Peter Sinclair: Finances in a spin? Hit the net

The last time I looked, money was still making the world go round, and there are some newish sites on the local web to help the financial novice distribute it a little more uniformly - or at least a little less fecklessly, than may have been the case.

Unity's homepage is excellent when it comes to helping you put your good intentions into practice. The clarity and simplicity of its precepts and the soundness of its advice tightened my own shambolic grasp of fiscal realities.

"The first step to achieving financial security is to pay yourself first. By this we mean invest the amount of money you need in order to achieve your financial goals first, then tailor your lifestyle to live within your means, paying your bills and expenses out of what is left.

Over time, your investments can grow like a balloon inflating, and continue to grow until the income from your investments can replace your working income ... "

It all sounds so simple, so logical. I wish they'd been around to point this out to me 30 years ago.

Unity continues in this calm, reasonable way until it reaches the central point of its thesis: they can probably manage your money rather better than you can.

They are quick to confirm all your vague apprehensions of penury. "What happens when your house burns down, your car is stolen, or your partner or yourself dies?" they ask quietly.

A big gin springs to mind. But no: "when, like a leak in the balloon, your investment area is deflated," Unity promises to be right there with its many financial services, day and night, to help you pump it up again.

It really is very impressive, with helpful comparative quotes on term life and health insurance and any number of useful FAQ's (frequently asked questions) to help you take your own financial temperature. They supply investment, superannuation and home loan calculators and wrap everything up with plenty of downloadable documentation.

It's a real pleasure to find a site which fulfils its intentions so well.

You can't help wondering why many New Zealand financial service firms have been so slow to move online. According to Graham D'Arcy, chief executive of IntelMortgage Financial Solutions, it's a combination of cost and natural conservatism.

Formerly with AMP, more recently a consultant in strategic marketing, he is plainly a little more impetuous - the IntelMortgage presence on the web took only four weeks from conception until the moment it opened its doors last week.

A tour of similar overseas sites convinced Mr D'Arcy that his must be far easier to navigate, much quicker to load. And it is. Imitation remains the sincerest form of flattery, and Mr D'Arcy admits one of his inspirations was E-Loan, the international cyber-giant.

It was a matter of Kiwi-ising the idea, he says, and taking advantage of the early adoption syndrome which for some reason is part of the national psyche.

Funny, I thought E-Loan had already done all that. This is the great online original tailored to Kiwi needs, quite as comprehensive as the IntelMortgage site and rather more pleasingly designed.

Encouragingly, Mr D'Arcy's first online customers came through the door almost as soon as he opened them, but over the long haul I'd say he has a fight on his hands. On or off the web, the home-mortgage business is obviously pretty rough-and-tumble.

Mr D'Arcy, both humorous and combative, seems to thrive on it. He drew my attention to the About Us link: "Let's face it, there have been some real cowboys and, quite frankly, 'lying bastards' in the mortgage broking industry. Enough is enough, New Zealanders deserve better ... "

Which is certainly putting the industry's pot on. Reaction? "There have been a few negative responses from other brokers," he admits delicately. Apparently the word hypocrite has been uttered in anger more than once.

But does he care? Not a lot - he's too busy expanding. Plans are under way to get the site up and running on Wap (wireless application protocol) for the mobile phone networks as soon as possible, and he intends to throw in the kind of games you can play on your mobile to attract the more frolicsome punter.

Mr D'Arcy is confident that the company's activities will be 40 per cent web-based within five years. His philosophy is expressed in a quote from Albert Einstein: "Imagination is more important than knowledge."

Very true. But on the other hand, if, deep down, you've always longed to penetrate the mysteries of 'mezzanine funding,' now's your chance.

Bookmarks

NEWEST: FreeParking

After all the recent sturm und drang over at ISOCNZ, it looks as though local domain registration may be freeing up. First cab off the rank is FreeParking, an offshoot of WebFarm, with a simple, user-friendly interface and registration at a simple, user-friendly price: only $39.95.

Advisory: about time.

COOLEST: mp3.NET.NZ

Mp3 is changing the way we buy our music [or in many cases, don't buy it]. New Zealand rises to the challenge at today's new website where local bands can upload their tracks [free] for surfers to audition in a low-res format. If they like it, they can buy it online. Win a portable Mp3 player and listen up for stuff like Hoochie Mamma, "big dumb rock'n'roll" from the Datsuns.

Advisory: loud, local - you won't find this on Napster.

Links:

Unity

IntelMortgage Financial Solutions

Eloan

Eloan NZ

ISOCNZ

WebFarm

FreeParking

mp3.net.nz

* Peter Sinclair can be contacted at petersinclair@email.com