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.
Nominations for the Financial Advice New Zealand Awards open
The Financial Advice New Zealand Awards 2025 will be held at the National Adviser conference on Thursday 3 April, at the Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre.
The Financial Advice New Zealand Awards 2025 will be held at the National Adviser conference on Thursday 3 April, at the Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre. Nominations are open now, with submissions closing at 5pm on Friday 21 March.
The Financial Capability Advocate Award: presented to an individual or organisation that has made a significant effort to promote financial capability and education. The recipient of this award has played a crucial role in providing financial education to help others understand financial concepts and make informed decisions about their finances.
The Community Impact Award: recognition of an individual or organisation that has achieved excellent results in improving social and financial outcomes within a community.
The Lifetime Achievement Award: a prestigious honour given to an individual who has made a significant contribution throughout their career or lifetime to the financial services sector. It recognises their outstanding achievements, leadership, and selfless dedication to creating a positive impact on the financial advice profession.
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Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Adrian Orr has resigned; FMA release episode 2 of Jess Learns to Invest podcast; The Customer and Product Data Bill was read a second time; 2023/24 Annual reviews of the Financial Markets Authority, the Takeovers Panel and the External Reporting Board were published; RBNZ welcomes the release of Te Ōhanga Māori 2023 report.
5 Mar 2025 - Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Adrian Orr has resigned and will finish in the role on 31 March. Deputy Governor Christian Hawkesby will be Acting Governor until 31 March. From 1 April the Minister of Finance, on recommendation from the RBNZ Board, will appoint a temporary Governor for a period of up to six months. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/03/rbnz-governor-adrian-orr-resigns
5 Mar 2025 - The FMA release Women who Invest with Frances Cook | Jess Learns to Invest Podcast Episode 2. https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/podcast/jess-learns-to-invest-episode-2/#:~:text=Join%20Jess%2C%20a%2027-year-old%20newbie%20in%20the%20world,will%20share%20invaluable%20insights%20and%20tips%20about%20investing.
6 Mar 2025 - The Customer and Product Data Bill was read a second time. https://bills.parliament.nz/v/6/770a5f4e-2185-4f1f-1395-08dc75512299?Tab=history
6 Mar 2025 - 2023/24 Annual reviews of the Financial Markets Authority and the Takeovers Panel were published. https://selectcommittees.parliament.nz/v/6/6e50c091-a305-4df6-4d5b-08dd5d059012
6 Mar 2025 - 2023/24 Annual review of the the External Reporting Board was published. https://selectcommittees.parliament.nz/v/6/4d1f9c2c-fc27-4249-4d5f-08dd5d059012
10 Mar 2025 - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has welcomed the release of Te Ōhanga Māori 2023 report from the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment and Business and Economic Research Limited. Te Ōhanga Māori 2023 report builds on a series of reports that deepen our collective understanding of the Māori economy, and will inform and shape ongoing RBNZ initiatives, including Māori access to capital research and dashboard, facilitating lending on whenua Māori, the Māori data pilot, Te Waka Hourua, RBNZ's Te Ao Māori strategy, and related financial inclusion workstreams. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/03/reserve-bank-of-new-zealand-welcomes-release-of-te-ohanga-maori-2023-report
GlobalData projects the life insurance market in New Zealand will grow
GlobalData projects the New Zealand life insurance market to grow from $5.9 billion in 2024 to $8.3 billion in 2029.
GlobalData, an international data and analytics company, has projected the New Zealand life insurance market to grow from $5.9 billion in 2024 to $8.3 billion in 2029, equating to a compound annual growth rate of 7.0%, in terms of gross written premium. It expects the New Zealand life insurance market will reach $6.4 billion in gross written premiums in 2025.
The largest driver of growth is expected to be life personal accident and health, with an expected compound annual growth rate of 6.9% between 2025 and 2029 driven by rising healthcare expenditure and corresponding premium increases.
GlobalData puts the increased demand down to factors including an aging population, heightened health awareness and the rising cost of living, which have increased the need for financial protection, though they caveat their projections, saying high unemployment and inflation could pose risks to this growth.
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The Neuroscience of Focus
Financial Advice NZ recently held a webinar The Neuroscience of Focus. Hosted by Cecilia Farrow, and with Alex Davids presenting, the webinar covered our brains and focus, continuous partial attention and cognitive energy and cognitive drain.
Financial Advice NZ recently held a webinar The Neuroscience of Focus. Hosted by Cecilia Farrow, and with Alex Davids presenting, the webinar covered our brains and focus, continuous partial attention and cognitive energy and cognitive drain. One of the depressing facts Alex points out is that in 2022, 50% of the workforce felt burnt out – but by 2024 it had raised to 61% feeling burnt out.
One of my key takeaways to overcome continuous partial attention and help focus, was switching off notifications and using the ‘out of office’ function to stop those external factors that can halt our focus in its tracks. It’s an excellent watch if you want to get a few tips on how to improve your focus, and in turn improve your performance.
