FM Northshore's founder on 25+ years in lending
For Manisha Krishna (pictured), director at FM Northshore, one of the most common conversations she has with clients isn't about interest rates or loan structures — it's about convincing people that a previous decline doesn't mean homeownership is out of reach.
Turning a decline into a pathway
“A recurring experience that stays with me is helping clients who believe homeownership is out of reach because they have been declined or told ‘not now,’” Krishna said.
Often the issue is not that they can never buy. It may be structure, timing, documentation, debt management, or choosing the right lender. When you take time to understand the full picture, there is often a pathway, she said.
For Krishna, that experience points to something bigger about the job than crunching numbers.
“The lesson for me is that mortgage advice is not only about numbers,” she said. “It is about listening carefully, asking the right questions and giving people a clear plan. Even when the answer is ‘not yet,’ a client should leave knowing what to do next.”
Building a business on clear advice
That client-first approach is also what led Krishna to start her own practice. She founded FM Northshore in 2024 with a clear goal: "to make finance easier to understand and help clients make confident decisions, not rushed ones."
The decision followed more than 25 years in banking and lending, during which she saw how stressful and confusing the lending process could be for everyday people, especially first-home buyers, migrants, business owners and families with complex situations.
Krishna's approach has also been recognised industry-wide: she was named an Excellence Awardee for New Adviser of the Year at the 2026 New Zealand Mortgage Awards, with FM Northshore also recognised as an Excellence Awardee for New Brokerage of the Year.
Advice for advisers starting out
Krishna's advice for those newer to the profession is similarly grounded in patience and honesty. Learn lender policy properly, she said. Don't rely only on software or shortcuts. Be honest with clients, even when the answer is not what they want to hear. That builds trust.
She added that no two clients should be treated the same, since every situation has its own story, and that advisers should remember clients are often making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.
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