Chatswood serves the life and health insurance sector in New Zealand with market intelligence, data, and bespoke consulting services. Some of these are provided in conjunction with Quality Product Research Limited - a subsidiary that brings you Quotemonster.
We believe that good decisions are more likely to occur when we have good information about the market environment in which we operate. Intuitive leaps and creative decisions are always required, of course, but the more they are based on a firm foundation of observation, the better they tend to be.
Quotemonster Online Training (with tips and tricks)
Over 2,500 Financial Advisers in New Zealand have crunched over 15 million quotes in the last 12 years using Quotemonster, and we invite you to see why!
We welcome you to join our upcoming introductory training session scheduled on Thursday, 24 August 2023 10:00 am-11:00 am
In this session, hosted by Kelly, our National Partnerships Lead, we go over the basics of using Quotemonster and how to make the most of your Researchmonster subscription along with:
How to generate a premium comparison between insurers
How to set up your Product and Provider Settings screen
How to directly compare two insurers for replacement business (Head-to-Head)
How to download our detailed comparison and client-friendly benefit overview or heat map report
How to add banks and non-adviser companies to your Research comparison
How to find legacy policy documents
If you would like to register for this session please send us an email on info@quotemonster.co.nz
We look forward to seeing you there!
nib releases FY23 financial results
nib has released its annual financial results for the year ended 30 June 2023.
Net profit after tax A$191.8 million – up 42.8%
Net Premium revenue A$2.91115 billion – up 7.7%
Net premium revenue $360.7 million – up 15.9%
Underwriting result $36.1 million
Claims incurred (excluding claims handling) A$199.8m million – up 15.7%
Policyholder numbers 161,303 – up 3.2% - driven by group and adviser channels
Gross margin percentage 39.5% - down 130 basis points
Net margin percentage 9.9% - up 210 basis points
nib NZ Chief Executive Officer, Rob Hennin said
“It’s been a good year again for the New Zealand business, where we have increased the number of policyholders and maintained the value we offer nib members… We’ve added a new business, OrbitProtect, and our life and living business is performing well.”
More daily news:
Katrina Shanks writes about the benefits advisers deliver clients
Andrew Bayly says the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA) has become a social issue
Kendall Flutey talks about improving New Zealanders' financial literacy
Happy anniversary to the Chatswood MoneyBlog
This blog is nine years old today! We have a focused mission - to provide news to the life and health insurance community that we serve. That covers insurers, advisers, consultants, compliance people, educators and anyone who is interested in the sector. We love the work we do and it has been a privilege to see the blog grow in readership and engagement. You folks keep showing up and talking to us about the sector - as well as catching our journalism at Asset Magazine, and www.goodreturns.co.nz and very occasionally, other places too.
If you are interested in building a blog we consider it our obligation to help out. Although ours is a small example, we are happy to share our experience to help you get started. If you have something to say about the sector drop me a line. Maybe I should write about it - or maybe you should and I'll see if I can post it. We love to hear from you.
Quotemonster online roadshow confirmed!
The Quotemonster team have just spent four weeks on the road visiting 15 towns seeing hundreds of advisers. We have received so much great feedback and requests for an online one for those who couldn’t make it.
So now is your last chance to see what all the hype is about. Our online session will be held Wednesday 23 August at 9.30am.
9.30am - 10.30am - Presentation and Demonstration ✅
10.30am - 11.00am - Q&A ✅
We will be covering new tech and new tools:
- New comparisons
- New AI tools to make your life easier
- New ways to make your advice process better, safer, and quicker
Presented by Aneel Ravji, Kelly Pulham and Russell Hutchinson.
