That Home Loan Hub
Welcome to That Home Loan Hub, your ultimate guide to mastering the world of home loans and property. I'm Zebunisso Alimova, here to simplify the complexities of real estate and provide you with expert insights and the latest trends.
Whether you're a first-time homebuyer, an experienced investor, or simply curious about the property market, this podcast is for you. Join me each week as we unlock the secrets to property success and help you make informed decisions. Let's dive into the world of property together!
That Home Loan Hub
Closing the Gender Gap in Financial Advice
A startling revelation emerged from my trip to the Financial Advisor New Zealand conference in Christchurch – most Kiwis aren't getting professional financial advice. While our counterparts in Australia, the UK, and Canada regularly seek financial guidance, New Zealanders tend to rely on casual advice from "Uncle Bob at the barbecue" or friends at sporting events. This knowledge gap becomes particularly concerning as baby boomers prepare to transfer substantial wealth to younger generations who may lack the financial literacy to manage it effectively.
The conference spotlighted a fascinating gender imbalance in our industry. Not only are women underrepresented as financial advisors, but they're also less likely to seek professional financial guidance. This disparity creates a troubling dynamic, especially considering that when parents age or face health challenges, it's typically the oldest daughter who takes responsibility for managing their finances – often without having the necessary experience or knowledge. As a passionate advocate for women in finance, I had the honor of hosting a women in financial advice breakfast attended by over 80 people, where we explored how to address both sides of this equation: bringing more women into the profession while encouraging more women to seek financial guidance.
Connecting with industry leaders was a conference highlight, from spending time with powerhouse keynote speaker Vanessa Stoikov to sitting alongside legends like Naomi Ballantyne, who built and sold two insurance companies. We explored cutting-edge AI developments in financial services and discussed navigating economic uncertainties with a focus on "controlling the controllable." The energy and insights were so valuable that our entire team will be attending next year's Auckland conference. If you're thinking about your financial future or wondering how to make the most of potential inheritances, reaching out to a professional advisor could be the most important step you take. Financial literacy isn't just about managing money – it's about creating security, opportunity, and legacy for generations to come.
Hello and welcome back to that home loan hub. Hello, Kunj Kia ora, how are you? I am feeling pumped. I've just come back from somewhere very exciting.
Speaker 2:Yes, tell us about that. Where have you been?
Speaker 1:Not in Cyprus, that's for sure. That would be exciting too but in Christchurch though. But in Christchurch Also starts with a C, yes, christchurch. So there was a Financial Advisor New Zealand conference. It was the first time I've ever attended that. It's been going on for years and years and years, but this was my first time ever attending it.
Speaker 2:Wow, I thought you would have been to every single one every year, since you've been an advisor.
Speaker 1:Well, look my kids were much younger back then. Yes, okay, and I couldn't really leave them for this long. And it was always a choice between, you know, going to my own aggregator conferences or, you know, other conferences outside of it. So I always had to make the tough choice, as all of us mothers do right.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, got to balance it right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100 balls in the air and the kids were young and I couldn't leave them for long. But, and the kids were young and I couldn't leave them for long. But this week I was very lucky they were with their dad and I could go away for a week and just absolutely immerse myself into this environment. And what was fascinating about it is, for the first time ever, I was at a conference where there were three pillars of our industry, right, there was mortgages, there was insurance and there was investment. Yeah, and I've never been to anything to do with investments before, so that was exciting.
Speaker 1:and I'm talking about shares and portfolios yeah, not just property investment, yeah actually the wealth side of the investments, yeah so that was really cool, just to see how, um you know where the industry is going and what do we need to do. And did you know? Fascinating facts is majority of New Zealanders are not getting professional financial advice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there is a gap there financial literacy, professional advice, I guess. Hence why I left my banking career to come into this career, so then I can educate and get people on board on that.
Speaker 1:financial advice train, yeah so the gap is massive compared to our counterparts of Australia and UK and Canada. People there tend to get professional advice. Here in New Zealand we tend to listen to our Uncle Bob at the barbecue or our friends and family at the netball or softball, unless they're a financial advisor telling them giving them free advice right there on the sports line, exactly.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it's become very apparent that it's super important for people to go out and get that advice, because that sets them up for the future. Because apparently, what's going to happen in the next few years is that we've got the baby boomers that are coming into. You know a lot of them coming to a lot of money, and that money is getting passed on down generation. So what do we do with that money? How do we not blow that money away and how do we help our clients to get ahead in life? Because what's going to happen next is generation after them, like our children, it's going to be harder for them to buy anything.
Speaker 2:Oh, 100% harder, right? Yeah, it was hard for us.
