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.
Partners Life: Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) within Trauma
Over the weekend, Partners Life announced a product change to their built in TPD cover within Trauma, for more information on this please click here.
Effective 6 October 2023, TPD will be an optional benefit within Trauma Cover Accelerated or Trauma Cover Standalone and premiums will change accordingly. This applies to both Partners Protection Plan (PPP) and Business Protection Plan (BPP) policies.
We have now updated Quotemonster to reflect this change as detailed below:
Partners Life quote software updates:
Opt TPD Benefit is ‘on’ by default, simply de-select the option when it is not required.
What you’ll see on Quotemonster:
TPD is ‘off’ by default and simply select ‘TPD Add-on’ to include pricing and research for this option.
If you have any questions or feedback on the changes above, please send us an email on info@quotemonster.co.nz
Happy Crunching!
Financial Advice New Zealand release ‘Value of Financial Planning Consumer Research 2023’ report
Financial Advice New Zealand’s latest study on the value of financial planning has been released. The study was undertaken in February 2023 and questioned 1,001 New Zealanders over 25 years old who earned over $90,000 per annum or held over $50,000 of investable assets on the value of working with a financial planner.
Some highlights from the report include:
· 68% of clients of financial planners are highly satisfied with their wealth versus 33% of unadvised consumers.
· 9 in 10 of those who have seen a certified financial planner feel financially secure.
· 9 in 10 clients of certified financial planner say the benefits of financial planning outweigh the costs.
· Those who haven’t engaged with a financial planner report unmet financial needs, with 2 in 5 worried about enough money to live on, 1 in 3 worried about the ability to live their desired lifestyle and 1 in 3 not having a realistic plan for a comfortable retirement.
· 99% of those who have engaged a certified financial planner trust they are acting in the client’s best interest
· 100% of those who have engaged a certified financial planner are likely to continue the relationship with their financial planner.
· Clients reported the top benefits of working with a financial planner as better financial decision-making confidence; having simplify and explain financial matters; improved financial wellbeing and peace of mind; improved confidence in ability to achieve desired standard of living.
The report also has some interesting information on the different ways different generations like to engage with financial planners.
More daily news:
AIA special offer could save clients up to 31% in premiums
Partners Life is switching to email communication for customers who want it
Katrina Shanks writes of findings on the value of financial planning services
Katrina Shanks is confident she's leaving Financial Advice NZ with a good framework in place
mySolutions are holding roadshows across the country in November
Official Cash Rate remains at 5.50%
FSC calls for a comprehensive review of KiwiSaver
Nominations for Insurance Business’s annual Elite Women are open
Malcolm Mulholland laments the lack of funded medicines in NZ
Sleep regularity is important for longevity
Fidelity Life offer financial assistance for flood-hit customers
Fidelity Life are offering financial assistance for flood-hit customers in Queenstown, Gore and Southland. Customers facing financial hardship as a direct result of the flooding can apply to have their premiums temporarily waived for three months, with the potential to extend for a further three months, without it affecting their insurance protection. This is the same relief they have used for customers affected by other natural disasters including flooding in Tairāwhiti/Gisborne earlier this year and in the South Island last year.
Fidelity Life remind everyone of the importance of maintaining insurance cover even during times of financial difficulty, with Chief Customer Officer Peter Doherty saying
“This premium relief offer is one way we can show our support to our South Island customers, and we encourage anyone who’s facing hardship as a result of this extreme weather to contact their adviser to see how we can help. We know many New Zealanders are doing it tough right now and events such as this only make the situation worse.”
More daily news:
Tony Vidler writes of how benchmarking groups can help advisers see how they're doing
AIA New Zealand has appointed Michele Embling as an independent non-executive board member
ANZ has partnered with Age Concern New Zealand on scam protection
Paul Gregory from the FMA talks about how to avoid greenwashing
Healthcare Leadership Symposium is on 25 October
Centrix data shows there were 28% more mortgages behind on payments in August than a year earlier
Demystifying Advicemonster [online session]
Over 2,000 Statement Of Advice (SOA) reports have been generated on Quotemonster in the last six months and we invite you to see why!
We welcome you to join our upcoming online Advicemonster training session scheduled on Wednesday, 11 October 2023 3:00 pm-4:00 pm.
