Privacy Policy

About Us
Your privacy is important to Financial Advice NZ, a society incorporated in New Zealand under registration number 2683851 having its registered office at level 8, 342 Lambton Quay. We collect information following the rules of the the Privacy Act 2020.

How you can contact us
You have the right to ask for a copy of any personal information we hold about you, and to ask for it to be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of your information, or to have it corrected, please contact us at privacy@financialadvice.nz, or 0800 432 101, or write to Privacy Officer, Financial Advice NZ,  PO Box 5513, Wellington 6140 and ask for the Privacy Officer.

Information we collect, and how we use it
As a general rule, we will collect your personal information directly from you. However, there may be exceptions to this, such as where it is not reasonably practicable to do so in the circumstances, or if any of the other exceptions set out under the Privacy Act 2020 apply.

We may collect personal information from you when you contact, do business or interact with us by phone or email, apply for membership, enrol in or register for or a course or event, or when you visit or interact with on of our websites or social media pages.

We may also receive your personal information from other sources, such as public databases, acquired contact lists, professional bodies (for example under reciprocal arrangements), training providers, your employer or FAP (for example when your employer or FAP registers you in an activity or course), regulators, government and statutory bodies and our service providers.

Your choice to provide information
Providing information is optional. If you choose not to provide personal information, we’ll be at risk of not being able to contact you or otherwise interact with you, process your application, renewal billing or payment, or provide you with some or all of our products and services.

By providing personal information to us, you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with any of the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use the website or submit any personal information to us.

Information we collect
We may collect the following personal information about you:

(a) your contact details, such as office address, home address, telephone numbers and email addresses;

(b) your personal details, such as whether you are a NZ Resident, date of birth, gender, qualifications, professional marks, education (including transcripts), and your background;

(c) your employment details, including your employment status and history, references and testimonials (including letters of good standing), information about any disciplinary investigations, decisions or other actions;

(d) your FSPR number, disputes resolution provider details and Financial Advice Provider number;

(e) information you make available to us via our websites, apps and social media sites;

(f) your membership information, including your membership history (including professional conduct) and activities such as service on boards and committees;

(g) sensitive information, such as credit reports, and any criminal record or medical information to the extent that it is relevant to our functions; and records of your communications and other interactions with us related to this information;

(h) records of your communications and other interactions with us; and

(i) your biometric information (with your consent, if required), including a video recording or photograph of your face to the extent it is relevant or necessary to our functions and responsibilities as a professional membership body;

(j) your payment preferences, including bank account and credit card details, payment history and any information you provide to us when discussing financial hardship.

Use of your information
We will not collect or use your personal information unless it is lawful for us to do so. We collect and use personal information for the following purposes:

(a) processing and assessing membership, associate and other applications, enrolments and renewals;

(b) maintaining a public directory of members;

(c) fulfilling orders or requests for information, products or services (with your consent, if required);

(d) fulfilling our role as a professional body, including maintaining candidate, membership and related records, providing information on candidate and member services, products and benefits, and conducting research and public advocacy relevant to members and associates;

(e) sending subscription renewals, voting papers and other information relevant to our functions, responsibilities and obligations under our constitution, by-laws, codes, policies, practices and guidelines;

(f) for promotional and marketing purposes, including communicating information about our products and services (with your consent, if required);

(g) communicating to members on matters relevant to the Trusted Adviser mark, CFPCM and CLUCM programmes, membership, accreditation and any other programmes, opportunities or transactions with us;

(h) monitoring, moderating and improving our websites and social media sites;

(i) assessing suitability for employment or the provision of services by independent contractors;

(j) assessing suitability for appointment to a board or committee;

(k) fulfilling our contractual and other regulatory obligations, including dealing with overseas membership bodies (for instance if we are required to confirm your status as a member or former member) and external payment providers;

(l) managing complaints and member conduct and disciplinary process, including undertaking investigations, implementing disciplinary procedures associated with professional conduct and breaches of the constitution, by-laws, codes, policies, practices and guidelines;

(m) organising and hosting training and events (including with third parties);

(n) providing products and services, or information relating to such products and services (with your consent, if required);

(o) assessing or improving our products and services, as well as for training and quality purposes, including building profiles, monitoring, recording and analysing online interactions and communications between you and us; and

(p) providing information to third parties as authorised or required by law or a court or tribunal;

(q) other purposes expresses permitted by you.

Disclosure of Personal Information
We may share your personal information with Financial Advice NZ staff and contractors, regional committees, board members and members of the Board’s sub-committees to the extent reasonably necessary for the purpose for which you supplied it to us.

Your information may also be disclosed in confidence to our suppliers and other 3rd parties associated with Financial Advice NZ in order to undertake the operation of our business including but not exclusively; allowing a Financial Advice NZ service to be performed, processing of payments and CFPCM certification. Information will only be shared to the extent necessary for the relevant purpose. We may also share your information with others if you have provided consent.

Members information is also shared publicly on www.financialadvice.nz as part of the Find an Adviser section and the Trusted Adviser page (if applicable). Members can amend their public information at any time by logging into the member’s portal and or contacting us on info@financialadvice.nz or 0800 432 101. Members can also choose to opt of being on the public directory.

Electronic Communications
You have the opportunity to unsubscribe or opt out of electronic communications from us by clicking on the link at the bottom of the email or by advising you do not want us to use your personal information for direct marketing purposes by contacting us. (See “How you can contact us” at the top of this Privacy Policy.)

Please note that we may continue to send you emails that relate directly to the administration of your membership, your rights under that membership or your course or event registration.

Retention and deletion of your information
As a general rule, we keep your personal information for only as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected. However, longer retention periods may apply to the following categories of information:

– An individual’s course and event history, which we may retain to enable individuals to verify information about their attendance at courses and events and about any certification they received as a result.

– Our register of members & associates, which we may retain for the purpose of enabling members and ex-members to confirm their membership history and for archival purposes in connection with the history of the organisation.

– Information necessary to verify the identity of any person seeking confirmation of their previous membership or course/accreditation history.

– Information necessary to validate an application for reinstatement of a previous CFPCM or CLUCM

– Our register of CFPCM and CLUCM members and applicants for archival purposes and to meet the requirements of FPSB.

– Information that we are required by law to hold for longer periods.

While we will consider and action any request from you to delete your information, there is information that we are obliged by law to retain despite your request for deletion.

If you would like us to remove any of your personal information from our database, please contact privacy@financialadvice.nz While we will consider and action any reasonable request from you to delete your information, there will remain information that we are obliged by law to retain despite your request for deletion.  Please also note that deleting your information may limit the services we are then able to provide to you.

Digital information
Our websites, apps, or social media pages may collect other information that may or may not be personal information. Other information includes information that does not reveal your identity, such as:

(a) browser and device information;

(b) server log file information;

(c) App usage data;

(d) demographic information;

(e) location information;

(f) aggregated information.

Our websites use cookies which allow a web server to transfer data to a computer or device for recordkeeping and other purposes. If you do not want information collected through the use of cookies, there is a simple procedure in most browsers that allows you to decline the use of cookies.

Our websites include www.financialadvice.nz and www.life-info.org.nz.