KAN Podcast

How does someone go from the commercial team at BNZ to running a trans-Tasman finance business with licences on both sides of the ditch, after finding no one who could piece the two markets together?In this episode, Warwick sits down with Matthieu Olo-Whaanga, founder of Tasman Finance Partners, to break down what it really takes to run an advice business across New Zealand and Australia, and how the two lending markets compare. Matthieu pulls back the curtain on two compliance regimes and two sets of accreditations, why Australian commercial lending can go to 25 or 30 years where New Zealand tops out at 15, the stamp duty and foreign buyer surcharge that can add around $80,000 to a million-dollar purchase, and the “no gatekeeping” blueprint advice he picked up from his mentors. He also explains why Kiwis are slower to pay for advice, and why Australian investors keep looking at New Zealand property.

Why are 41% of Kiwis still sitting in a default fund, and what does that mean for the advisers who aren’t talking to them about it?In this episode, Warwick sits down with Dave Copson, Head of Growth at Booster, to break down why KiwiSaver belongs in your advice business and how to add it without overcomplicating things. Dave pulls back the curtain on the $300,000 to $400,000 gap a fund choice can make in retirement, the extra $20 a week that can change the outcome, the specialist and referral models more businesses are adopting, and the six-month check-in that turns a settled mortgage into a KiwiSaver conversation. He also admits he should have taken his own KiwiSaver seriously at $5,000, and didn’t.

How does someone go from doing admin at a mortgage brokerage to running the software business that now automates the same tasks he used to spend 40 minutes on?In this episode, Warwick sits down with Jacob Munoz, founder of Afterburner, to break down the buy versus build question every advice business is quietly asking, and where AI actually earns its place in the day-to-day.Jacob pulls back the curtain on the moment he almost automated himself out of a job at Float, his rule for only using AI where nothing else can do it, why Gen Z clients are quietly turning anti-AI, and the "no keyboard" advice business he thinks the whole industry is heading towards.

How do you go from a decade in the police to advising first home buyers on their mortgage in just four years?In this episode, Warwick sits down with Brad Whitfield from Discovery Financial Services to break down what a 10-year career in policing transferred straight into the advice business, and what he had to unlearn along the way.Brad pulls back the curtain on the interviewing framework he brought from the police to his client meetings, the pizza delivery moment that taught him everything about de-escalation, the emergency fund he tells every new adviser to build before making the jump, and why year two is when the referrals actually start rolling in.

How does a napkin-scrawled business plan at the pub become one of New Zealand's fastest-growing multi-product advice firms with IPO ambitions in just over four years?In this episode, Warwick sits down with Lucas Young, co-founder of Invicta, to break down the playbook behind scaling to 20+ staff across three cities and where he is planning to take the business next.Lucas pulls back the curtain on the 48-hour advice turnaround Invicta is chasing, why they hire ex-athletes and ex-real estate agents over experienced advisers, the LinkedIn discipline that turned into a recruitment pipeline, and the shareholder buy-in model built so managers cash out alongside the founders. He also talks about the move from Hong Kong to a Christchurch boarding school at 13 with no English, and the drive that has fuelled everything since.