Click here to register: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OuTZihV9TY-MnmMxqkWw6w#/registration
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
14 Aug 2023 - The Insitute of Directors made a submission on the FMA's proposal to provide a one-month exemption on the requirement for climate reporting entities (CREs) to include climate statements in their annual report, highlighting both our support for the use of exemption powers by the FMA and ongoing concerns around timing, assurance impacts, and potential scope expansion. https://www.chapterzero.nz/news/submission-on-climate-related-disclosures-timing-challenges/
16 Aug 2023 - Clare Bolingford's speech on building consumer confidence to the FSC Conference is published
https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/speeches-and-presentations/speech-by-clare-bolingford-to-the-financial-services-council-conference-2023/
17 Aug 2023 - RBNZ's latest Financial Markets Statement confirms the pricing of the Reserve Bank’s standing facilities and ESAS accounts. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2023/08/reserve-bank-financial-markets-statement
The role of FAPs in building consumer confidence in the professional advice sector
On Wednesday I had the pleasure of listening to industry professionals discussing ‘The role of FAPs in building consumer confidence in the professional advice sector’, a lunchtime event sponsored by Chatswood Consulting, at the Financial Services Council's Building Consumer Confidence Conference.
Chatswood Consulting would like to extend our thanks to the speakers on the panel for their time and sharing their insights with us:
• Michael Hewes - Director of Deposit taking, Insurance & Advice, FMA
• Susan Taylor - CEO, FSCL
• Hannah McQueen - Author & Founding Director, AdviceFirst / Enable.me
• Ryan Edwards - Managing Director, The Adviser Platform
• Trecia Brown - Head of Customer Outcomes, New Zealand Financial Services Group
Michael spoke about how we have 1407 licenced FAP’s, and how the FMA has around 40 new licences on the go at any time. He mentioned that as advisers you might be helping vulnerable people and to try and make communications as easily understandable as possible, everything from making sure the font size is large enough to be easily read to using simple language.
Trecia spoke about how we need to use systems and processes to keep customer data safe, keep our language positive, build a risk aware culture and how we can manage complaints and use them to improve service. Trecia also spoke about the need to work together as an industry to promote the value of advice.
Ryan spoke about a shift in language from compliance to governance. This helps to change our view from one of merely achieving a base level of compliance to a wider vision of compliance assurance, and leadership by using customer focused principles to guide development of a culture – more like ‘how we do things here’ rather than meeting an externally imposed requirement.
Susan spoke about how we should be talking with customers about our complaints processes and how we have an independent, external complaints process before there’s ever a cause for complaint, so we can build confidence that should anything go wrong customers know what to do about it and are confident it will be handled fairly and well. Susan recommends that advisers put themselves in the shoes of the reader of their communications – would they understand it? Will it have jargon in it they may not understand? Susan mentioned the possibility of using alternative communication forms, such as videos, to help get your message across clearly.
Hannah spoke about how when you have a product you’re proud of you have to be able to articulate it to customers in a way they can understand. It was interesting to hear her expand by talking about ways to track how well the client is on track: are they achieving what they set out to achieve in the plan? Keeping these in view, checking in, and seeing how to course correct to achieve them is a good guide to ensuring they stay customer focused.
More daily news:
Official Cash Rate remains unchanged at 5.5%
All Covid-19 requirements, including 7-days mandatory isolation, removed
The Companies (Directors Duties) Amendment Act 2023 is now law
The controversial Companies (Directors Duties) Amendment Act 2023 took effect on 7 August 2023. The Act adds an additional section to clarify section 131 of the Companies Act 1993, saying that directors may consider a wide number of factors other than financial gain while making decisions.
The original bill listed five non-exhaustive environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors:
(a) recognising the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi);
(b) reducing adverse environmental impacts;
(c) upholding high standards of ethical behaviour;
(d) following fair and equitable employment practices; and
(e) recognising the interests of the wider community.
However, the select committee removed the reference to the ESG factors and the final wording is “To avoid doubt, in considering the best interests of a company or holding company for the purposes of this section, a director may consider matters other than the maximisation of profit (for example, environmental, social, and governance matters).”
