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.
Southern Cross Health Insurance CMO talks about biggest challenges and opportunities
Southern Cross Health Insurance Chief Marketing Officer Regan Savage has been interviewed by Campaign Asia about the biggest challenges and opportunities they’re facing and where they're investing marketing budgets this year.
Southern Cross Health Insurance Chief Marketing Officer Regan Savage has been interviewed by Campaign Asia about the biggest challenges and opportunities they’re facing and where they're investing marketing budgets this year.
Savage calls out high inflation, the cost-of-living crisis and proving the value of premiums even when people aren’t claiming as the three biggest marketing challenges right now. In terms of opportunities, Savage mentions investing in newer, more capable communications platforms, how they are proactively offering members options to manage premiums as their needs change, and looking for opportunities to utilise AI to automate repetitive tasks.
More daily news:
Pinnacle Life are looking for a Head of Finance
The new Fidelity Life E-App is up and running
mySolutions webinar 'The Thousandth Client' 5 June
Southern Cross recognised at the 2024 Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand awards
Jon-Paul Hale says it's time to review how commission is paid when clients move to a new adviser
The Brand Experience Gap Study found insurers were among worst performers in NZ
Financial Advice NZ webinar 'Post Budget Webinar - Economic and Consumer Impacts 5 Jun
MAS is calling for nominations for the role of Practitioner Trustee of MAS Members’ Trust
Bell Gully summarise the Customer and Product Data Bill that has been introduced to Parliament
New Zealand is 485 GPs short, with this number expected to grow
Zurich develops AI systems to streamline life insurance applications
UniMed give followers a chance to win a double pass to the Crusaders game this Friday
MAS publish their latest Member-exclusive quarterly magazine, OnMAS
Asteron Life appoints new Chief Underwriter
Kathie Tutty has been named the new Chief Underwriter at Asteron Life.
Kathie Tutty has been named the new Chief Underwriter at Asteron Life. Tutty is currently the Underwriting Manager and Principal Underwriter at Asteron Life and will start her new role on May 31.
Grant Willis, Executive General Manager Life, said
“Kathie’s promotion to the role of chief underwriter and member of the life leadership team recognises her passion and ambition for our business and her desire to take our underwriting performance and strategy to the next level.”
More daily news:
Bronwyn Kirwan interviews Niall McConville, Fidelity Life's new Chief Insurance Officer
MAS reaches $2.5b investment funds under management
The Monetary Policy Committee keep the Official Cash Rate at 5.50%
Website upgrades: what you need to know
Our IT Development team have been working hard to improve the services that we offer our advisers as well as improving user experience.
Our IT Development team have been working hard to improve the services that we offer our advisers as well as improving user experience.
If you’ve noticed we’re running a bit slower than usual, please refresh your page and scroll down to ensure that you’re on our latest version – QUOTE ENGINE V.3.0 B1 | QPR V.15.8 | WEB V.4.6.0
Here are the changes that we’ve made:
General updates:
- All users with an active account, whether on Free, Researchmonster or Advicemonster can access the Policy Archives. Click here to view a short video showcasing this function.
- A few more handy tips and hints in the Personal and Business Product and Provider Settings.
Two factor authentication (2FA):
- Users can now submit the six-digit authentication code by hitting ‘Enter’ on their keyboard, previously you could only click ‘NEXT.’
Researchmonster updates:
- The Compare Premium chart now shows the total premium and adjusts when you click the colour key to remove a benefit. If you do decide to remove a benefit entirely, don’t forget to head back to the benefit details, unselect and re-crunch to reflect this in your PDF research report.
- In our Standalone Head to Head, the default benefit period has been updated for Income Protection comparisons, the default is now To Age 65.
Advicemonster updates:
- Advicemonster users have two options to view their Business Product and Provider Settings, access this via the main menu or the tool icon to the left of your account name.
- The default benefit period for Business Income Protection comparisons has been updated 2 Years. Many insurers offer a limited selection of products in their business insurance suite, our team have created an infographic that highlights the selections you’ll need to make to include certain products in your comparison.
