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.
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
Commerce Commission’s preliminary view on Payments NZ developing framework relating to provision of API; ASIC issue Cost recovery Implementation Statement; XRB publish interim report on Climate-Related Disclosure Framework evaluation; maximum compensation for complaints to rise; APA & ASIC publish info to help insurers prepare for the start of the Financial Accountability Regime; Privacy Commissioner publishes Statement of Performance Expectations and launches free online toolkit.
1 Jul 2024 - The Commerce Commission has reached a preliminary view that it should grant conditional authorisation to Payments NZ Limited to work with current and future API providers (i.e., banks) and third parties (e.g., fintechs) to develop and apply a partnering framework relating to the provision of API services by API providers to third parties. https://comcom.govt.nz/news-and-media/media-releases/2024/commerce-commission-issues-draft-determination-on-payments-new-zealands-application-to-further-develop-its-open-banking-framework
8 Jul 2024 - ASIC issued its 2023-24 Cost Recovery Implementation Statement (CRIS). The CRIS outlines estimated regulatory costs and levies for each industry subsector to help entities plan and budget for levies and fees to be charged. https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/news-items/asic-releases-estimated-industry-funding-levies-for-2023-24/
11 Jul 2024 - The External Reporting Board publish an interim report on New Zealand Climate-Related Disclosure Framework evaluation. https://www.xrb.govt.nz/news/insights/aotearoa-new-zealand-climate-related-disclosure-framework-evaluation-interim-report-published/
11 Jul 2024 - Financial limits for complaints are being raised across the four approved financial dispute resolution schemes from 18 July 2024. The Banking Ombudsman Scheme, the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme, Financial Services Complaints – a Financial Ombudsman Service, and the Financial Dispute Resolution Service will have the same thresholds for complaint values and compensation, providing consistency for consumers across the sector. The key change is raising the maximum compensation to $500,000 +GST. https://fdrs.org.nz/resources/news/increased-compensation-limits-for-financial-disputes/
11 Jul 2024 - The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have published new information to help insurers and superannuation trustees prepare for the commencement of the Financial Accountability Regime (FAR). The FAR already applies to the banking industry and takes effect for the insurance and superannuation industries from 15 March 2025.
New information includes:
an amendment to the Regulator rules, which prescribes key functions information for inclusion in the FAR register of accountable persons for insurance and superannuation industries; see Financial Accountability Regime Regulator Rules Amendment Instrument No. 1 of 2024 and Financial Accountability Regime Act (Information for register) Regulator Rules 2024; and
a joint ASIC and APRA letter summarising key issues raised during consultation and their response, including the concept and application of key functions.
12 Jul 2024 - The office of the Privacy Commissioner has published their Statement of Performance Expectations 2024-2025. https://privacy.org.nz/publications/corporate-reports/statement-of-performance-expectations-2024-2025/
15 Jul 2024 - The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has launched a free online toolkit today to help businesses and organisations do privacy well. https://privacy.org.nz/publications/statements-media-releases/new-privacy-toolkit-set-to-support-business-and-organisations/
Partners Life joins the Quotemonster Roadshow!
We are thrilled to announce that Partners Life has become the latest sponsor of the upcoming Quotemonster roadshow. Partners Life has made it possible for us to bring Compliance Refinery on the road with us to offer you independent compliance advice on how to handle legacy policies when you find them. This marks a significant step forward in our mission to provide top-tier resources and support to advisers.
We are thrilled to announce that Partners Life has become the latest sponsor of the upcoming Quotemonster roadshow. Partners Life has made it possible for us to bring Compliance Refinery on the road with us to offer you independent compliance advice on how to handle legacy policies when you find them. This marks a significant step forward in our mission to provide top-tier resources and support to advisers.
We provide tools to help with hurdles you face with providing existing insurance advice, legacy products, limited advice and more. Providing the relevant documentation and disclosures for replacement business is essential and Quotemonster want to make this as easy as possible with our expanded range of existing business research, which now includes hundreds of legacy, group, and directly sold products.