In this session, we have an in-depth walk-through of our Statement of Advice service and how you can create a professional and comprehensive SOA. Be the first to learn about our recent enhancements and ongoing developments from our new AdviceTech Lead, Aneel Ravji. Our Needs analysis and SOA tools are exclusive to the Advicemonster subscription and due to the advanced nature of the product, training can take between 60-90 minutes. This session is great to attend for those considering upgrading their subscription, or if you have already upgraded but would like to learn how to get the most out of it.
If you would like to register, please send us an email on aneel.ravji@qpresearch.co.nz
We look forward to seeing you there!
Updated medical premium comparison database
For institutional subscribers we have updated the health or medical price comparison.
Changes in V103:
Updated nib rates effective 1/10/2023
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
3 Oct 2023 - APRA and ASIC have published an information package to support the financial services industry in implementing the Financial Accountability Regime (FAR). https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-and-asic-commence-joint-administration-of-new-financial-accountability
3 Oct 2023 - Chapter Zero have prepared governance “outtakes” from the Climate Change and Business Conference https://www.chapterzero.nz/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nature/
4 Oct 2023 - RBNZ will hold a webinar on the IPSA omnibus consultation and the second amendment of the ISS on Wednesday 11 October from 2pm-3.30pm https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_NTEwM2Y0NzUtNDdkNy00ZTI3LTllNWMtZThmNzE1NjkyZWZl%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522ef09e631-f62d-48d5-8cdb-02f838550358%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%252214a71e21-4860-48ff-aa34-6bee7649f7a5%2522%257d%26utm_source%3DReserve%2BBank%2Bof%2BNew%2BZealand%26utm_campaign%3D90369ba8a8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_09_29_01_45%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_term%3D0_-90369ba8a8-%255BLIST_EMAIL_ID%255D%26anon%3Dtrue&type=meetup-join&deeplinkId=ec3e3444-2c30-4367-b073-51e8ff96e3bf&directDl=true&msLaunch=true&enableMobilePage=true&suppressPrompt=true
4 Oct 2023 - FMA publishes final Climate Related Disclosures regime record keeping guidance. The guidance sets out principles and the FMA’s expectations on CREs for creating, keeping, and maintaining proper records as evidence that climate statements comply with the Financial Markets Conduct Act (FMCA) and the Aotearoa New Zealand Climate Standards framework. https://www.fma.govt.nz/news/all-releases/media-releases/fma-publishes-final-climate-related-disclosures-regime/
Accuro and Unimed have announced a proposal to combine
The boards of Accuro and Unimed have signed a Letter of Intent to transfer the Accuro insurance portfolio to Unimed and to combine the two not-for-profit mutual societies. The proposal is subject to regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and support of Accuro members.
If the merger goes ahead, UniMed would become the country’s third largest medical insurer with over 140,000 member customers.
Accuro’s Chair Marion Guy says
“We believe combining the resources and capabilities of the two societies creates a more sustainable and resilient health insurance offering than Accuro could offer alone.”
Unimed’s Chair Peter Tynan says
“This proposal will provide opportunities to create efficiencies and develop new services and products – something that will be increasingly important given increasing costs and demands for health services.”
More daily news:
Crombie Lockwood changing their name to Gallagher Insurance
FinTechNZ Executive Council Nominations 2023 close 19 October
Allianz Global Wealth Report finds those with lower level money skills tend to allocate more to cash
Southern Cross 2023 AGM will be held on 6 December
Financial Advice NZ Nelson/Canterbury Regional Meeting 18 October
'Using the FSC Code to support a strong customer-focused culture' webinar 17 October
Tony Vidler writes about the buying journey of clients
mySolutions webinar 'Jeanette Kreft - The Compliance Company' 9am, 11 October
FSC release Money & You: Young People and the Cost of Living report
The Financial Services Council (FSC) have released ‘Money & You: Young People and the Cost of Living’ report. The report found that Gen Z and millennials had lower levels of financial wellbeing, financial literacy and financial confidence than older respondents. Some of the key findings from the report include:
Mental health and wellbeing is the number one health concern for both Gen Z (78%) and millennials (52%), with nutrition coming in second place and oral/dental health coming in third place.
61% of Gen Z and 52% of millennials worry about money daily or weekly, compared to only 29% of baby boomers.
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) and personal loans are more likely to cause Gen Z and millennials issues than other age ranges.
Only 42% of Gen Z and 51% of millennials would be able to access $5,000 in a time of emergency without going into debt.
41% of Gen Z and 58% of millennials feel very or somewhat confident about planning for their retirement despite 74% of Gen Z and 61% of millennials not having calculated how much money they need in retirement. 45% are contributing the minimum 3% to their KiwiSaver.
