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.
Asteron Life paid out 97% of claims
Asteron Life paid out 97% of the Trauma, Life and Income Protection claims it received in the year ended June 30 2024.
Asteron Life paid out 97% of the Trauma, Life and Income Protection claims it received in the year ended June 30 2024. In total, Asteron Life paid out $112 million of claims, with $53.5 million being paid out for Life Insurance, $34.1 million in Trauma policy payments and $24.4 million in Monthly Income Protection cover claims.
Accident or Injury was the leading cause of claims, for both Monthly Income cover and Trauma cover. Mental Health claims duration remains high, with an average duration of 8 - 12 months, compared to other new claims where the average duration was around 6 - 8 months. Executive Manager Claims and Customer Solutions, Seema Bangera, said
“Return to work outcomes are directly related to early intervention and rehabilitation. This means the mental wellbeing of customers needs to be at the forefront for claims specialists and we need to ensure all clients have the necessary support building their personal resilience for their return-to-work journeys.”
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Financial Advice NZ masterclass 'The ethics of client psychology: How clients think' 1 April
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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nib release their top 5 health claims for September 2024
AIA campaign offering up to three months off premiums extended to 31 March 2025
AIAHub Resource Hub now available to delegated users
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O’Hagan Homes Loans & Insurances has merged with Apex Advice
Fidelity Life open applications for training programmes
Fidelity Life has opened applications for Advice Masters, Professional Pathways, Practice Manager Masterclass and Career Connect.
Fidelity Life has opened applications for Advice Masters, Professional Pathways, Practice Manager Masterclass and Career Connect.
Applications are open for Advice Masters, Fidelity Life's intensive training and personalised professional development programme designed for experienced business owners in the financial services industry. The programme encompasses a wide range of topics: M&A; capital raising/funding strategies; high performance for business leaders; leading high performing teams; business strategy design and execution; governance; board craft; director skills and sustainability; business efficiency; technology and AI. The 30 available spots are by invitation only – interested people can talk to their business manager or apply here.
Professional Pathways is Fidelity Life's customisable extended training and development programme designed for motivated advisers, who are dedicated to growth and achieving their business goals. Over a 9-month period the programme will take participants through key topics – developing their business; advice and planning; business sales and growth; business efficiency. The programme consists of skills based workshops, self-paced learning through courses, resources and quizzes, online webinars and interactive online workshops.
Practice Manager Masterclass are targeted at admin staff and will help to improve workflow and productivity.
Career Connect is Fidelity Life's comprehensive education and skills programme designed to develop the next generation of financial advisers. Career Connect equips participants with relevant qualifications, practical skills and knowledge, and industry connections. The 2025 intake will commence in May and will run for 6 months. Applicants will be invited for an interview and the fee for the programme is approximately $1650.
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Financial Advice NZ webinar 'Shaping the future of financial advice' 11 December
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Sam Friggens appointed general manager climate transition at ASB
Health NZ proposing to lay off 1500 staff in restructure proposal
Southern Cross creates new role to oversee hospital network
Southern Cross Healthcare has announced Roger Cronin as the new chief operating officer responsible for the organisation’s 10 wholly owned hospitals.
Southern Cross Healthcare has announced Roger Cronin as the new chief operating officer responsible for the organisation’s 10 wholly owned hospitals. The new role’s focus is on overseeing the operational performance of the hospitals and acting as a strategic link between the hospitals and the national support office.
Cronin was recently CEO of PresMed Australia, a private healthcare provider specialising in surgical day-stay procedures for ophthalmology and ENT patients. Cronin has held a variety of leadership roles in major public hospitals and has worked with the New South Wales Ministry of Health. Cronin will commence his new role in late November.
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Westpac campaign highlights dangers of impulse buying and debt accumulation
mySolutions webinar 'Panel Discussion' 4 December
The IFSO Scheme welcomes changes introduced by the Contracts of Insurance Act 2024
Government announces funding for 50 new senior doctors, plus nurses and other health professionals
The RBNZ has cut the Official Cash Rate, taking it from 4.75% to 4.25%
Steve Wright talks about reducing advice risk
Steve Wright tackled the question of reducing advice risk recently in a Good Returns article.