What to Expect:
Legacy Research: enhanced resources and tools to help you stay up to date.
Expert Insights from Compliance Refinery: Gain confidence in providing sound advice to your clients through their expert guidance.
What are the risks: Know how to and what to provide in terms of documentation when providing advice on replacing, retaining, and disposing of products.
We are committed to continuous growth and enhancement in the tools and services we provide for advisers and are excited to have Partners Life’s sponsorship which allows us to continue to expand. The expertise of Compliance Refinery staff will fill this session with invaluable guidance on how to navigate advice on existing and replacement insurance.
Register for a town near you by clicking the links below:
Click here to see all venues and dates.
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 V15.9 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.15.9 | WEB V4.6.0
Our latest updates to Researchmonster include:
- Policy document update for AIA Accidental Injury effective 26 April 2024
o Rating changes applied to:
· Collarbone Fracture, Hip Fracture, Jaw Fracture, Pelvis Fracture, Shoulder Fracture, Skull Fracture, Vertebrae Fracture, Loss of Thumb and Index Finger, Loss of Digits, Fingers and Toes, Inflation Adjustment, and Exclusions
For further information on these changes, please click here.
- Policy document update for Fidelity Life Monthly Mortgage Repayment effective 20 June 2024
o Rating changes applied to:
· Offsets
For further information on these changes, please click here.
Policy document linked to:
o Partners Life personal and business effective 22 April 2024
- Reviews:
o Asteron Life’s Early Trauma Pricing and Research is now available in Business Trauma, simply select this option in your Product and Provider Settings
o Trauma: sub-item remediation to Special Events (ASB), Benefit Payment (Asteron Life), Bowel Disease (MAS), and Survival Definition
o Life: sub-item remediation to Upgrade Policy Wording (nib)
o Income and Mortgage Protection: item remediation for Reduction in Wait Period (Asteron Life)
o Key Person: sub-item remediation for Benefit Payment Criteria (Asteron Life)
Recent Pricing Updates
We are now quoting the latest Southern Cross and nib medical rates effective 1 July.
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.
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.
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.
Friday, 26 July 2024 9:30 am-10:30 am
- Demystifying Advicemonster
Advicemonster training session where we demonstrate how to use our needs analysis and statement of advice (SOA) tools.
Friday, 26 July 2024 10:30 am-11:30 am
- Business Risk Research and SOAs with Quotemonster
Business risk pricing, research, and SOA demonstration.
Friday, 26 July 2024 12:00 pm-12:45 pm
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!
Managing your login devices
Here’s a quick video showing you how to manage your login devices.
Quotemonster Information Security Bulletin – Training in Privacy Principles
Tackling the leading cause of privacy breaches is simple…but not easy. In a recent team meeting, we had an interactive discussion about the potential breaches that could occur over email.
Tackling the leading cause of privacy breaches is simple…but not easy. In a recent team meeting, we had an interactive discussion about the potential breaches that could occur over email. We chose to highlight this topic because for most people in our industry, email is the preferred form of communication, and with no surprises, can be the leading cause of privacy breaches due to human error.
Email communications are a feature of our daily operations, facilitating the exchange of ideas, proposals, and responses to service queries. A significant vulnerability stems from misaddressed emails. This seemingly small error can lead to big risks, compromising personal and client data integrity. Although we rarely handle sensitive client data (most comparisons can be done on our system with quite limited information, much of which is public) we do sometimes handle sensitive adviser data.
A misaddressed email might seem like a simple typo or a momentary lapse, but its consequences can be far-reaching, causing the sharing of sensitive information, which might constitute a notifiable breach, and associated reputational damage.
To address this issue, we focused on training, sending delayed emails, good practices (such as composing with no recipients, only adding those later after checking) and double-checking recipients when we have attached documents. We also regularly use more structured forms of data sharing – such as sharing a file through file sharing systems which have enhanced security structures. In some instances, the message recall button can be used to delete or replace a message, but only works if the message hasn’t been read.
