guidelines and what the legislature is looking for, it’s not just there to keep you busy. It’s good business practice.”
Muggeridge sees the next five years bringing a natural lift in standards
For Slow, the potential is about more than convenience. Real-time data sharing between providers and advisers would allow a level of client visibility that currently requires tedious manual back and forth.
“How frustrating is it at the moment for a mortgage adviser when you have to call your customer and go, ‘What’s your loan balance?’” he said. KAN is in the process of obtaining an open banking licence, and Slow is clear-eyed about learning from Australia’s experience, where uptake has been disappointing.
Patten pointed out that bank resistance has been a
as the industry consolidates around better-run businesses but cautions that the transition will not be without friction for those who have coasted on lower standards. “I think what will happen over the next five years is that the standard of advice will lift,” he said.
Open banking: still waiting, still optimistic Open banking has been a long time coming in New Zealand, and the patience of the people who would benefit most from it is wearing thin. Campbell didn’t hide her frustration.
“It is appalling that it’s been so slow coming,” she said. “It’s such a no-brainer to be able to have all of your banking information in one place and to be able to easily transport it to a new provider.”
significant factor in the slow rollout, but he sees the end in sight. “We’ve still got one semi-major [bank] to come on,” he said. “I think it gives us a really unique opportunity to stop having our clients breach their internet rules to give us information and actually be able to provide really good, quick answers.”
He added a characteristic note of caution: some advisers are already using third-party tools to access open banking-style data, and those tools carry the same security risks as any other unvetted product.
“I’m talking about third parties that advisers are using to get open banking information that do not have security protocols,” said Patten. “That’s what worries me.”
The aggregator as business partner The thread running through every topic in the conversation is a redefinition of what aggregators are actually for. The transaction-processing model, in which aggregators facilitated lender access and collected commissions, is being replaced by something considerably more complex.
Campbell described the direction Finsure is taking in terms of building an ecosystem around its advisers. “Advisers are seeing that aggregators have to have more than just a tech play and commission payment system,” she said. “I want to be fully involved in their businesses. I want to be the first person they call when they have a business idea.”
She is also realistic about where New Zealand needs to get to, pointing to Australia’s more mature broker market as a reference point.
“As a loyal Kiwi, it does pain me to admit that when we look over the ditch, the mortgage broking industry there is much more mature than ours, and we can learn a lot from that,” she said. “Brokers in Australia have over 80% market share, and the vibe is different. It’s much more positive, proactive, energetic. Brokers there don’t need to explain to their clients what they do or how they get paid, because it’s just more normal than not to go to a broker. That’s what I want for New Zealand.”
Source: Kordia New Zealand Business Cyber Security Report 2026
Types of cyberattacks on New Zealand businesses
AI breach
45%
19%
19%
18%
16%
14%
14%
12%
12%
10%
8%
6%
Email phishing attack
DDoS attack
Text (smishing) attack
Through unsecured website or app
Third-party attack or breach
Cloud misconfiguration or vulnerability
Through business social media account
Via unpatched system or device
By staff (intentional or accidental data leak)
Through vulnerable service or workstation app
By voice or video deepfake (vishing) attack
0
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Patten frames the shift in terms of what advisers need as they grow but is clear-eyed about the cost implications. “We aggregators are no longer just there to process loans and collect commissions,” he said. “We’re actually there to help them grow now. But that comes at a cost. We can’t be in a race to zero when it comes to how we run the businesses going forward.”
Slow sees the appetite among advisers for genuine business partnerships growing rapidly, shaped in part by a conference his organisation held recently. “So many [advisers] are looking at all the other areas of business and asking, ‘How can you help?’” he said. “While we don’t have all the answers, we can use the collective scale of our network and the industry to help figure them out, because people are looking to us as real leaders in the industry.”
For Papich, Mike Pero’s point of difference as a business partner lies in the strength and reach of its brand. “The adviser channel has the opportunity to be even more relevant through relationship-based engagement and distinguished marketing. Differentiation through
marketing is our key proposition,” said Papich. “Around a quarter of Mike Pero settlements can be attributed to marketing and the power of our brand, and our goal is to continue increasing that source of business to better support our franchisees.”
She sees the adviser channel as having a strong future. “Even if the total number of industry advisers were to shrink, there is an opportunity for at-scale branded operators running smart, customer-focused businesses,” she said. “The industry needs to move as one: building public trust, attracting quality people and keeping the focus on customer outcomes. That’s the job, and it doesn’t change regardless of what the market does.”
Muggeridge sees the relationship between adviser and aggregator shifting towards mentorship and operational guidance as businesses try to scale beyond the sole-operator model. “We’ve got advisers approaching our business, going, ‘What do you guys do? How do we scale?’” he said. “I think that’s going to become more paramount among the aggregators.”
Hastilow brought the conversation back to what she sees as the industry’s most important shared asset. “I think it’s a landscape where everybody still remembers that we’re the same team,” she said.
The old plumbing is coming out. What gets laid in its place – better technology, genuine business partnership, a shared standard of care for clients – is still being designed. Whatever structure emerges from this time of rapid change, both advisers and aggregators have much at stake.
Source: MFAA
Mortgage broker market share growth in Australia (2023–2026)
67.2%
71.5%
71.8%
74.1%
73.7%
74.6%
76.0%
76.8%
77.6%
77.3%
76.7%
81.0%
80
78
76
74
72
70
68
JUN 2023
SEP
2023
DEC
2023
MAR
2024
JUN
2024
SEP
2024
DEC
2024
MAR
2025
JUN
2025
SEP
2025
DEC
2025
MAR
2026