A couple of years ago the association had just over 400 members.
Chief executive Megan Salt says there are around 1,300 brokers in the country, and for the association to have gained around 76% market share is a great achievement.
(This 1300 figure does not include mobile managers and those brokers tied to firms such as NZ Home Loans and Wizard).
Salt attributes the growth to a number of factors including an increased visibility and profile for the association, along with the association having a clearer focus on what it is doing for members.
She says impending regulation of the financial advisory sector has also been a driver of growth.
In the future intermediaries and brokers will have to belong to an approved professional body (APB) if they want to give advice.
The NZMBA is positioning itself as the APB on the credit side of the financial services industry.
Chairman Geoff Bawden says the association has talked to other associations, such as the Institute of Financial Advisers and Professional Advisers Association, about having a combined APB, however it hasn’t seen a strong enough case for a joint body.
Bawden says he hasn’t seen a case yet for a joint APB that would be more cost effective for NZMBA members rather than having its own APB.
“We still have an open mind (to a joint APB),” he says. “If someone can come to us with a proposal which would be more cost-effective for our members then we would certainly consider it.”
Salt says the majority of NZMBA members want the association to “metamorphose into an APB.”