Steve Wright tackled the question of reducing advice risk recently. He asserts that in light of the largely untested ‘principles-based’ requirements FAPs and advisers must stick to, he’s not surprised that some advisers are experiencing stress. Steve sets outs a range of steps advisers could take for reducing advice risk. A good read if this is something you want to tackle.
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Fidelity Life wins Security Team of the Year at the 2024 iSANZ Awards
Fidelity Life release CPI adjustments for policies renewing from 1 January 2025
Financial Advice NZ webinar 'Economic Insights: Perspectives from leading experts' 28 November
ANZ New Zealand reported a cash NPAT of $2.286 billion for the year ending September 30
Tiffany Koh awarded the 2024 Chubb Life Actuarial Scholarship
Whooping cough epidemic declared across NZ; health authorities urge pregnant women to get immunised
Partners Life release claims statistics
Partners Life have released historical and current claims statistics.
Some interesting statistics have been released by Partners Life around claims. Since Partners Life launched in 2011:
Partners Life have paid out more than 70,000 claims worth more than $1.25 billion.
Their biggest monthly disability claim paid was for $1,617,691
The longest running claim paid for monthly disability cover was 4,068 days and the average claim length was 293 days
Partners Life paid 13,379 monthly disability cover claims totalling $225,954,755
Their biggest life cover claim paid was for $2,964,706
Partners Life paid 1422 life cover claims totalling $334,281,111
Partners Life paid 51,827 private medical cover claims totalling $353,468,683
Their biggest private medical cover claim paid was for $982,800
Partners Life paid 3,948 trauma cover claims totalling $357,357,574
Their biggest trauma cover claim paid was for $3,218,899
For the year ended 31 March 2024, Partners Life
paid 93% of claims
paid $51,020,381 of monthly disability cover claims cost across 3,332 claims paid
paid $61,130,350 of life cover claims across 208 claims paid
paid $71,705,905 of private medical cover claims across 12,891 claims paid
paid $66,106,600 of trauma cover claims across 655 claims paid
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BNZ survey finds 87% of New Zealanders were targeted by scams in the past 12 months
Southern Cross covers cochlear implants
Southern Cross Health Insurance (SCHI) has become the first New Zealand insurer to cover cochlear implant surgery for eligible adult members.
Southern Cross Health Insurance (SCHI) has become the first New Zealand insurer to cover cochlear implant surgery for eligible adult members. SCHI will cover one internal cochlear implant (excluding the external sound processor) for members who meet specific criteria which include:
· being at least 18 years old
· having severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss in one ear
· having moderate or worse hearing loss in the other ear
· having a hearing aid fitted for the ear scheduled for the implant
Those an audiologist deems likely to develop this level of hearing loss within 24 months may also qualify.
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Fidelity Life release average turnaround times for September 2024
Fidelity Life share key takeaways from customer engagement forum
Westpac and nib called out for poor customer satisfaction scores at the Consumer NZ Yeah, Nah awards
NZFSG launch ‘MyInduction’ Programme
mySolutions webinar 'Premium structures' 30 October
The Co-operative Bank is a finalist in the 2024 LearnX Awards
nib launches nib meno care
nib NZ has launched a new health management initiative, nib meno care, aimed at supporting women through the stages of perimenopause and menopause.
nib NZ has launched a new health management initiative, nib meno care, aimed at supporting women through the stages of perimenopause and menopause. The programme has been developed in collaboration with Dr Linda Dear, a specialist in menopause care.
nib members will be able to access expert advice on managing menopause symptoms – covering topics from lifestyle adjustments, to natural remedies and available medical treatments.
A 2023 survey Dear conducted found 64% of NZ women were unaware their symptoms, such as sleep disturbances and weight gain, were linked to menopause.
nib’s chief medical officer, Dr Rob McGrath, said
“Menopause is a personal journey, and no two women experience it the same way. That’s why we wanted to develop a tool to help women manage their symptoms on their own terms by making expert support easy to access and apply.”
