Disclosure Statement

27 August 2024

Licence status and conditions

Canstar New Zealand Limited (“Canstar NZ”) (FSP200146) is a registered Financial Service Provider that holds a full licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority to provide financial advice services.

Nature and scope of financial advice service

Canstar NZ provides general advice that does not take into account your financial situation, needs and objectives.

Canstar NZ may provide regulated financial advice in relation to the following financial advice products:

  1.   KiwiSaver Schemes
  2.   Other Managed Investment Schemes
  3.   Personal Risk Insurances
  4.   Fire and General Insurances
  5.   Other Insurances
  6.   Debt Securities (transaction and savings accounts)
  7.   Mortgage Products/Consumer Credit Contracts
  8.   Other Financial Advice Products.

Canstar NZ does not compare all products or providers in the market.

Fees, expenses, or other amounts payable

Canstar NZ does not charge fees, expenses or any other amount for any financial advice provided to its clients. Canstar NZ is committed to offering consumers a service, at no charge, that is designed to help consumers navigate the world of finance and find the right products for them.

Conflicts of interest and commissions or other incentives

Canstar NZ is not owned by any financial product issuer. Canstar NZ may provide some product issuers with referrals, advertising placements, data, research, licensing, IT or consulting services for a fee.

Canstar NZ employees receive a salary and do not receive remuneration, commissions or other benefits from any products issuers. They may be eligible for an annual performance payment or retention incentives that are discretionary and based on reaching agreed performance levels.

Canstar NZ may earn a fee for referrals from its website tables, and from Sponsorship or Promotion of certain products. Fees payable by product providers for referrals and Sponsorship or Promotion may vary between providers, website position, and revenue model. Sponsorship or Promotion fees may be higher than referral fees. Sponsored or Promoted products are clearly disclosed as such on website pages. They may appear in a number of areas on the website such as in comparison tables, on hub pages and in articles. Sponsored or Promoted products may be displayed in a fixed position in a table, regardless of the product’s rating, price or other attributes. The table position of a Sponsored or Promoted product does not indicate any ranking or rating by Canstar NZ. For more information, please see “How we get paid”.

Canstar NZ prioritises our clients’ interests above our own. All our staff undergo annual training about how to manage conflicts of interest. We maintain registers of conflicts of interests, and the gifts and incentives we receive. Canstar NZ performs an annual review of our compliance arrangements. Please see “How Canstar avoids conflicts of interest” for more information.

Complaints handling and dispute resolution process

Should you wish to lodge a complaint about the service provided by Canstar NZ you should send an email to complaints@canstar.co.nz addressed to the Complaints Officer. You can also write to us at: PO Box 2073 Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 New Zealand.

We have established procedures to ensure that all complaints are properly considered and dealt with. When we receive a complaint, we will consider it following our internal complaints process:

  • We will acknowledge the receipt of your complaint and let you know how we intend to resolve it. We may need to contact you to get further information about your complaint.
  • We aim to resolve complaints within 5 working days of receiving them. If we can’t, we will contact you within that time to let you know we need more time to consider your complaint.
  • We will contact you by phone or email to let you know whether we can resolve your complaint and how we propose to do so.

If we can’t resolve your complaint, or you aren’t satisfied with the way we propose to do so, you can contact Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL) – A Financial Ombudsman Service.

FSCL is an independent external ombudsman and dispute resolution service that has been approved by the Minister of Consumer Affairs under the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008. FSCL’s service is free of charge to you.

You can contact FSCL by emailing complaints@fscl.org.nz, by calling 0800 347 257 or by writing to PO Box 5967 Wellington 6140. For more information see: http://www.fscl.org.nz.

Duties information

Canstar NZ has duties under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 relating to the way that we give advice. We are required to:

  • give priority to your interests by taking all reasonable steps to make sure our advice isn’t materially influenced by our own interests
  • exercise care, diligence, and skill in providing you with advice
  • meet standards of competence, knowledge and skill set by the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services (these are designed to make sure that we have the expertise needed to provide you with advice)
  • meet standards of ethical behaviour, conduct and client care set by the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services (these are designed to make sure we treat you as we should, and give you suitable advice).

This is only a summary of the duties that we have. More information is available by contacting us, or by visiting the Financial Markets Authority website at https://www.fma.govt.nz.

Contact Details

Canstar NZ is a Financial Advice Provider. You can contact us at:

Email: enquiries@canstar.co.nz

Address: PO Box 2073 Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 New Zealand