Speaker 1:It was already hard for us, yeah, but it's going to be even harder for the kids. So we've got this very disbalanced, disproportional seesaw where on one side we've got older generation, lots of money and then we've got the younger generation.
Speaker 1:No money, no money. They're just literally working and spending it and spending it. And because they don't have the good, solid basis of what to do with that money, when they get that money passed on to them from their grandparents, they're just going to blow it. So we need to help them, yeah, to make sure they don't just waste that money. Yeah, if we can. So that was a really good takeaway. The opening was amazing. The keynote speaker, vanessa Stoikov absolutely blown away by that woman. She's an absolute powerhouse and I was very honored. She sort of took me under her wing a little bit and I felt like a big sister you know small sister vibe going on there.
Speaker 1:Oh, nice yeah, Big sister, little sister you know small sister vibe going on there, oh nice, yeah, bix is the little sister. Yeah, it was really cool. I mean even her surname. I said to her you know, she's got a Serbian heritage and obviously I've got Soviet heritage, so we've connected on that part. And the fascinating bit was she's got a cat that looks like my cat.
Speaker 2:Here you go, you and your vibe.
Speaker 1:Absolutely blew my mind. She's got three boys as well. I have three boys and I was like, oh, and I've got a daughter. She's like, oh, I wish I had a daughter too. So, you know, there was a lot of connections that we made and there were a few other powerful guest speakers as well that were at the conference international speakers as well. So we had speakers from America, canada, australia, new Zealand.
Speaker 1:It was awesome to connect with my team members that are sitting with me on the Mortgage Advisor Committee, with fans. I've never met them in person. We only met online for the last three, four years, so it was awesome to see them in person and share that. You know what's the pains in the industry, what they're seeing, what we're seeing, and the takeaway for me was, regardless of how much people earn, regardless of their status, we all have the same fundamental needs. We all want to be loved, we all want to be heard, we all want to be respected and feel like we're doing something great, and that became very apparent as I was talking to all sorts of advisors. They all want to help their clients.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's, that word help.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're all here for the same purpose, so that was really really cool. The highlight again was for me. I was put on stage. That was really cool. I got to host a woman in financial advice breakfast and we had over 80 people attending that breakfast. Yeah, and I had to deliver a powerful message of why we're running this community and what we want to see, what's the purpose, what's the future. So that was awesome. What did you say?
Speaker 2:Good one. What was the powerful?
Speaker 1:message. The powerful message was that we are seeing more and more men getting advice but not women, and this is the two avenues of this industry where we don't have enough women providing financial advice, but we also don't have enough women getting financial advice. So this is the two avenues that we need to go down and help on both spectrums at the same time.
Speaker 2:So just to balance it up with that disproportion.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how do we get more women into the industry? I mean, you've been around me a long time and you can see that I'm passionate about women and you know I'm building a team of very strong.
Speaker 2:Well, we do. The majority of our team are all females. Exactly, which is amazing to see, exactly, poor James.
Speaker 1:And Matt and producer Matt. But yeah, that's really. The message is that how do we get more women into the financial advice scene? And then how do we give women more advice? Because what happens is if we get more women into the industry, more women will go and seek that advice. Absolutely. At the moment, you know, if you're separating from your husband and he did all the finances, you don't know anything about the money. You want to go get professional advice. Most of the financial advisors are men, so how are you going to talk to another man about your issues if you're a female? Because they're not going to understand you, because men are from Mars and women are from Venus.
Speaker 1:So, you know, fundamentally we're different and if we have more women out there providing that advice, more women will connect with us. So it's sort of, you know, win-win situation for both. And I mean, look, I have nothing against men, there are some fantastic men providing fantastic advice and, yeah, it's awesome that they can go out there and do that while mamas can stay at home and, you know, born with the babies, breastfeed, et cetera. But I think it should be all about the balance. You know, when you're in partnership, both should pull in their skills and strengths.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely Absolutely. We're living in a world that it is about balance and equal right, so women do need to, you know, a little bit more encouragement from their men, counterparts or their partners and things like that, to be like let's get on board. Need you to understand this as well.
Speaker 1:Because you know what? Another thing that came out from that conference, from Vanessa's speech, was absolutely blew my mind. I thought, wow, this is true as the parents age and as whatever happens to the parents, guess who is in charge of the finances? Which child is it? The oldest, the oldest daughter, not even the son, but the oldest daughter. So now we have a situation where a woman could be a wife staying at home, her parents are getting sick and old and she has to deal with their finances and she doesn't even know what to do with her finances, let alone her parents' finances, and that absolutely blew my mind. When I drew that comparison and that case study, I was like, oh my God, so, yes, absolutely the oldest daughter. Right, I mean, you are the eldest daughter, I am the oldest daughter, and you ended up sorting out your parents' finance. I have, yeah, and you see, I've got two brothers. I'm the youngest of my family, but anything to do with finances comes to me Because you're the daughter.
