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.
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.
More news:
Partners Life has decided to stop using its Customer Outcome Matrix
Southern Cross Health Insurance appoints Grant McIvor as chief digital officer
MAS looking for a Head of Technology Strategy and Architecture
AIA appoints new Chief Technology Officer
AIA NZ has appointed Luke Longney as Chief Technology Officer.
AIA NZ has appointed Luke Longney as Chief Technology Officer. Longney joined AIA in 2021 as Head of Technology – Digital and progressed to Head of Technology Experience.
AIA NZ CEO Nick Stanhope said
“We’re aiming to deliver the best possible online experience for our customers, advisers and partners, as well as our employees that support them. With his extensive experience and commercial background, Luke is well placed to lead the teams responsible for enabling and uplifting our digital delivery and capability into the future”.
More news:
Bell Gully have a good overview of the recently announced financial services regulation reforms
Rick Willis talks about the importance of not cancelling cover until you have moved to new insurance
AIA are finalists for two awards at the 2024 NZ Law Awards
mySolutions webinar 'Interviewing techniques: how to get people to open up' 11 Sep
Kiwibank report $202 million after-tax profit
Kiwibank posted a record $202 million after-tax profit for the year to June 30 2024, up 15% from the previous year.
Kiwibank has featured in the news a lot recently, from the Commerce Commission’s recommendation that the Government should consider what is necessary to make Kiwibank a disruptive competitor, to the release of Kiwibank’s latest financial results.
Kiwibank posted a record $202 million after-tax profit for the year to June 30 2024, up 15% from the previous year. Kiwibank were able to grow their lending book by 9.3% to $32.4 billion. Impressively, home lending grew 2.7 times faster than the market and business lending grew 3 times faster than the market. Deposits increased by $2.4 billion, growing the deposit book by 9.4% to $28.2 billion
Steve Jurkovich, Kiwibank CEO, has said a $500 million capital infusion would
“give us a lot of runway to keep growing as fast as we are now, which is 9.5%, 10% [per annum], which is pretty large gains. That sort of investment over the next three, four years would give good runway.”
"With the right support and delivery of the right business plan and right initiatives, I think we could double our size in five years.”
Jurkovich has also said it may not be essential for the bank to remain 100% NZ owned, pointing to other examples of successful majority owned businesses like Air New Zealand. Jurkovich cautions that any requirement to pay sizeable dividends could impact their ability to grow, given that capital growth to date has mainly been via retained earnings.
Mortgage advisers now account for around 35% of Kiwibank’s total mortgage book, having originated 71% of Kiwibank home loans this year. Kiwibank’s accredited advisers have grown to about 1,000 now, up from 250 at June 30, 2022.
More news:
Report on the MAS 2024 Annual General Meeting released
Antonia Watson says the big banks can't afford to be NZ owned
TSB respond to the Commerce Commission’s banking study
FinTechNZ Hui Taumata 2025 is on 11 March 2025
Investment News release their KiwiSaver annual report
Study finds a majority of New Zealanders feel financially uncomfortable
FSCL sees significant increase in complaints over the past year
Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL) has revealed that complaints rose by 6% in the last year, to 1,426.
Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL) has revealed that complaints rose by 6% in the last year, to 1,426. Of these, complaints against financial advisers were up by 18% and complaints against insurers were up by 14.5%. The biggest driver of complaints was against lenders, particularly involving car, personal and small business loans. In all, new disputes involving formal investigations by FSCL increased by 10% to 359.
FSCL Financial Ombudsman Susan Taylor has said
“We expect this high level of complaints to persist as long as economic conditions remain difficult. The new rules increasing our financial loss compensation to $500,000 (previously $350,000), which took effect in July, could also lead to a further rise.”
More news:
Quotemonster has added a KiwiSaver comparison and research service
Russell Hutchinson writes about issues insuring those with complex incomes
Financial Advice NZ webinar 'How the latest Dispute Resolution Scheme rules affect you' 14 August
MAS Annual General Meeting 2024 is on 21 August
Asteron Life offers four $5,000 grants to advisers who attended MDRT annual meeting
ANZ has announced that Nagaja Sanatkumar will join its board
ANZIIF has released an IT outage preparedness video
Gallagher Insurance support the Poipoia te Kākano Programme
Westpac announce their first third party Open Banking integration is live
Poll finds expectation of higher growth in health insurance advice than life insurance advice
A riskinfoNZ poll has found that advisers are expecting to see more growth in health insurance advice than life insurance advice in the near future.
A riskinfoNZ poll has found that advisers are expecting to see more growth in health insurance advice than life insurance advice in the near future. Currently, 41% of respondents expect health insurance to generate the most business, compared to only 23% expecting life insurance to generate the most business. 30% of respondents expect a 50/50 split between health and life insurance advice.
We’d love to hear your thoughts, what do you see the split as being in your organisation over the next 6 – 12 months?
More news:
MAS looking for a Life and Investment Centre Manager
Kiwibank has pleaded guilty to systemic breaches of the Fair Trading Act
Workers are choosing work-life balance over a better salary
NZ’s CPI showed annual inflation fell to 3.3 per cent in the June quarter
AIA releases data on claims by age bracket
AIA has released information on claims by age bracket – counter to what is often seen in the media about elderly people having the highest health costs, the age bracket that had the most claims in 2023 was those aged 50 – 59.
AIA has released information on claims by age bracket – counter to what is often seen in the media about elderly people having the highest health costs, the age bracket that had the most claims in 2023 was those aged 50 – 59. This age group was paid out more than $197 million in 2023 out of $734.8 million in total claims.
