Executive Team changes at Partners Life

From 1 October 2024, there will be some changes to the executive team at Partners Life. Andries van Graan, previously Chief of Adviser Distribution, will be Chief Distribution Officer. Kate Dron, previously Chief and Appointed Actuary, will be Chief Customer Solutions Officer.

Van Graan’s new role will focus on strengthening partnerships with independent financial advisers and working to amplify Partners Life’s customer referral partnership with BNZ.

Dron’s new role will focus on ensuring that Partners Life’s solutions service a wide range of customer needs with a particular focus on enhanced simplicity and accessibility and includes establishing a establishing a business led data, analytics, and insights team.

More news:

nib extends three months free offer until 31 October 2024

mySolutions webinar 'KiwiMonster' 9 October

Financial Advice NZ webinar 'Understanding artificial intelligence in financial services' 16 October

Johny Winstone says advisers offer key emotional support

Southern Cross release their Healthy Futures Report

Southern Cross have released the Healthy Futures Report 2024, which surveyed 2,000 New Zealanders about their health and wellbeing behaviours. Some of the key findings include:

• The biggest concerns for New Zealanders were the cost of living (91%); violence in society (86%); not having access to good, affordable healthcare (84%); and affordable housing, mental health and not having access to cancer treatment services all at 82%.

• Health professionals remain the main source of health information (64%), followed by online articles/websites (52%), but social media is increasing in popularity with young people and Pasifika people (up 6% to 27%).

• A majority of people seek treatment immediately (12%) or within a day or two (47%), though 10% usually don’t seek professional advice or treatment.

• The main barriers to accessing healthcare include cost (35%) and wait times being too long (34%). There has been a jump in people not being able to access healthcare at the time they want (up 4% to 20%).

• When it comes to dental treatment, the main barriers are cost (60%) and not being covered by medical treatment (13%).

• New Zealander’s define ‘healthy’ as mental wellbeing (70%), avoiding smoking and tobacco (70%), getting enough sleep (67%), eating a balanced diet (67%) and emotional wellbeing (66%).

• Physical health concerns include level of fitness (65%), making sure kids eat healthy foods (65%), long term physical health effects (65%) and family health and wellbeing (65%).

• The average kiwi exercises for 30 minutes, three times a week – 61% don’t feel they are getting enough exercise. Being too tired (33%) and not having enough time (32%) continue to be the main barriers to exercising.

• While 92% of kiwis consider themselves knowledgeable about what healthy food is, 82% consider healthy eating to be expensive and 74% would like to lose weight.

• ·The top emotional wellbeing concerns are concentrated around family, with kiwis concerned about whether their children will cope with the pressures of life (60%), not having enough money to support myself/my family (55%) and parents/relatives getting elderly and needing care (51%).

• Only 44% of New Zealanders consider themselves as getting enough sleep, with those living with kids or living with a disability being more sleep deprived than others. Reasons given for not getting enough sleep included having too much to think about (49%), going to bed too late (41%) and being anxious or stressed (40%).

• While 88% consider work life balance to be important, only 33% consider they currently have a good balance. Factors kiwis consider as important to achieving a good work/life balance include having flexible working hours (43%), switching off from work when finished for the day (43%) and sticking to set work hours (34%). Conversely, factors contributing to a negative work/life balance include workload being too high (60%), financial pressures (46%) and not having flexible working hours (40%).

• Actions New Zealanders are taking to look after their emotional health and wellbeing include keeping your brain stimulated (60%), spending time outdoors (58%), nurturing and maintaining relationships (54%) and spending more time with family (52%).

More news:

AIA revise launch date for Accidental Injury cover

Partners Life New Adviser Training Course on 21 October

Finger-prick blood test developed to detect the hallmark protein in early Alzheimer’s

Te Whatu Ora and West Coast Health propose closing all after hours GP services

Changes announced to the way police respond to mental health call-outs

What advisers think of KiwiSaver

At our latest roadshows, we’ve been lucky enough to have Generate KiwiSaver Scheme join us, giving advisers insights into the benefits of offering KiwiSaver advice. We’ve also been finding out what our roadshow attendees think about KiwiSaver.

To date, the results show that for those advisers who are already offering advice on KiwiSaver investments, the top reasons for offering KiwiSaver are diversifying revenue, building a KiwiSaver book for long term value and adding value to clients. Advisers have told us that performance, ease of withdrawals and alternative fund options are most important to clients when choosing a KiwiSaver provider. And 27% of advisers were interested in additional resources or support related to KiwiSaver advice and independent research.

If you haven’t joined us already, come along to one of our remaining roadshows to find out more – along with info on KiwiSaver we’ll be highlighting some major new research, talking about two new regtech tools to help keep you safe, giving you a sneak peek at Kiwimonster, and much, much more.

