The Financial Dispute Resolution Service (FDRS) has announced the appointment of Toni Dodds to its Advisory Council to replace Justin Kerr, who retired in October.

Dodds currently holds the role of Quality and Assurance Manager for Lifetime Group, and has over 10 years’ experience in financial services. She previously worked at Tower Insurance and Fidelity, where she held the post of National Compliance Manager, and holds Level 5 qualifications as well as degrees in business and supervision management.

“I am very pleased to join Stephen Ward, David Whyte, Dr Pushpa Wood and Bill Bevan on the Advisory Council,” Dodds stated. “I’m very passionate and about financial services and I look forward to presenting an industry perspective at Financial Dispute Resolution Service’s Advisory Council meetings.”

The Advisory Council sits within the FDRS and focuses on governance, overseeing the operations of the scheme and reporting to the FairWay board. Commenting on the appointment, client director Trevor Slater said FDRS is “very, very pleased” to have Dodds on board and thanked Justin Kerr for his “great contribution” to the scheme.

“Toni has been in the financial advice industry for a long time and has worked in compliance and complaints, so she knows the kind of work those organisations do and the challenges that they face,” Slater said.

“She also works for Lifetime Group, so she’ll bring a financial advice industry perspective to the table. When we make any decisions, she’ll be able to think about how that affects the financial advice industry. She’s highly skilled, very logical and a great thinker.”

The Financial Dispute Resolution Service is one of New Zealand’s approved dispute resolutions schemes and is managed by FairWay Resolution, the country’s largest conflict management specialist. FairWay handles over 16,000 disputes, reviews and enquiries every year.