Alex Davids will also be presenting at the National Adviser Conference, 1 – 3 April at the Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre.
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Super Early Bird tickets to the FSC 2025 Conference available now
The Financial Services Council (FSC) is holding their 2025 conference on 10 & 11 September at the Cordis Hotel in Auckland.
The Financial Services Council (FSC) is holding their 2025 conference on 10 & 11 September at the Cordis Hotel in Auckland. While details of the speakers and sessions are still to be released, the FSC has said that FSC25 Conference: Transforming for Tomorrow “…aims to inspire attendees to move beyond the present and envision a future where financial services not only meet immediate needs but also anticipate and address challenges for generations to come.”
Super Early Bird tickets are on sale now, which includes the FSC Awards Dinner.
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The future of NZ Superannuation
Andrew Coleman takes readers through the history of NZ super, how it differs from most overseas pension schemes, different ways schemes can be taxed and more in this series of articles on interest.co.nz.
Interest.co.nz ran a very interesting series of articles by Andrew Coleman around NZ’s superannuation system. He takes readers through the history of NZ super, how it differs from most overseas pension schemes, different ways schemes can be taxed and more. In particular, I though his bathtub metaphor was an excellent illustration of the difference between pay-as-you-go and save-as-you-go schemes.
Coleman advocates for a revamp of NZ’s superannuations scheme, including a compulsory savings scheme he dubs KiwiSaver 2.1. He makes the point that NZ super was designed so long ago it may not be fit for purpose for kiwis today and going forward into the future. He argues that New Zealanders under the age of 45 (those who were too young to vote in the 1997 referendum) should consider a fundamental restructure of the NZ government’s retirement income scheme.
All in all, a very interesting, easy-to-understand read – check it out if you haven’t already. Andrew Coleman joins The NZ Tax Podcast to talk more about KiwiSaver 2.1 here, if you prefer to listen.
A history of New Zealand’s retirement policy | interest.co.nz
Making the transition from PAYGO to SAYGO | interest.co.nz
Death, taxes, and wealth inequality | interest.co.nz
New Zealand Superannuation, behavioural economics, and investment choices | interest.co.nz
New Zealand’s unusual tax system | interest.co.nz
New Zealand’s odd taxation of retirement savings is bad for the country | interest.co.nz
Taxes and the housing market | interest.co.nz
Survey evidence on what New Zealanders want from retirement policy | interest.co.nz
KiwiSaver 2.1: why compulsory savings would be great for young New Zealanders | interest.co.nz
New Zealand's retirement income policy time warp | interest.co.nz
Government announces reforms to strengthen NZ’s capital markets
The Government has announced a package of reforms to help ensure New Zealand’s capital markets are working to support a productive economy.
The Government has announced a package of reforms to help ensure New Zealand’s capital markets are working to support a productive economy. The Government is making it easier for businesses to raise money from the public by making it voluntary to provide forward-looking financial information as part of an Initial Public Offering of shares. These changes are expected to be in place by May 2025.
The Government has also opened consultation on two proposals: enabling KiwiSaver investment in private assets; and potential adjustments to the climate-related disclosures regime. Consultation closes 14 February 2025.
The Financial Services Council (FSC) has expressed strong support for enabling KiwiSaver funds to invest in unlisted assets. FSC CEO Kirk Hope said,
“By enabling KiwiSaver investments in unlisted assets, such as infrastructure projects and innovative New Zealand businesses, we can unlock substantial capital for domestic growth.”
“This reform will not only provide Kiwi businesses with much-needed capital to innovate and expand but the opportunity of greater diversification for KiwiSaver.”
Some financial advisers warn that regulators need to get on board with the proposals, however. At a recent event we held in conjunction with the Financial Services Council, advisers asked questions about whether the Financial Markets Authority would be supportive of fund managers choosing to invest more in private assets and infrastructure projects which tend to be illiquid in nature. We think that these are good questions, and the answers will be highly sensitive to the context in each fund: for example, the scale of the investments relative to the total fund size and the liquidity of other assets, and the ages, balances, and probable withdrawal patterns of investing members.
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Steve Wright dissects a recent FSCL complaint
nib promotion offers $300 woolworths vouchers to eligible applicants
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Resolution Life purchased by Nippon Life
Nippon Life Insurance Company is set to acquire full ownership of Resolution Life Australasia and the remaining 20% stake in MLC Life Insurance currently held by National Australia Bank.
MLC Life Insurance and Resolution Life Australasia will merge under a new brand, Acenda. The merger is expected to be finalised in the second half of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals. MLC Life Insurance, will begin the transition to the Acenda brand from December 2024, targeting late 2025 to complete the transition. Once the merger is complete, Resolution Life Australasia will move to the Acenda brand in Australia, with the intention to transition the Resolution New Zealand business to the Acenda brand ‘in due course’.