• 20 August -Queenstown

• 21 August - Dunedin

• 22 August - South Auckland

• 27 August - Whangarei

• 28 August - North Auckland

• 29 August - Nelson  

More news:

Fidelity Life extend 3 months free until 31 December 2024

Michael Weston talks about key priorities at Partners Life

Jon-Paul Hale highlights the good advisers do

Asteron Life are looking for a Lump Sum Claims Specialist

Study finds three-quarters of respondents have realised the importance of financial knowledge

FAMNZ launch inaugural Adviser Elevate series on 28 August

AIA sponsor the Parliamentary Rugby Team

Charlene Overell is the Financial Advice New Zealand Volunteer of the Year

AIA celebrate 5 years of AIA Vitality

AIA have released some statistics about AIA Vitality to celebrate five years of AIA Vitality being in the market.

• To date, over 60,000 people have joined AIA Vitality.

• On average, an AIA Vitality member in New Zealand completes a health and wellbeing assessment available in the app every 15 minutes.

• AIA Vitality members have completed over 18,500 free Vitality Health Checks.

• Since becoming AIA Vitality members:

  • 79% have moved to a healthy glucose range from an unhealthy glucose range.

  • 64% have moved to a healthy cholesterol level from an unhealthy level.

  • 49% have moved to a healthy blood pressure range from an unhealthy range.

• Less than 50% of New Zealanders meet the recommended guidelines of 2.5 hours of weekly physical activity but 95% of AIA Vitality Silver+ members meet this target.

• AIA Vitality members combined have walked the length of New Zealand 1,295 times.

• Members have achieved over 86,800 Status Reward vouchers and 976,500 Active Rewards vouchers – a combined worth of $9.1 million in rewards.

To celebrate the anniversary, AIA is giving customers who activate their AIA Vitality membership by 31 October the chance to win one of 20 Woolworths Gift Cards, each worth $500. Existing AIA Vitality members who hit their $5 weekly physical activity target anytime between 5 August and 1 September, go in the draw to win 1 of 5 Apple Store Gift Cards worth $729.

AIA have recently made some improvements to AIA Vitality, with a new AIA Vitality app with enhanced features and functionality being launched in April this year.

More news:

AIA offer clients a chance to win a year's insurance

The FSC runs a Money Month campaign on Money and You website

Partners Life and Banqer launch free financial literacy course

AIA appoint Bianca Bettini as new AIA Vitality Coach

Andrew Bayly says the CCCFA’s director and senior management liability provisions to stay

Westpac connect Volley to their Open Banking platform

Bell Gully put together an overview of the Customer Data Right bill and the CDR framework

Finance Minister says she wants external investors for outside capital for Kiwibank

GP’s having to raise fees after insufficient government funding increase

FSC Conference 2024 – special discount offer

The Financial Service Council’s 2024 conference has a focus on life and health insurance, with leaders from the financial, academic and healthcare sectors coming together to foster collaboration and discuss top issues. FSC24 will be held The Cordis Hotel, Auckland, on 15-17 August 2023.

Our very own Russell Hutchinson is the facilitator of the breakout session ‘Genetics, how far have we come?’, which looks at the future of genetics and insurance in NZ. There’s a range of other life and health insurance focused sessions, including ‘Policy Masterclass 2: Looking forward to 2030 - A brave new world?’, ‘Breakout Session: Lifespan versus Healthspan: How technology can help drive healthier living in older age’ and ‘Breakout Session: CEO Strategy: a view from the top’.

LIMITED SPECIAL DISCOUNT OFFER

Quotemonster has negotiated a special discounted rate for Financial Advisers* to join the flagship Financial Services Conference in New Zealand, saving up to $400 for access to all conference sessions.

This limited offer is available to the first 50 Financial Advisers* that register using this link before the 9th of August. Please note to get the discount you must enter the access code FSC24QPR to reveal the hidden tickets as per the screenshot below.

For a full conference pass including Gala Dinner Special we have secured a rate of $1,330 (current ticket price $1,700, saving $370) or a Day Pass Special Rate for Wednesday 4th of September only at $700 (currently ticket price $780, saving $80), as a value add for Quotemonster users.

*To qualify for this special offer, you must be a Financial Adviser listed on the New Zealand Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR). This limited offer is available to the first 50 Financial Advisers that complete registration using this link by 9 August 2024.

More news:

A range of new courses added to Partners Life Academy

BNZ is proceeding with plans to outsource jobs to India

August is Sorted Money Month, with the theme ‘Pause. Get sorted.’

Report lists seven megatrends that could change the future of financial advice

Cost of living for average NZ household climbed 5.4% in June quarter

Partners Life appoints new Chief Risk Officer

Partners Life has appointed James Greig as Chief Risk Officer. Greig joins from Southern Cross Health Society, where he is the Head of Risk. Greig has more than 20 years’ experience across insurance and business roles in both New Zealand and Australia. He has held senior positions across strategy, operations, technology and risk roles, including six years as Director of Supervision at the Financial Markets Authority.