Training sessions:
We are hosting online training sessions on Researchmonster and Advicemonster on a regular basis and invite you and your team to join us if you’re interested in learning more about these new features. Our next sessions will be:
Quotemonster training - Wednesday, 5 June 2024 10:00 am-11:00 am
In this session, we will demonstrate the basic functions of our website, along with some handy tips and tricks along the way.
Demystifying Advicemonster - Thursday, 6 June 2024 10:00 am-11:00 am
In this session Aneel Ravji, our AdviceTech Lead, will demonstrate how to use our needs analysis and statement of advice (SOA) tools.
Business Risk Research and SOAs - Thursday, 6 June 2024 11:30 am-12:30 pm
In this session, Aneel will demonstrate how to use our business risk pricing, research, and SOA functionality.
If you would like to join either of these sessions, please email your request to info@quotemonster.co.nz
Happy Crunching!
How to update your billing details
This quick video will show you how to update your billing details on Quotemonster, including how to add an additional email for receiving invoices.
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
MBIE Consultation on changes in regulation of the financial services sector, APRA release on private health insurance, plus ASIC guidance.
22 May 2024 - The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is seeking feedback on options for streamlining how banks and other financial service providers are regulated by the government.
MBIE is consulting on:
• possible changes to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act.
• changes to the systems and controls financial institutions need to have in place to support how they provide services to consumers, and how the Financial Markets Authority regulates the market.
• opportunities to improve the accessibility and effectiveness of the financial dispute resolution system.
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/have-your-say/fit-for-purpose-financial-services-reform
22 May 2024 - The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has released its quarterly private health insurance publication for the March 2024 quarter. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-releases-quarterly-private-health-insurance-statistics-for-march-2024
22 May 2024 - ASIC has released guidance to financial advisers and Australian financial services licensees about the experienced provider pathway following changes to the law made by the Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Measures No. 3) Act 2023. https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/news-items/asic-releases-guidance-on-the-experienced-provider-pathway-for-financial-advisers/
Partners Life publishes gender pay gap data - we contrast that with ours
Partners Life has published their gender pay gap data as at March 2024.
Partners Life has published their gender pay gap data as at March 2024. While the Financial and Insurance Services industry as a whole has a gender pay gap of 30.2%, Partners Life’s gender pay gap is at 24.5%, which they have reduced from 26.1% in March 2023.
While pay gaps for males vs females in like-for-like roles are very small at Partners Life, the 24.5% overall gender pay gap reflects a higher level of men in senior roles than women. Partners Life has identified this as an issue and have introduced a range of initiatives to help reduce their pay gap, including monthly monitoring, implementing training programmes, offering flexible working arrangements.
Here at Quality Product Research Limited at the end of January we had 11 eligible roles active and our gender pay gap was about 8.5% - it has been as high as 19% and as low as parity. Like Partners Life, in like-for-like roles the gap is tiny. From a diversity perspective we are a bit small for detailed reporting (it would pretty soon get down to very small sets so we tend not to ask too many personal questions) but we do know that roughly a third of our staff were born in New Zealand, a third hail from the broad Asia-pacific region, and the remaining third from the UK-Europe-Middle-East. We now have 15 eligible roles so the numbers will have shifted again, but we have not recalculated yet, which will happen near the end of the year. Diversity, equity and inclusion are important to us, so this is an area we discuss and review with an eye to ensuring we benefit from a range of experiences and backgrounds.
More daily news:
FSC24 session spotlight: Life and Health Insurance Masterclass 3 September
Dates and venues for the FMA's FAP monitoring insights sessions released
NZFSG reminds advisers to be vigilant against risk of cyber attacks
Rob Hennin talks about nib partnering with iwi to deliver health insurance
Steven Burgess says advisers need to ensure their clients understand the advice they are offered
mySolutions webinar 'Online FMA Monitoring Visit' 9am 29 May
FSC Webinar 'Māori engagement in the financial services industry' 18 June
Mary Holm’s financial column covers whether you really need life and health insurance
Kiwibank has announced the appointment of Anne Haira to its board
Craig Stobo appointed as chair of FMA
Craig Stobo has been appointed as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA).
