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.
Fidelity Life celebrates its latest 20 Career connect graduates
Last week, Fidelity Life held a celebration to honour its latest 20 Career Connect graduates. Each graduate has successfully completed their Level 5 qualifications in life, disability, and health insurance.
Last week, Fidelity Life held a celebration to honour its latest 20 Career Connect graduates. Each graduate has successfully completed their Level 5 qualifications in life, disability, and health insurance.
Anna Devereux; Women in finance scholarship recipient (Dunedin)
Ashlee Cuttance (Dunedin)
Awhina Scott; Pounamu scholarship recipient (Christchurch)
Briar Evans (Auckland)
Caitlin Hayward (Morrinsville)
Christabel Bertie (Auckland)
Grace McIntyre; Rural scholarship recipient (Dunedin)
Harpreet Rehal (Auckland)
Jenny Silva; Kōwhai scholarship recipient (Queenstown)
Kim Forsythe (Invercargill)
Kirsty Gobbie (Auckland)
Leean Te (Auckland)
Marna Breetzke; Pāua scholarship recipient (Auckland)
Matthew Roxburgh (Dunedin)
Myja Gregory (Auckland)
Namrata Kumar (Auckland)
Shiwangni Mala (Auckland)
Sydnee Taylor; Toe Toe scholarship recipient (Christchurch)
Taylah Marr; Rāngi Po scholarship recipient (Christchurch)
Vanessa Jones-Dutton (New Plymouth)
This year, 95% of Career connect graduates were women, and a quarter of the group identifies as Māori or Pasifika.
Michelle Doyle, Head of Solutions said
"More than 60% of the graduates who asked for introductions to adviser businesses have already landed jobs, excited to start careers that help New Zealanders protect what matters most.”
Since its inception in 2023, Career connect has had more than 200 registrations for 70 course places, welcomed 47 students and helped almost 40 people gain their Level 5 qualifications in life, disability, and health insurance.
Submissions to be part of the 2025 intake of Career connect closed earlier this month with nearly 70 applications from a diverse group of candidates across various ages, genders, and cultural backgrounds.
More news:
Expressions of interest for Partners Life New Adviser Training Course open
mySolutions webinar 'Navigating the future ' 2 April
FSC webinar 'How financially resilient are Kiwis?' 29 April
Adviser refunds income protection premiums in FSCL dispute
Chubb Life appoints new CFO
Chubb Life has appointed Jaco Grobbelaar as its chief financial officer.
Chubb Life has appointed Jaco Grobbelaar as its chief financial officer. Grobbelaar has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance and financial services sectors. Grobbelaar was most recently at Partners Life, where he led the finance function team across a range of activities to help strengthen organisational resilience and growth.
Chubb Life chief executive Gail Costa said
"Jaco has a strong track record of optimising financial planning and reporting processes, driving efficiency and successfully leading teams through change. I'm really looking forward to having Jaco on board and have every confidence that his expertise, experience and leadership will further strengthen our senior leadership team."
More news:
mySolutions roadshow 'Persistence: it's your Superpower' in May
Fidelity Life publish February turnaround times
Partners Life webinar 'Quote for Alteration Changes' 3 April
nib delay launch of Ultimate Life & Living Insurance suite
Southern Cross Healthcare looking for a People and Culture Business Partner
The FMA is looking for a Head of Deposit Taking
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
FMA publish monthly market engagement; research highlights barriers that can prevent NZers from opening bank accounts; Customer and Product Data Bill completes third reading; FMA consult on a range of class exemptions due to expire; committee stage of Privacy Amendment Bill completed; Chief Ombudsman releases final report.
23 Mar 2025 - The FMA now publishes monthly market engagement undertaken by the FMA on their website. https://www.fma.govt.nz/business/
25 Mar 2025 - New research commissioned by the RBNZ has highlighted barriers that can prevent some New Zealanders from opening bank accounts. The research, titled First steps to financial inclusion, explored opening bank accounts from the perspective of frontline bank staff and customers. It found that certain groups were reported to be most likely to find it difficult to open a bank account, including recent migrants, rural communities, the elderly, people with disabilities, and trusts (including Māori trusts). https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/03/new-report-suggests-that-collective-action-is-needed-to-improve-access-to-bank-accounts
25 Mar 2025 - Customer and Product Data Bill completes third reading. https://bills.parliament.nz/v/6/770A5F4E-2185-4F1F-1395-08DC75512299?Tab=history
26 Mar 2025 - The FMA are consulting on a range of class exemption that are due to expire before the end of 2026. https://www.fma.govt.nz/business/focus-areas/consultation/expiring-class-legislative-notices/
27 Mar 2025 - The committee stage of the Privacy Amendment Bill was completed. https://bills.parliament.nz/v/6/56e3fbe7-1f3d-464e-b54d-08dbae8917ae?Tab=history
27 Mar 2025 - The Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has released his final report to Parliament. https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/news
Partners Life’s new training module ‘Fair Treatment of Customers’
Partners Life have introduced a new training module ‘Fair treatment of Customers’, to help advisers be better prepared for the new Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) regulations coming into effect on 31 March.