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Nominations open for Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards

NZUAC's 2024 Auckland Expo is on August 27

ANZ is being investigated by ASIC over allegations it manipulated Australian government bond sales

The Government hints they’re open to selling Kiwibank to enable it to grow

Lending and investment company Squirrel has been the target of a cyber attack

Michael Weston talks about how he wants to take Partners Life forward

Good Returns TV has an interview with Michael Weston, Partners Life CEO. Weston says in the four months he’s been in the role, he’s been spending a lot of time with our advisers, getting to know the regulators and key business partners.

Weston talks about how he’s working to continue the values and the culture of the brand and as he goes forward he’s concentrating on what the next stage of growth for the company will look like, looking to spot unserved needs and ensure Partners Life has the right capabilities in place. He wants to keep focusing on innovation and in terms of the business environment currently, looking at making their solutions simpler and more accessible to a wider range of New Zealanders.

More news:

mySolutions webinar 'New mySolutions Member Benefit - myGrowth Platform' 31 July

Fidelity Life roll out enhanced GP lookup feature for their new E-App

Last week for Fidelity Life's customer engagement initiative

nib offer customers 3 months free on Easy Health, Ultimate Health or Ultimate Health Max policies

Partners Life partner with Banqer for annual Money Month Challenge

David Carney talks about the role of AI in financial advice

Centrix’s latest ‘Credit Indicator Report' shows the number of people behind on payments has increased to 474,000

The Financial Services Federation signs up mortgage advisers as affiliate members

Kiwibank creates content series focusing on first homeownership

Apex Advice is looking for a Financial Adviser – Home Loans

Health Minister replaces Heath NZ’s board of directors with a commissioner in effort to address overspending

AIA release their 2023 Sustainability Report

AIA has released its 2023 Sustainability Report: Sustaining Healthier, Longer, Better Lives. Key highlights include:

• Achieved Toitū carbonreduce certification

• Paid 92% of claims received, totalling $734.8M in 2023

• Grew to 55,000+ AIA Vitality members, encouraging members to improve their physical and mental wellbeing

• Invested into the Betashares Global Sustainability Leaders and Australian Sustainability Leaders funds

• Began transitioning fleet to hybrid vehicles to reduce fuel usage

• 2023 Gallup Engagement Survey Top Quartile in global finance and insurance industry benchmark

• Partnered with the Sustainable Business Council, hosting a webinar highlighting their Environment and Our Health Report.

AIA was recognised for its sustainability efforts, winning the 2023 Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance Awards for Excellence in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Change, and the Financial Services Council of New Zealand Award for Excellence in Sustainable Practices.

Nick Stanhope, AIA NZ CEO, said

“At AIA NZ, our dream is for New Zealand to be one of the healthiest and best protected nations in the world. We understand that environmental sustainability not only has an impact on the wellbeing of our planet, but on our physical and mental health as well.

By rolling out initiatives and practices which support our ESG goals, we’re demonstrating our commitment to safeguarding the environment and the health of our communities.”

More news:

Fidelity Life offer premium waivers to those affected by extreme weather

Partners Life 3-day Training Course starts 19 August

External Reporting Board hold Sandbox Session for Assurance Practitioners

ANZ introduces behavioural biometrics collection, an anti-scam measure

Five strategies for advisers to navigate a high-rate environment

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 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:

Taupo

Tauranga

Hamilton

West - Auckland

Christchurch

Invercargill

East/Central - Auckland

Napier

Palmerston North

Wellington

New Plymouth

Queenstown

Dunedin

South - Auckland

Whangarei

North - Auckland

Nelson

Click here to see all venues and dates.

nib quarterly premium review results in price increases

As part of a quarterly review, nib have reviewed their health insurance premiums. The changes affect both current members renewing their policies and new policies sold this quarter. The changes for renewing customers are below, with the change in premium for each member varying depending on the benefits, options and excess they have selected, who the policy covers and whether the premium includes a policy fee.

Premiums included in quotations for prospective new members will be updated from 1 July 2024 and the new rates will be automatically updated in nibAPPLY. Quotations dated before 1 July 2024 will be honoured if the application goes into force within 30 days of the quotation date.

More details can be found on nib’s FAQ page or advisers can contact their nib Adviser Partner Manager.

More news:

Michael Weston, Partners Life CEO, says how he plans to keep growth momentum

Fidelity Life increase their mandatory medical limit for BMI to 37

Fidelity Life ask advisers what their next adviser council should cover

Fidelity Life publish new, updated Working together guide

Fidelity Life extend adviser feedback survey deadline to 21 July

Financial Advice New Zealand webinar 'Professional Development Planning' 10 July

mySolutions webinar 'The Compliance Refinery - AML/CFT Changes' 3 July

The FMA and the Retirement Commission remind people to do a KiwiSaver health check

Complaint to IFSO results in ex gratia payment for clients

AMP’s former head of advice sues The Australian newspaper for defamation over what he says were false allegations he misled ASIC