The parliamentary commerce committee's report into the raft of finance company failures has finally arrived, and stresses the need for more money to fund educating the nation's investors.
The report, which was driven by committee chairwoman Lianne Dalziel, recommends the Government boost funding for the Retirement Commissioner to improve financial education, and give a priority to boosting New Zealanders' understanding of financial matters.
"Work is clearly still needed to improve ordinary New Zealanders' understanding of the investment decisions they are required to make in the course of their lives," the report said.
"There can be no short cut to lifting New Zealanders' understanding of financial matters. A multi-faceted approach is needed, addressing issues from basic budgeting to assessing and comparing investment products."
The inquiry was launched in August 2009 in response to the collapse of the finance sector, which has seen 45 firms collapse or freeze funds, putting $5.95 billion of investor wealth at risk.