Partners Life have introduced a new training module ‘Fair treatment of Customers’, to help advisers be better prepared for the new Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) regulations coming into effect on 31 March. The module is worth approximately 0.5 hours of CPD and is available on the Partners Life Academy.
Partners Life developed two different new eLearn modules on the fair treatment of customers – one for staff and one for independent financial advisers. The staff version focuses on how the fair conduct principle applies to daily work and interactions with clients and advisers. The adviser version includes more information on the shared responsibility for customers that is held between Partners Life as the product provider and the adviser who has a deeper understanding of the client’s personal situation and financial circumstances. Partners Life appreciate that advisers are familiar with the new CoFI legislation, however, they wanted to share their expectations in a format that would be easy to read and included a short quiz to test their understanding.
By the end of March, a customer-friendly version of their fair conduct programme and information on how Partners Life apply the fair conduct principle will be available on their website.
More news:
Southern Cross Health Insurance funds pilot for access to The Prostate Clinic
Momentum Life offer customers 20% off online wills in partnership with Public Trust
FMA ad campaign educating consumers about Fair Conduct Programme to launch soon
Experts advocate raising KiwiSaver minimum contributions to 4% from both employees and employers
AI becoming more trusted by executives
SAP investigated how US executives were using AI in their organisations and their trust in the technology.
SAP investigated how US executives were using AI in their organisations and their trust in the technology. They found that AI has become embedded in work practices (with 63% of executives using generative AI daily) and is changing how people do business.
Decisions are being made based on AI insights, with 44% of C-suite executives saying they would override a decision they had already planned to make based on AI insights and another 38% trusting AI to make business decisions on their behalf. 74% of executives had more confidence in AI advice over advice from family and friends. And a massive 55% of executives say in their company AI-driven insights have replaced or bypassed traditional decision-making.
Some common tasks carried out by generative AI tools include:
Analysing data and making recommendations for decision-making (52%)
Spotting risk or issues they hadn't previously considered (48%)
Offering alternate plans (47%)
Enhancing product development (40%)
Supporting budget planning (40%)
Performing market research (40%)
SAP found that there were positive implications on employee wellbeing, with 39% of executives reporting better work-life balance, 38% reporting improved wellbeing and 31% reporting reduced stress.
More news:
SortMe Advisor Portal, a tool designed to enhance financial advisory services, launches
AIA launch new Guide to Medical Underwriting
28% of large organisations rank AI-generated cyber threats as a major risk
Fidelity Life financial strength rating reaffirmed
Fidelity Life has had its A- (Excellent) financial strength rating affirmed by AM Best.
Fidelity Life, New Zealand’s largest locally owned life insurer, had its A- (Excellent) financial strength rating affirmed by AM Best. The outlook for the rating is stable, and according to AM Best, reflects Fidelity Life’s ‘very strong’ balance sheet.
Fidelity Life Chief Financial Officer Simon Pennington said
“This A- rating from AM Best is a reassuring endorsement of our business's financial health and stability. As a life insurer, this independent assessment gives advisers confidence in partnering with us, and for customers, it ensures peace of mind in our ability to pay claims.”
More news:
Brendan Boyle starts as Pharmac’s Acting Chief Executive on Monday 31 March
Westpac-McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index falls to 89.2 in March
Online Monsters In March event
Join us on the 27th of March for our online version of Monsters in March!
You may have noticed in our recent communications that we are holding a few events in in Auckland and Christchurch. For those of you outside of these areas (or if you were unable to attend in person) we are hosting online versions of the events on the 27th of March.
These events are a must-attend for advisers looking to refine their expertise, embrace new opportunities, and integrate cutting-edge research into their practice.
There will be three separate sessions – one on business insurance, one on personal insurance and one on KiwiSaver. You can choose whether to attend all three sessions or pick one or two.
You can register for the 40-minute sessions using these links and there is further information on these sessions below. You need to register for each of the three sessions you would like to attend.
9am – Business Insurance Session
10am – Personal Insurance Session
11am – KiwiSaver Session
Session 1: Business Insurance – Unlocking Growth & Overcoming Barriers
Explore the untapped potential of Business Risk Insurance and learn how to navigate this lucrative market. This session provides a deep dive into the New Zealand business landscape and identifying opportunities for advisers.
Session 2: Personal Insurance – Navigating Market Shifts & Research Innovations
Stay ahead of industry trends and leverage independent research to strengthen your advice process. This session covers critical developments in the personal insurance market and our research tools.