Resolution Life Australasia is currently in the process of acquiring Asteron Life, Suncorp Group’s New Zealand life insurance business, which will operate as a standalone entity post-acquisition.
Tim Tez, CEO of Resolution Life Australasia, said
“New Zealand remains an important market for both Resolution Life Australasia and Nippon Life. [The] announcement will not impact our focus on completing the acquisition of Asteron Life and our support of the business’ current strategic growth agenda.”
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The FMA releases Consumer Confidence survey
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has released their inaugural Consumer Confidence Survey. The survey combines key questions from previous years’ Investor Confidence Survey and KiwiSaver Statements Survey as well as new questions around key focus areas such as fairness, investment scams and confidence in financial markets
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has released their inaugural Consumer Confidence Survey. The survey combines key questions from previous years’ Investor Confidence Survey and KiwiSaver Statements Survey as well as new questions around key focus areas such as fairness, investment scams and confidence in financial markets. Key findings include:
98% of New Zealanders have at least one banking product, with 49% considering at least one banking product in the next 12 months
Savings account ownership is up across all demographics
Credit card ownership has decreased 3% while buy-now-pay-later services are up 5% across all demographics
86% of New Zealanders have at least one insurance product, with the average number of insurance products being 2.5 per person
Younger New Zealanders (18 – 34) generally had fewer insurance products compared to other age groups but were more likely to own pet and health insurance
85% of New Zealanders have at least one investment product, with the average number of different investment products owned being 1.8 per person
KiwiSaver membership is highest amongst Chinese and Pacific ethnicities at 87% and 86% respectively
79% of New Zealanders actively chose their own KiwiSaver fund, with females and those aged 45 – 54 years having lower levels of participation in their choice of fund
KiwiSaver satisfaction levels have improved over the last two years, with 60% of Kiwis being quite/very satisfied
Catalysts for kiwis to consider making changes to their KiwiSaver/other investments include better investment returns from another provider (41%) or if their fees seemed high (39%).
FMA Chief Executive Samantha Barrass said
“The results of this survey provide us with valuable insights into how New Zealanders interact with financial markets and their level of confidence in those markets and in the FMA. It also helps us to see emerging trends that require our regulatory attention, so that we can focus our efforts on how we can better regulate for all New Zealanders.”
Additional reports will be published in early 2025 on several themes that emerged in the survey findings in 2025, including the experiences of women Māori, and other minority groups with financial markets; the relationship between knowledge of financial markets and confidence; investment scams and their link to confidence and consumer behaviour; the enablers of investment practices; comparative findings on fairness.
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The FSC has released its latest Money & You research
The Financial Services Council (FSC) has released their latest research report, Money & You: Managing Risk Through Challenging Times, which explores the attitudes of New Zealanders towards risk management. Some of the key findings are below.
Only 41% of respondents had life insurance, 39% had health/medical insurance, 23% had trauma/critical illness insurance, 18% had total and permanent disability insurance.
For the 12 months to 30 September 2024, FSC industry data showed 1,521,740 health insurance policies and 4,145,287 life insurance products (one person may have more than one policy e.g. life insurance, income protection insurance and total and permanent disability insurance policies).
The majority (66%) who have life and health insurance consider it value for money.
The biggest drivers of taking out life and health insurance policies are peace of mind and worry about financial consequences.
The most common reason given for not having life and health insurance was that insurance is too expensive (74%), followed by being healthy and not seeing the need for it (14%), and not trusting insurance companies (13%).
Cost of living meaning people can no longer afford insurance was the top reason given for no longer having insurance across life, trauma or critical illness, income protection, total and permanent disability and health/medical.
For those without insurance, 64% would consider taking out an insurance policy if they had more money, 25% would take out an insurance policy if their health started declining and 18% would take out an insurance policy if they started a family. There is a gap in understanding of how insurance works, with only 3% of those who would consider taking out an insurance policy if their health started declining knew that they might not be able to get cover for certain health issues or they might face higher premiums because of them.
The majority of health (61%) and life (77%) insurance policies are paid by individuals, with the remainder being partially or fully subsidised by employers.
When it comes to health/medical insurance or life insurance being provided by employers, 54% really want this and a further 35% might possibly want this.
45% of respondents have a poor understanding of the relationship between risk and return.
2,002 online survey responses were collected during March 2024 and were representative of the NZ consumer population in terms of age, gender and income.
It is worth noting that as a low engagement product, life and health insurance is something that respondents find hard to recall accurately. That leads to interesting results - this survey contains a probable over-estimate of the number of people who own health insurance, and a probable under-estimate of the number of people who hold life insurance. But the recalled level of cover is, in itself, interesting. For example, if you think you do not have life, trauma, or income insurance, but in fact you do, you or your estate may fail to claim when you may be eligible to do so.
Readers interested in contrasting these survey results with data on the eligible population should contact us.
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