Business continuity is tested by ordinary disruptions: an unexpected absence, an urgent client matter and a team trying to work out what only one person knew.
The message arrives before the workday has properly started. A key team member is unwell and will not be online. Nobody knows whether they will be away for one day or the rest of the week.
By 8:30am, three matters already need attention. A lender condition is due before midday. An insurer has asked for more information on a claim. A client whose fixed rate expires soon is waiting for confirmation that their documents were received.
The team is available and willing to help. The immediate problem is that critical client knowledge is sitting in one person’s inbox.
What happens over the next hour?
Someone searches the CRM, but the lender update was never recorded. Another person can see the claim email but does not know whether the client has already been contacted. The refix documents are in the system, although the task still shows as “in progress” and there is no handover note.
Nothing here is a major disaster. That is precisely why this kind of disruption is easy to overlook. The systems are working. The office is open. Most of the team is present. Yet three clients may experience a delay because the current position of their work is not visible.
Now imagine the same morning with a few basics in place
The CRM shows the lender condition, its deadline, and the documents already supplied. The claim task records the insurer’s request and confirms that the client was updated yesterday. The refix workflow shows what has been received and what still needs adviser approval.
A team member can pick up the administration without guessing. Anything requiring advice, judgment, or authority is escalated to the appropriate adviser. The absent person is still missing, but the client work does not disappear with them.
This is what continuity looks like to a client
Clients are unlikely to ask whether the FAP has tested its business continuity plan. They notice whether somebody responds, whether a deadline is met, and whether they have to repeat information the business should already hold.
For FAPs, continuity is also a licence issue. The standard conditions require an up-to-date business continuity plan appropriate to the scale and scope of the service, together with information security for critical technology systems. The FMA’s broader operational resilience work, published in April 2026, also focuses attention on the potential harm caused by operational weaknesses. Its published sector reports are not a specific review of FAPs, but the questions are relevant.
Where support fits
An outsourced support team can provide useful role coverage when work is documented, and access is properly controlled. It cannot compensate for unclear ownership, missing records, or decisions that have never been delegated.
A-Perform can help maintain task records, structured handovers, follow-up workflows and escalation paths within the FAP’s approved systems. As with any outsourced arrangement, the FAP retains responsibility for oversight, provider capability, continuity, technology controls and its regulatory obligations.
Practical takeaway
Do not test continuity with a thirty-page hypothetical event. Start with tomorrow morning. Pick one key person and ask which live client matters another team member could safely progress without calling them for instructions.
Sources
Financial Markets Authority, Operational Resilience Thematic: Findings and Insights, 15 April 2026: https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/reports-and-papers/operational-resilience-thematic/
Financial Markets Authority, Standard Conditions for Full FAP Licences: https://www.fma.govt.nz/assets/Licensing-guides/Standard-Conditions-for-full-FAP-licences.pdf
General industry information only. Not legal, compliance, or financial advice.