More daily news:
FSC publish their spotlight on Life Insurance and spotlight on KiwiSaver as at 30 June 2024
AMP NZ's net profit after tax was A$17 million during the first six months of 2023
mySolutions webinar 'The Value of Financial Advisers ' 23 August 9am
Ultra-Processed Foods and their negative impact on health
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are getting a (deservedly) bad rap. Often high in fats, sugar and/or salt, they are energy-dense and nutrient-poor. They have generally undergone intense processes (like high-temperature extrusion or hydrogenation) and usually contain food additives and/or industrial ingredients like colours, artificial flavours, emulsifiers and preservatives. If you don’t recognise some of the ingredients on the label as food, then it’s likely to be an UPF. They are manufactured to be cheap, convenient and have a long shelf life.
They’re ubiquitous in our food chains. Walk the aisles of your local supermarket and so much of what is on the shelves can be considered a UPF. They can be foods mistakenly considered healthy (flavoured yoghurts, cereals) to products we all know aren’t good for us (here’s looking at you, fizzy drinks and frozen pizza). Some estimates have found more than half our diet is now composed of UPFs.
During a cost of living crisis, UPFs can often be a cheap, quick way of filling bellies – not everyone can afford to avoid them or has the time to cook meals from scratch every day.
So why should we limit our intake of UPFs?
In a 2020 review of 43 studies on UPF consumption and health outcomes, 37 studies found at least one adverse health outcome. There’s increasing evidence linking UPF intake and chronic conditions, in particular obesity, but also cancer and depressive symptoms. Studies have found that people who consume more UPFs have higher risks of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease. Studies following large groups have worrying conclusions
2019 BMJ study of more than 105,000 people followed for five years found that for every 10% increase in the amount of ultra-processed foods participants ate, their risk of heart attack or stroke went up by 12%. And another 2019 BMJ study, this one involving almost 20,000 people followed for 10 years on average, found that participants who ate more than four servings of ultra-processed foods per day had a 62% higher risk of dying during the study (from any cause) compared with those who ate two servings per day.
There’s evidence that UPFs are very addictive. They’re engineered to be hyper-palatable so you want to eat more of them. Vast amounts of money are spent by food manufacturers, fine-tuning formulations to find the best taste. Research has found some UPFs can elicit cravings, loss of control and an inability to cut back. There’s also increasing evidence that a diet high in UPFs leads to increased energy intake and weight gain.
Even the packaging can be a concern, with one study finding higher consumers of UPF had higher urinary concentrations of phthalates and bisphenols that may have migrated from the food packaging.
With UPFs being compared to other public health crises like tobacco and opioids, some groups are calling for public health interventions that go beyond education, saying that UPFs meet the criteria requiring regulation – abuse, toxicity, ubiquity and externalities (how does your consumption affect me?).
My pick is we’re going to start seeing more backlash against UPFs as more research showing how bad they are for us comes out.
More daily news:
Katrina Shanks has tricks to stop credit card debt from snowballing
Another review of the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA) is to be carried out
Lawsuit against Asteron Life junked by the Court of Appeals
ASB's profit was $1.56 billion in the 12 months to the end of June
Longitudinal study finds overall improvement in financial literacy in young kiwis
The FDA has approved the first pill for treatment of postpartum depression
Suncorp New Zealand made an after-tax profit of $115m for the year to 30 June
Suncorp New Zealand made an after-tax profit of $115m for the year ended 30 June 2023. This was down 30% compared to the previous year.
Asteron Life performed well, making a profit of $50m, up $35m from the previous year. Asteron Life saw a 25% increase in new business and in-force premium growth of 6.7%.
Asteron Life’s Executive General Manager, Grant Willis, points to the support and engagement from independent financial advisers as one of the key factors in new business growth.
“We value our relationship with advisers and the partnership they have with us in supporting customers through every part of their life Insurance journey, from new business through to claims.
We were independently rated number 1 this year for adviser relationships and claims management, with our adviser net promotor score (NPS) rising from 44% to 66%. This has contributed to a new business market share increase from 10.5 % -11.3% (March figures).”
More daily news:
Katrina Shanks and Lyn McMorran claim finance sector fatigued in light of another CCCFA review
Our tour ended in Auckland's North Shore!
Our final week ended in Auckland North Shore and we had an absolute blast! A big thank you to everyone that attended, we'll be taking all your feedback back to Quotemonster HQ and using it to roll out even more monstrous upgrades.