Session 3: KiwiSaver – Strengthening Advice for Better Retirement Outcomes
Enhance your KiwiSaver advice strategy with independent research and expert insights. This session highlights the importance of adviser-led KiwiSaver recommendations and the tools available to support better decision-making.
Benefits of attending these event include:
· Explore the latest new research and platform enhancements firsthand
· Gain insights from expert speakers
· Earn valuable CPD credits
· Unlock exclusive access to extended free trials
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
The XRB remind entities to upgrade systems in light of NZ IRFS 18 requirements and will hold a webinar on NZ IFRS 18 requirements; XRB seek feedback on NZ IFRS 18 RDR concessions; XRB publish Transition planning - guidance for staff; FMA file criminal charges against former financial adviser; FMA release latest podcast; RBNZ wins two awards at Central Banking awards.
18 Mar 2025 - NZ IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements is mandatory for all Tier 1 and Tier 2 for-profit entities from 1 January 2027. Entities will likely need to update their systems, record-keeping and the financial statement preparation process by this date. NZ IFRS 18 will replace NZ IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements and introduces several new requirements, including
New categories and subtotals in the statement of profit or loss
Disclosure requirements for management-defined performance measures
Enhanced guidance on grouping (aggregation and disaggregation) of information
https://www.xrb.govt.nz/news/latest-news/
18 Mar 2025 - The XRB is holding a need-to-know webinar update session on 8 April at 12:30pm, which will include a high-level overview of the new NZ IFRS 18 requirements. https://www.xrb.govt.nz/news/latest-news/
18 Mar 2025 - The XRB are seeking feedback on proposed NZ IFRS 18 RDR concessions for Tier 2 for-profit entities via an open consultation. Consultation closes 29 May 2025. https://www.xrb.govt.nz/consultations/accounting-standards-open-for-consultation/rdr-concessions-nz-ifrs-18/
18 Mar 2025 - The XRB publish 'Transition planning - Guidance for staff'. This guide is for staff involved in coordinating or leading the transition planning process in their organisation. It covers the thinking and related business processes to develop a transition plan, as well as the drafting of the transition plan itself. https://www.xrb.govt.nz/dmsdocument/5342/
18 Mar 2025 - The FMA has filed criminal charges against former financial adviser David McEwen, for failing to comply with an FMA stop order, due to concerns he is still contacting potential investors. https://www.fma.govt.nz/news/all-releases/media-releases/criminal-charges-against-david-mcewen/
20 Mar 2025 - FMA releases ‘5 mins with the FMA’ podcast #11: Outcomes Focused Regulation. https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/podcast/5-mins-with-the-fma-podcast-11/
21 Mar 2025 - The RBNZ has been named as the winner of two categories in this year’s Central Banking awards - the Corporate Services Initiative Award for their Information Management Uplift, and the Green Award for their climate stress testing work. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/03/rbnz-takes-out-two-wins-in-this-years-central-banking-awards
Monsters in March off to a great start
We’ve kicked off our Monsters in March event series, thanks to the attendees, sponsors and speakers for making it happen.
We’ve kicked off our Monsters in March event series, holding the first session in Remuera on 18 March and the second session in Christchurch on 20 March. Thanks to the 150+ advisers that showed up to hear about personal insurance, business insurance or KiwiSaver advice. And thank you to all of our sponsors and speakers for making it happen.
Here’s a few photos from the events so far.
We’ll be holding a last on the North Shore in Auckland on 25 March – hope to see you there!
More news:
Fidelity Life will host a workshop at FANZ conference
mySolutions Member Benefits day is on 19 March
mySolutions webinar 'Artificial Intelligence: is it for you?' 26 March
Southern Cross Health Insurance appoint Russell Simpson Chief of Healthcare Partnerships
Registrations open for the Million Dollar Round Table’s Annual Meeting in Miami in June
Advisers originate about 70% of Kiwibank’s mortgages by volume
Unimed CEO to step down
UniMed has announced that CEO Louise Zacest will be stepping down at the end of March.
UniMed has announced that CEO Louise Zacest will be stepping down at the end of March. UniMed Chair Peter Tynan said the organisation was deeply grateful for Louise’s leadership over the past four years.
“Under her guidance, UniMed has become New Zealand’s third largest health insurer, expanded into health & safety and mental wellbeing, and significantly strengthened its internal capabilities.”
Lynne Hayman has been appointed as interim CEO, for the period 31 March to 31 October 2025, while a recruitment process for a new CEO is undertaken. Hayman joined UniMed late last year as Interim Chief Operating Officer.
More news:
Fidelity Life's A- (Excellent) financial strength rating affirmed by AM Best
AIA NZ is recruiting for a new head of investments
AIA Group delivered US$6,605 million OPAT in the year ended 31 December 2024.
PPS Mutual is preparing to launch in New Zealand
The FMA contractor budget more than $13 million over the 2023/24 reporting year