The updated Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services 2025 (the Code) has clarified what advisers are expected to know and be able to do, particularly when it comes to maintaining competence, knowledge, and skill over time.

While existing advisers aren’t required to complete the new NZCFS (Level 5) Version 3 qualification, it is now the minimum standard of competence, knowledge, and skill to be achieved by those who want to become a financial adviser. The Code expects existing advisers to be able to demonstrate that their learning aligns with this level. For many advisers and FAPs, the challenge isn’t whether to do CPD, but how to confidently show that CPD reflects today’s expectations.

What’s changed – and what hasn’t

Ongoing professional development has always been required. What has changed is the clarity around the benchmark advisers are now measured against, and the expectation that CPD decisions can be clearly explained and relied on if they are ever reviewed.

Advisers don’t need to re-sit a qualification, but they do need to be comfortable showing how their learning keeps pace with current standards.

The real challenge for advisers and FAPs

In practice, this raises some common questions:

• How do advisers demonstrate equivalence without duplicating learning?
• How do FAPs ensure consistency across adviser teams?
• What does “defendable CPD” look like if it’s reviewed by a regulator, auditor, or insurer?

Taking an ad-hoc or DIY approach can make these questions harder to answer, particularly as expectations continue to evolve.

Where Closing the Gaps fits

Closing the Gaps was developed to address this uncertainty. It provides a structured starting point that bridges earlier qualifications with current expectations, removing the need for advisers or FAPs to build their own gap analysis from scratch.

For many participants, the value isn’t just meeting CPD expectations, but how the learning is presented and applied in practice.

“Just completed the Closing the Gaps course and thought I’d let you know how well designed I found it. Great presentation system and it has made me think of ways we could walk our clients through parts of our advice process in the same way.”

– FAP Principal

As a result, Closing the Gaps works well as a foundation for CPD planning in 2026, helping advisers and FAPs feel confident that learning is relevant, current, and aligned with the Code’s expectations.

Next steps

The course page explains how Closing the Gaps works, what’s included, and how to enrol.

View course details and enrol in Closing the Gaps