We are pleased to advise that in our thirteen years of business, we have never had any breaches, however as our organisation (and the number of hackers) grow, we are committed to training staff about the reporting procedure if this did occur.
Want to know more?
We are here to help! You can email us to ask for copies of past security bulletins. You can also review our outsource provider statement at the bottom right-hand corner of every page on the site at www.quotemonster.co.nz. More information about relevant certifications, policies, and procedures will be shared in future information security bulletins. We recommend you keep these with other compliance documents.
Please contact us on 09 480 6071 or at info@quotemonster.co.nz if you have any concerns or questions.
ISB 08-202407
IFINZ publish report on diversity
The Institute for Finance Professionals New Zealand Inc (INFINZ) has published a report on diversity, Insights Research in Support of a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Action Plan for INFINZ, 2024. In particular, the report focuses on Māori representation and inclusion across the finance sector, and women’s representation in senior roles.
The Institute for Finance Professionals New Zealand Inc (INFINZ) has published a report on diversity, Insights Research in Support of a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Action Plan for INFINZ, 2024. In particular, the report focuses on Māori representation and inclusion across the finance sector, and women’s representation in senior roles.
Barriers to Māori representation and inclusion included: lack of representation at senior levels to drive change; a lack of representation at all levels; Māori values not being understood or embraced. Barriers identified for women’s representation in senior roles included: recruitment practices and networking practices not favouring women; an unwelcoming finance sector public image; needing flexible working and strong paid parental leave policies in place; current leaders being resistant to change; career breaks for childcare/caregiving roles.
Stakeholders came up with a range of ideas for how to implement change. For Māori representation and inclusion, ideas included: showcasing Māori role models; connecting with iwi and Māori community networks; inclusive recruitment, including targeting and investing in young people; quotas and targets; embracing te ao Māori; recognising and remunerating for cultural practices; having a Māori network in the finance sector; building a charter or accord, supported by training and resources.
For women’s representation in senior roles, ideas for change included: inclusive recruitment; showing women role models in the sector; having quotas and targets; have coaching, mentoring and sponsorship programmes; offering flexible promotion pathways and roles/support for those returning to the workforce; strong paid parental leave policies; building a charter or accord, supported by training and resources.
Of the ideas for change, INFINZ have narrowed these down to a list of actions areas to consider as part of its future DEI activity. The areas for consideration include: a communications and awareness campaign; te ao Māori training and education; supporting the development of a Māori finance network; a Tūakana Tēina network and a DEI organisational network; scholarships; male allyship programmes; training and development for parents returning to work; advocacy and support. They also consider supporting a charter or accord covering recruitment practices; gender and ethnic pay gap reporting; cultural safety programmes; remuneration for cultural services; having women on recruitment panels and shortlists; paid parental leave top-ups and the ability to be promoted while on leave; paid parental leave targeting men; increasing the availability of high-quality part-time roles; implementing returner programmes and policies.
We’d be interested in hearing your views – what does your organisation currently do well? What initiatives would you like to see implemented?
More news:
The Cardiac Society calls on Pharmac to cover heart failure drugs
Graeme Lindsay has died
Graeme Lindsay, a life insurance industry stalwart, has died of cancer. Adviser and pioneer insurance product researcher, his presence will be remembered and missed.
Graeme Lindsay, a life insurance industry stalwart, has lost his battle with cancer. Throughout his career Lindsay worked as an adviser, was involved in an industry association, was a member of Million Dollar Round Table, and founded Strategy Financial Services, a business that provides analysis to life and health insurance agents. He was a competitor of ours and yet we will miss his presence in the industry. Whether he was writing about products or insurers he was always keen to highlight the value of good insurance coverage and identify issues that needed to be addressed. He was a pioneer in our sector.
Last December, Lindsay posted on LinkedIn explaining his situation and advocating for everyone to review their insurance cover and make sure they had the right policies and cover in place.
The funeral for Lindsay is scheduled to be held on Monday.
