Re-mortgaging a house to invest is pretty stupid! People like that deserve what they get, its either stupidity because she has no idea what she's doing, or it was greed that drove her to invest money she couldn't afford. So the real question is, was she greedy, or was she just super thick? Either way, you can't deny she's at fault.

To those who claim regulation and licensing will keep rogues and incompetents out of the industry I say Dr Harold (Freddie) Shipman.

I agree with #8. An financial advisor is there to ADVISE you, not make decisions for you. All investments carry risk, and generally if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. Kiwis have a poor savings habit, we should be encouraging basic saving skills, before looking at investment in the first place. A person who mortgages their house to invest in a risk-laden opportunity quite clearly did not receive good advice, but did they test that advice? Did they look at other options? I would not mortgage my house to invest, I invest money I have over and above what I need to live. I appreciate that not everybody is in that boat, but this is where learning just to put money aside in the first place comes in. Once you have money in the bank, that you can afford to be a little risk-averse with, then look at investments. A good place to start is additional property. Failing that, bury it in the backyard. But do NOT go to someone who has a vested interest in what they are telling you to do. Use some common sense. Get off the line of credit New Zealand, start clearing debt and putting money in the bank.

Every so called financial advisor that I have met has had considerably less than I have. In my opinion I'll listen to successfull people not some-body who is happy to "play" with my assets and get a comission of it and then if it goes down the gurgler they just walk away. As a previous post said...you get what you pay for.

EUFA members have been asking questions of authorities and governments for over a decade about the failure to implement CURRENT law/legislation. At all times those who dare question are discredited and fobbed off. Instead of the Securities Commission whining about the powers they don’t have they should be exercising the ones they do have. Their mission should be to go after crooks, not blame investments made on the investor who was following investment advice.Investors must demand that the available Acts are enforced on ALL those who have created the crisis in investors lives. It is not the “recession” to be blamed it is the mal practice and devious models that have been allowed to operate. The commission has admitted there are issues they could have handled better. That’s a serious admission and the Government must investigate.One of the areas the Commission has failed in was meeting formally with investor advocates.

People need to accept responsibility for their investment choices. Ignorance is not a defence. Sure I feel sorry for the woman who mortgaged her house to invest in Blue Chip, but come on, did she really not have an inkling of the risks involved?? Investors are happy to take the profits when the markets are up, but throw their toys when they are down. Stop being greedy and do some research!!

Personally i beleive that you get what you pay for - so if you go to an advisor being paid by commission why are you surprised when you get advice that is of little benefit to you? stop being cheap and spend a couple of hundred dollars on a real independant advisor and you'll get that money back quickly, plus some.

That said - with results like these is it any wonder that New Zealanders steer away from investments and savings?

So why don't they publish the list of good and bad advisors.

Banning commissions would be a good start I think - that way there's less vested interest for the advisor

The standard of the financial services industry in this country is scandalous. It's a licence for cowboys to play. There is no effective regulation or oversight. There is no compensation for investors fleeced of life savings by rogue operators. There are too many incompetent "advisors" out there. The UK's system isn't perfect but it's a heck of a lot better.

One thing that would quickly sort out the industry is eliminating commissions paid to advisors by financial services companies. All advice should be paid for by clients on a fee basis. Then the advisors would have an incentive to provide best advice to their clients rather than recommend whoever's product pays the highest commission. There are many more reforms required after that, but start there!