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ANZIIF welcomes Scott Hawkins as board member
The Adviser Platform rebrand and launch new website
NZFSG webinar 'Under the hoodie: Revealing the hackers' secrets' 22 October
FSC end of year celebrations dates announced: Auckland 26 Nov, Wellington 27 Nov
ACC’s latest annual report details an increase in claims and financial challenges
What does a business version of the healthy futures report mean?
Southern Cross’s business edition of the 2024 Healthy Futures Report focuses on employee health and wellbeing.
We took a look at Southern Cross’s business edition of the 2024 Healthy Futures Report, which focuses on employee health and wellbeing. There are clear links between wealth and health, as the old saying has it. Whether one causes the other and in which direction the arrow of causality points is unexplored. We think it’s probably more complicated than this simple pairing of factors, although if someone becomes wealthy, they often become healthier. Likewise, if someone has the misfortune to become chronically ill, they usually get poorer. But these two are probably joined by other factors which may also have some power to affect outcomes – like education while young, health while a child, and current environment.
What employers can do to help is limited – but is appreciated by staff. At Quality Product Research Limited we offer seven of the eleven key suggestions made (soon to be expanded to eight) – we like that we can do that – but people use or do not use them pretty much as they please.
Key takeaways for us from the survey results:
89% of respondents said it was important to them to work for a company that supports the health and wellbeing of their staff.
55% of respondents’ employers were doing well in supporting their employees.
The top ten initiatives employers could invest in were wellbeing leave (36%), lunch or break room (29%), flu vaccinations (26%), healthy food options (25%), activities promoting good mental health (23%), workplace massage (23%), Employee Assistance Programme (22%), health assessments (21%), subsidised membership to off-site facilities (21%) and stress management programmes (20%).
88% of employees think having a good work-life balance is important, with a third considering taking steps to improve their work-life balance.
Making use of flexible working hours (43%) and switching off from work when finished for the day (43%) were the most common means of managing work-life balance. Conversely, having a high work load (60%), financial pressures (40%) and not having flexible working hours (40%) were cited as most commonly as reasons for poor work-life balance.
51% of workplaces offer flexible working arrangements, down from 54% in 2022; 60% of employees make use of flexible working hours most weeks and an additional 26% utilise it sometimes.
Only 45% of kiwis rate themselves as happy with their financial situation; 91% cite cost of living as one of their top concerns and 58% worry about not having enough money to support themselves or their families.
84% of New Zealanders are concerned about not having good, affordable access to healthcare, up 8% from 2022.
Kiwis don’t feel they are getting enough sleep (60%) or exercise (62%).
New Zealanders without health insurance were more likely to be less happy with their health, financial situation, mental wellbeing, fitness levels, weight of themselves and their children, exercised less on average and were more likely to be stressed.
Southern Cross highlight a series of initiatives workplaces could take to improve employee wellbeing, including:
offering education on stress management and financial management;
offering free fruit or healthy food in breakrooms;
encouraging employees to make use of flexible working if it’s offered;
offering health assessments;
educating employees on the importance of flu vaccinations;
offer opportunities for physical exercise, through work place team sports, sports day or subsidies for gyms or exercise equipment;
encouraging employees to take their annual leave;
training leaders to identify those at risk of burn-out;
offering wellbeing leave;
providing employee assistance programmes and educating employees on what it is and hot to use it;
offering subsidised health insurance.
1,463 employees were surveyed for this report in March 2024.
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The Monetary Policy Committee cut the Official Cash Rate to 4.75%
BNZ has launched a new security feature aimed at combating online scams
KiwiSaver determined to be competitive
The latest Melville Jessup Weaver analysis has determined that KiwiSaver is statistically competitive.
The latest Melville Jessup Weaver analysis has determined that KiwiSaver is statistically competitive. Competitiveness, as measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), improved slightly year on year. There are 38 schemes and 34 providers available for kiwis to choose from, with the three largest owners (ANZ, ASB and Fisher) accounting for around half of scheme members and assets. There was a slight shift in favour of providers outside the 10 largest, who expanded their market share by 0.5% during the 12 months to March 31.
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