We will miss his voice in our sector.
More news:
The IFSO Scheme's 2023 Independent Review is available online
Bluestone Home Loans extends its partnership with NZ Financial Services Group
Momentum Life awarded the Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award
The FMA has censured financial services firm deVere New Zealand
Generate KiwiSaver report finds KiwiSaver Fees lower than Australia and UK
Pharmac has named two targeted cancer treatments that it intends to fund: Keytruda and Opdivo
Uploading a profile picture or logo to your Quotemonster reports
Adding a profile picture or a logo to your Quotemonster reports is super easy!
Hays publish salary guide
Hays have published their Salary Guide for FY24/25.
Hays have published their Salary Guide for FY24/25. Of note, the extreme skills shortage is lessening yet there is a hesitancy for businesses to take on new hires, due to macro-economic conditions.
Their survey data highlights the importance of brand reputation; diversity, equity and inclusion policies; and environmental, social and governance strategies in attracting talent. Once an employee starts, team culture and job security are the biggest reasons an employee plans to stay with their employer. A huge 82% of employees said that team culture is the most important factor in their decision to stay with their current employer, and 64% said that continued remote or hybrid working was important. More than 77% of employees are currently looking or planning to look for a new job within the next 12 months, with the rising cost of living being the most cited reason (64%).
Currently, 97% of organisations offered a hybrid working model, with 74% not expecting their hybrid work offering to change in the year ahead. This tracks closely with employee wants, with 92% preferring a hybrid mode of working.
86% of organisations are planning on offering pay rises in the year ahead, though the value of the salary increases is dropping, at odds with employee expectations, with 61% of employees expecting an increase of more than 3%. 71% of employees stated that a pay rise was the most important factor to their career in the year ahead but benefits also featured highly in priorities – with learning and developing technical skills (63%) and being able to work flexibly (54%) being important to people.
The survey had 15,324 respondents across Australia and New Zealand, across both employers (6,461) and employees (8,863).
More news:
mySolutions webinar 'nib - Navigating Health Insurance' 10 July
Financial Advice NZ Professional Ethics Workshop 30 July
Aplus Compliance has merged with Strategi Compliance
The Co-operative Bank share $2.5 million with 135,000 of their customers
Westpac offer financial support to customers affected by the extreme weather events
TAP looking for a Group Senior BAS Accountant
Select committee against bill to limit use of KiwiSaver as part of pay package
Generate KiwiSaver Scheme joins the Quotemonster Roadshow!
We are thrilled to announce that Generate KiwiSaver Scheme will be joining Quotemonster on our upcoming roadshow! This collaboration brings a fantastic opportunity for advisers to gain valuable insights about the benefits of offering KiwiSaver advice to your clients.
We are thrilled to announce that Generate KiwiSaver Scheme will be joining Quotemonster on our upcoming roadshow! This collaboration brings a fantastic opportunity for advisers to gain valuable insights about the benefits of offering KiwiSaver advice to your clients.
Learn more about how KiwiSaver works, understand its long-term value, and address any concerns or challenges you may have. Here's a glimpse of what to expect.
Why provide KiwiSaver advice?
Generate will share compelling reasons why advisers should consider offering KiwiSaver advice as a critical part of their advisory services. They will demonstrate how KiwiSaver advice can be a cornerstone of a robust financial plan, offering benefits that extend far beyond retirement savings.
Myth busting: Overcoming challenges
Advisers often encounter various myths and misconceptions that can act as hurdles when providing KiwiSaver advice. Generate will address these challenges head-on and explain how they can help you provide KiwiSaver advice seamlessly while meeting your advice obligations.
Compare KiwiSaver providers
We are excited to give you a sneak peek at our newest service – Kiwimonster! You won’t want to miss this.
Join us on the Roadshow!
Click on the links below to register for your town:
Click here to see all venues and dates.
The issuer is Generate Investment Management Ltd. A copy of the Product Disclosure Statement and advertising disclosures are available at generatekiwisaver.co.nz/disclosures.