Craig Stobo has been appointed as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Stobo has been appointed for a five-year term and takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April.
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly said
“Mr Stobo brings a significant depth of experience to the role, having worked as a director, diplomat, economist, and chief executive.
The FMA will benefit from Mr Stobo’s understanding of market issues and regulation, as well as the importance of informed participation from businesses and investors.”
More daily news:
The FSC brings the industry together to respond to the Contracts of Insurance Bill
Anna Schubert discusses ways AIA help advisers manage stress
AIA launch a Neurodiversity Toolkit
Southern Cross Healthcare have joined the New Zealand Disability Employers' Network
MAS is a finalist in the Ethical and Impact Investment Awards
Submissions open for the ANZIIF industry awards
Kiwibank welcome Anne Haira to the Kiwibank board
Westpac won the Corporate ESG award at the INFINZ awards
ASB has joined the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower programme
People seeking help from financial mentors jumps 40% in a year
NZFSG announce new non-executive director
The NZ Financial Services Group (NZFSG) has appointed Thérèse Singleton as a non-executive director.
The NZ Financial Services Group (NZFSG) has appointed Thérèse Singleton as a non-executive director, with the aim of enhancing NZFSG’s support for advisers by improving compliance, risk management and strategic operations. Singleton is currently the chief operating officer at insurance company Ando and is a member of the NZ Financial Advice Code committee.
Brendon Smith, board chair of NZFSG said
“Thérèse's extensive knowledge and exceptional track record in both the financial and insurance sectors make her an invaluable addition to our board.
Her insights will be pivotal as we continue to navigate through evolving regulatory environments and strive to set new standards in adviser services.”
More daily news:
MAS looking for a Head of Growth Markets
Jon-Paul Hale discusses complexities of policy replacement and servicing commissions
RiskInfoNZ Poll finds 85% of respondents' clients are reducing or cancelling their insurance cover
Financial Advice NZ webinars Professional Ethics Workshop 20 June
Kumeu Rugby Club won the nib Little Legends $10K Relay
Southern Cross Healthcare introduces new operating theatre training programme, Periop 101
AIA NZ women won the AIA Global football champs in London
Kiwibank win at the 2024 Genesys Customer Innovation Awards
The FMA publish May's 'Money with Mary'
61% of advice practices in Australian are one-person bands
Interest.co.nz estimate mortgage broker earnings
Access to life-changing MS drug delayed due to staff shortages
Research and website upgrades: what you need to know
Our Research team have made some monstrously good updates to the QPR database recently.
QPR Database V15.8 has been released!
Our Research team have made some monstrously good updates to the QPR database recently. If you’ve noticed we’re running a bit slower than usual, please refresh your page and scroll down to ensure that you’re on our latest version – QUOTE ENGINE V.3.0 B1 | QPR V.15.8 | WEB V4.5.9
Our latest updates to Researchmonster include:
- Policy documents update effective 8 March 2024
- AIA Private Health
- AIA Cancer Care
- AIA Real Health (access via Standalone Head to Head)
- ASB Private Health
o Rating changes applied to:
· Loyalty Benefits, Physiotherapy, Medical Tourism, Recovery Benefit, Exclusions
For further information on these changes, please click here.
- Asteron Life – Policy documents update effective 25 March 2024
o Rating changes in personal applied to:
· Life: Grief & Funeral Support, Terminal Illness, Child Funeral
· Trauma: Benefit Payment, ADL requirements for a range of major trauma conditions reduced from three to two - Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia, Encephalitis, Major head Trauma, Meningitis/meningococcal Disease, Multiple Scenarios, Muscular Dystrophy, Parkinsons Disease, Peripheral Neuropathy, Stroke, Cerebral Aneurysm
· Income and Mortgage Protection: Wait Period Reduction
o Rating changes in business applied to:
· Life: Grief & Funeral Support
· Key Person: Benefit Payment Criteria, Conversion
· Trauma: Benefit Payment, Systemic Sclerosis
For further information on these changes, please click here.