52% of Gen Z and 72% of millennials feel very or somewhat confident about choosing an insurance policy. 28% have life insurance, 13% have income protection insurance, 31% have health insurance, 7% have total and permanent disablement insurance and 11% have trauma or critical illness insurance.
More daily news:
Tim Grafton has announced his intention to step down from his position of chief of ICNZ next year
ANZIIF has announced the list of finalists for the New Zealand Insurance Industry Awards.
This week is World Investor Week and NZ's theme is ethical investing
MinterEllisonRuddWatts share legal tips for FinTech start-ups
PWC publish New Zealand Workforce Hopes & Fears Survey 2023
PWC have published their New Zealand Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2023, exploring views on business viability, worker sentiment, workforce skills, emerging technology, work environment and climate action. 1,000 respondents shared their views and in general, kiwis were more optimistic than others Asia Pacific countries, with 72% believing that their employer will still be in business in the next decade.
New Zealanders were consistent with the rest of Asia Pacific in terms of 57% of both areas being very or moderately satisfied with their jobs, however kiwis were less likely to ask for a pay rise (37% vs 43%), ask for a promotion (23% vs 38%) or change employer (20% vs 28%).
Only 25% of kiwis believed the skills for their job would change significantly in the next 5 years (versus 44% of those in the Asia Pacific region). In terms of technology, kiwis seem to think AI will be less disruptive and provide less opportunities than Asia Pacific respondents: 35% don’t think AI will impact their jobs, much higher than Asia Pacific as a whole at 16%; 22% believe AI will help them increase their productivity/efficiency at work (vs Asia Pacific 41%); only 18% think AI will create opportunities for them to learn valuable new skills (vs Asia Pacific 34%); only 12% believe AI will create new job opportunities for them (vs Asia Pacific 25%); and 44% think that digital skills are important to their career (vs. Asia Pacific 59%).
More daily news:
Southern Cross are reviewing the way they communicate changes
Early bird tickets for FSC’s Trans Tasman Strategic Leaders Summit on 4 - 6 March 2024 available now
mySolutions webinar - Richard Sewak shares his adviser story, 4 October, 9am
NZIER Consensus Forecasts predict subdued economic growth over the next two years
ASB awarded Digital Banking, Bank of the Year by Canstar NZ
Study finds having a healthy lifestyle reduces risk of depression by 57 per cent
Southern Cross financial results released
Southern Cross Health Society have released their financial results for the year ended 30 June 2023.
$1.466 billion premium revenue
$1.295 billion paid out in claims – equal to paying 88.4 cents in claims out of every dollar received in premiums (compared to an industry average of 65.9 cents)
Premium prices were up approximately 5.1% compared to the previous year
Southern Cross Health Society had a $5.4 million deficit, while the wider Southern Cross Health Society Group had a deficit of $16.5 million
Group reserves (net assets) of $597.3 million
Paid $3.4 million claims
99% of claims are now being submitted electronically
Membership grew by 31,929 to reach 940,105 members
223 businesses buying health insurance on behalf of their employees joined this year
Southern Cross makes up 60% of NZ’s health insurance market
More than 20,000 members accessed virtual appointments via CareHQ, more than double the year prior
Members accessed 6,912 online mental health sessions with Raise, 6,324 annual health checks with MedPro and 20,663 virtual GP consultations delivered via CareHQ
Employee engagement score of 82%
Nick Astwick, Chief Executive, commented on Southern Cross’ goals around keeping premiums affordable and helping members lead healthier lives.
“…the affordability of their premiums is critical. So, we’re going to do a little bit more in prevention rather than just treatment. You’re going to see us be a lot more active with our members and our healthcare providers to prevent high-cost things from happening earlier in the cycle and actually have more affordability options.”
“Also one thing we are going to focus a lot more on in the coming years is making our members aware of how they can live healthier lives and not just be there when they’re sick. So, you’ll see a lot more from Southern Cross around trying to increase the health span – the number of years you have that are healthy – and making our members aware of that.”
More daily news:
Katrina Shanks to leave Financial Advice NZ
Chubb extend 2 months’ FREE and Multi-benefit discount campaigns until the end of the year
Lyla Dang awarded 2023 Chubb Life Actuarial Scholarship
ANZIIF announces Tim Tez and Sarah Phillips have joined ANZIIF’s Board of Directors.