Speaker 2:Because I'm the daughter, and I'm the only daughter. I'm the only daughter.
Speaker 1:So yeah, like, how do we get more women into the industry? How do we get more women to provide advice? So basically, that was the highlight of the conference and a few other bits and bobs came through about the overall economy.
Speaker 1:You know, with Trump imposing tariffs and how is that going to affect? You know, with China in the seas carrying out all sorts of naval activities, you know. So how does that impact the? You know, australia, new Zealand islands, et cetera. So there's a lot of uncertainty, but a lot of confidence in terms of let's control what we can control, correct, control, the controllable. Don't give in to the media. Yeah, and the drama, the hype that gets hyped up.
Speaker 1:Exactly, exactly. So, yeah, no, that was a really cool conference. Next year it's going to be in Auckland.
Speaker 2:Good, because I was a little bit FOMO.
Speaker 1:So next year I'm coming, absolutely Next year, you're coming and I think the rest of the team as well, because I really think it's powerful to be in those conferences to develop yourself professionally.
Speaker 2:because we had like ministry- and you leave, inspired don't you?
Speaker 1:Oh, totally. I mean, look at me, I'm absolutely pumped, I know you're like pumped on a Monday. Woo, I'm like an energized bunny. So, um yeah. So definitely a lot to learn, a lot to gain, a lot of connections that were made and also seeing where ai is going. So we had panos, the greek god as they call him. He was presenting us with um ai technology and the future of ai. He cloned himself to attend zoom meetings right so I know right, and he was showing us his little clone. That goes, does he?
Speaker 2:himself to attend Zoom meetings? Right, how, I know? Right, and he was showing us his little clone. So does he have an avatar of himself? Yeah, so then when he meets his client, the client sees the avatar yeah, and then the avatar literally answers the question. That gets, yeah.
Speaker 1:Wow, and he did it so well that you can't even tell that it's not him. It was absolutely amazing. But you know what else happened? That was really, really cool. So Nick Hakes, the CEO, the one I did a podcast with a few- weeks ago for the conference. So Panos created an avatar for Nick, okay, and Nick delivered this message and it was Nick's voice and Nick's way of speaking. And Panos said to me, oh, I got Nick's voice from a podcast. And I said, really, what podcast Mine he got Nick's voice from my podcast.
Speaker 2:How good so you're going to soon have an unvoiced in. Yeah Panos, if you're listening, unvoiced is coming your way.
Speaker 1:No, it was really cool. I think I became good buddies with Panos as well, because he sat with me at the table and we had a good time there. So it was really, really cool. And what was awesome as well to see is at my table I also had Naomi Ballantines. Do you know who Naomi Ballantines is? No idea. She is the legend of the insurance industry. She set up two insurance companies and sold them off recently. The one that she sold off was partner's life. Naomi Ballantyne, absolute legend. She retired last year.
Speaker 2:She's been oh, I think I did read an article about that, but I just didn't connect the name.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, absolute powerhouse woman, but so humble and so sweet and just so amazing.
Speaker 2:That's what you want, though right. Someone successful but also humble and remembers their roots yeah.
Speaker 1:She was awesome, so she got an award as well as a Lifetime member, so it was awesome to have her at my table too. Like I was absolutely blown away, I got sat next to Nick, the CEO, and all the other keynote speakers. I don't know how I ended up there.
Speaker 2:Hmm, Siponiso on the table of all the bigwigs. Yeah, yeah, oh no.
Speaker 1:I was sitting there pinching myself going is this for real? How did I earn my seat at this table? It was a multi-billion dollar table, yeah, and I was there, yeah, and it was cool. I think it was the white dress. I think every time I wear that dress I attract, like I think maybe they think I'm a bride and you know, the bride usually sits at the top, I don't know, but that was really cool. It was really cool to make those connections.
Speaker 2:And then we went out for, you know, after the dinner, drinks and again you know connected and a more casual atmosphere, right when you get to know them a bit more personal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So absolutely, you guys are coming with me next year. We're going to rock the scene and we're going to help more New Zealanders get more financial advice. Better financial advice Sounds good Ever before. Yeah, let's do it Awesome, so I guess that's it really. That was the highlight of the conference Sounds like so much fun.
Speaker 2:I've got so much more questions, but we'll leave it at that for now.
Speaker 1:All right, tune in for the next one. See ya, bye.