The problem with financial policy is not a shortage of ideas. It is that too often those ideas are developed in isolation.
KiwiSaver is debated separately from retirement income. Insurance is considered apart from household resilience and pressure on public services. Healthcare policy overlooks the capacity already available through the private system. Regulation is developed without always considering its cumulative impact on investment, competition and innovation.
But these issues do not arrive separately in people’s lives.
That is why the FSC’s 2026 Election Manifesto, The Prosperity Agenda: Securing New Zealand’s Wellbeing and Economic Future, takes a system-wide view.
The manifesto sets out 21 recommendations across three areas: strengthening the system, building prosperity and protecting prosperity.
Individually, they are practical policy steps. Together, they form a longer-term agenda for stronger households, more sustainable public services and a more productive economy.
That includes improving access to financial advice and making financial capability a lifelong priority. It means giving financial services clear ministerial ownership and creating a more stable, proportionate regulatory environment.
It also means building a retirement savings system that works across people’s lives — including periods of lower income, parental leave, self-employment and financial hardship.
One recommendation is to phase out total-remuneration arrangements that allow compulsory employer KiwiSaver contributions to be absorbed into an employee’s overall pay package.
“An employer contribution should be exactly that – the employer’s contribution,” Hope says.
“It should not be taken from someone’s own pay and handed back wearing a KiwiSaver badge. If we want KiwiSaver to deliver stronger retirement outcomes, employer contributions need to genuinely add to people’s savings.”
The manifesto also sets a national ambition of $1 trillion invested in retirement savings by 2040, supported by universal participation and combined employer and employee contributions rising progressively to 12% by 2032.
That ambition is about more than the size of individual balances. A larger pool of long-term savings would give New Zealand more domestic capital to invest in businesses, infrastructure and innovation.
“Savings should do two jobs: give people a better retirement and give New Zealand more capacity to invest in its future,” Hope says.
The same connected thinking applies to health.
Private health insurance is not an alternative to the public system. It is a complementary part of New Zealand’s healthcare infrastructure, helping people access treatment sooner while supporting workforce participation and easing pressure on public services.
The manifesto calls for stronger public-private care pathways, expanded co-funded and shared-care models, the removal of Fringe Benefit Tax from employer-provided life and health insurance, and access for insurers to Pharmac-negotiated pricing.
“This is not about choosing between public and private healthcare,” Hope says.
“It is about using every doctor, theatre, scanner and dollar available to get New Zealanders treated sooner.”
As the population ages and demand for healthcare grows, New Zealand will need to make better use of every part of the system. Leaving existing capacity on the sidelines is neither practical nor sustainable.
Financial services contribute more than $16 billion to New Zealand’s GDP, employ more than 73,000 people and manage over $340 billion in savings and investments. The sector helps millions of New Zealanders save, invest, access healthcare and protect themselves against risk.
The manifesto reflects extensive input from FSC members through the Board, CEO Forums, committees and working groups. It brings together the priorities of a broad sector around a shared proposition: New Zealand will get better outcomes when these issues are considered as parts of one system.
“The choice is straightforward,” Hope says.
“We can continue with piecemeal changes and allow pressure to build, or we can act now to create stronger savings, faster access to healthcare and a more productive economy.”
The FSC and its members are ready to work with all political parties to turn that connected agenda into lasting reform.