- Reviews:
o Medical: sub-item remediation to Diagnostic Tests, Exclusions
o Trauma: sub-item remediation to Child Trauma, Coma, Life Cover Buyback, Upgrade Policy Wording, incidence remediation to Future Insurability, amount score remediation to Special Events Increase
o Life: sub-item remediation to Business Events Increase
o Review of nib ‘Serious Conditions Financial Support Option’
Policy document linked and updates made to:
o Pinnacle Life (all products)
o Momentum Life (all products)
Financial Strength Ratings (FSR) updates applied to:
o AA Life from AA- to AA+
o Accuro from B+ to B
o Asteron Life from AA- to A+
o Southern Cross from A to A+
Our Insurer Pass Back Rules and Policy Terms infographic has also been updated and here is where you can view and download a copy:
Standalone Head to Head is a powerful tool subscribers can use to:
- Compare legacy products for replacement business
- Compare products from the same provider; e.g., AIA Critical Conditions vs Progressive Care
- Compare different product sets; e.g., Severe Trauma vs Comprehensive Trauma
- Quick head to head research comparisons
Please note this feature is still in Beta version so please reach out to us if you have any feedback that you would like us to consider in our next round of development.
Our Health Benefit Maximums report available to Researchmonster and Advicemonster users, has also been updated to align with the updates in our research database. This quick reference guide aims to help advisers quickly identify some of the important differences when it comes to health cover benefit maximums. It doesn't include every individual niche benefit that some insurers offer, and some benefits can only be claimed on under specific circumstances (e.g., within 12 months of surgery).
Business Insurance is a powerful tool Advicemonster subscribers can use to quote, research, and run a needs analysis on for Life, Trauma, TPD and Key Person. We highly recommend joining us for our next online training session to learn more about the service, and as a thank you for attending we can offer a 14-day trial on your account for new users.
Our next session is scheduled for:
Thursday, 6 June 2024 11:30 am-12:30 pm
Upcoming training sessions:
- Introduction to Quotemonster
Quotemonster training session where we demonstrate the basic functions of our website, along with some handy tips and tricks along the way.
Wednesday, 5 June 2024 10:00 am-11:00 am or Wednesday, 19 June 2024 1:00 pm-2:00 pm
- Demystifying Advicemonster
Advicemonster training session where we demonstrate how to use our needs analysis and statement of advice (SOA) tools.
Thursday, 6 June 2024 10:00 am-11:00 am
If you have any questions or are interested in attending one of the above-mentioned sessions, please send us a request on info@quotemonster.co.nz
Happy Crunching!
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
Privacy Commissioner clarifies guidelines on notification periods; The Customer and Product Data Bill introduced to parliament; Privacy study finds higher levels of concern among Māori; Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs April 2024 diary released
16 May 2024 - Office of the Privacy Commissioner clarifies guidelines around 72 hours notification period for privacy breaches. https://privacy.org.nz/publications/statements-media-releases/how-long-is-72-hours/
16 May 2024 - The Customer and Product Data Bill was introduced to Parliament. https://bills.parliament.nz/v/6/770a5f4e-2185-4f1f-1395-08dc75512299?Tab=history
20 May 2024 - A recent study by the office of the Privacy Commissioner of New Zealander’s attitudes to privacy shows higher levels of concern among Māori. https://privacy.org.nz/publications/statements-media-releases/maori-are-more-concerned-about-privacy-in-every-way/
21 May 2024 - Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Hon Andrew Bayly April 2024 diary released with the following potential financial services sector related meeting noted:
4 April 2024 – MEET: Westpac (Pip Greenwood)
4 Apr 2024 – MEET: Suncorp (Jimmy Higgins and Clayton Cosgrove)
8 Apr 2024 – VISIT: Commerce Commission (Commerce Commission Staff)
10 Apr 2024 –MEET: Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman (Karen Stevens)
10 Apr 2024 – MEET: AIA NZ (Nick Stanhope)
10 Apr 2024 -MEET: Commerce Commision (Commerce Commission Officials)
23 Apr 2024 – MEET: Westpac (Catherine McGrath)
23 Apr 2024 – MEET: Takeovers Panel (Takeovers Panel members)
30 Apr 2024 –MEET: Commerce Commission (Commerce Commission Officials)