Those aged 60 – 69, while still making up a large proportion of total claims, had a total of more than $139 million in claims paid out, with $65.55 million being on life policies, while those aged 70 and over claimed just $71 million, with $50.52 million being against life policies. The lower level of claims of those aged over 70 could be due to people reducing or dropping their cover as they get older and no longer have dependants to consider or mortgages to pay off.
It comes as no surprise that those aged 20 – 29 had a low level of claims, with only $2.6 million paid in claims against life policies and $7.7 million paid on health policies in this age bracket.
More daily news:
Insurance Business Mag highlights ways AI can impact health insurance
MAS asks Members to vote on a special resolution at the AGM
mySolutions webinar 'Gregor Mansfield, FINLIFE' 19 June
Partners Life webinar 'licensing and advice obligations' 18 & 19 June
The FSC is holding a CRD Series session on 19 June
nib looks to improve services to Māori
nib is looking to improve services to Māori communities by learning from indigenous health providers in other countries.
nib is looking to improve services to Māori communities by learning from indigenous health providers in other countries. Leadership from nib and Iwi partners involved in the Toi Ora project have recently returned from a study tour to Canada. Those involved met with Canada’s First Nations Health Authority, Pacific Blue Cross, First Nations Tax Commission (FNTC) and Squamish Nation to get insights into how these organisations deliver services to First Nations people in Canada and how these lessons could be applied in New Zealand.
Sarah McBride, nib NZ’s Head of Iwi Initiatives, said learnings included better ways to use existing funding, the importance of using health-related statistics and relevant previous cases to support new projects, and co-creation with local partners.
More daily news:
Potential CoFI change gives FMA power of onsite inspection without warning
Partners Life to launch new Underwriting Workbench
Michael Weston speaks about his plans for Partners Life
nib release their top five health claims for April
The FMA has highlighted the authorised body system as a potential problem area
Financial Advice NZ publish Budget 2024 Summary - Adviser to Client Resource
Entries open for Insurance Business’ 5-Star Insurance Innovators awards
MAS is looking for a Head of Private Wealth
Budget 2024 includes new health investments
Professor Lester Levy has been appointed as a member and Chair of the Board of Health New Zealand
Southern Cross Health Insurance CMO talks about biggest challenges and opportunities
Southern Cross Health Insurance Chief Marketing Officer Regan Savage has been interviewed by Campaign Asia about the biggest challenges and opportunities they’re facing and where they're investing marketing budgets this year.
Southern Cross Health Insurance Chief Marketing Officer Regan Savage has been interviewed by Campaign Asia about the biggest challenges and opportunities they’re facing and where they're investing marketing budgets this year.
Savage calls out high inflation, the cost-of-living crisis and proving the value of premiums even when people aren’t claiming as the three biggest marketing challenges right now. In terms of opportunities, Savage mentions investing in newer, more capable communications platforms, how they are proactively offering members options to manage premiums as their needs change, and looking for opportunities to utilise AI to automate repetitive tasks.
More daily news:
Pinnacle Life are looking for a Head of Finance
The new Fidelity Life E-App is up and running
mySolutions webinar 'The Thousandth Client' 5 June
Southern Cross recognised at the 2024 Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand awards
Jon-Paul Hale says it's time to review how commission is paid when clients move to a new adviser
The Brand Experience Gap Study found insurers were among worst performers in NZ
Financial Advice NZ webinar 'Post Budget Webinar - Economic and Consumer Impacts 5 Jun
MAS is calling for nominations for the role of Practitioner Trustee of MAS Members’ Trust
Bell Gully summarise the Customer and Product Data Bill that has been introduced to Parliament
New Zealand is 485 GPs short, with this number expected to grow
Zurich develops AI systems to streamline life insurance applications
UniMed give followers a chance to win a double pass to the Crusaders game this Friday
MAS publish their latest Member-exclusive quarterly magazine, OnMAS
Asteron Life appoints new Chief Underwriter
Kathie Tutty has been named the new Chief Underwriter at Asteron Life.
Kathie Tutty has been named the new Chief Underwriter at Asteron Life. Tutty is currently the Underwriting Manager and Principal Underwriter at Asteron Life and will start her new role on May 31.
Grant Willis, Executive General Manager Life, said
“Kathie’s promotion to the role of chief underwriter and member of the life leadership team recognises her passion and ambition for our business and her desire to take our underwriting performance and strategy to the next level.”
More daily news:
Bronwyn Kirwan interviews Niall McConville, Fidelity Life's new Chief Insurance Officer
MAS reaches $2.5b investment funds under management
The Monetary Policy Committee keep the Official Cash Rate at 5.50%
Craig Stobo appointed as chair of FMA
Craig Stobo has been appointed as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA).
Craig Stobo has been appointed as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Stobo has been appointed for a five-year term and takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April.
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly said
“Mr Stobo brings a significant depth of experience to the role, having worked as a director, diplomat, economist, and chief executive.
The FMA will benefit from Mr Stobo’s understanding of market issues and regulation, as well as the importance of informed participation from businesses and investors.”
More daily news:
The FSC brings the industry together to respond to the Contracts of Insurance Bill
Anna Schubert discusses ways AIA help advisers manage stress
AIA launch a Neurodiversity Toolkit
Southern Cross Healthcare have joined the New Zealand Disability Employers' Network
MAS is a finalist in the Ethical and Impact Investment Awards
Submissions open for the ANZIIF industry awards
Kiwibank welcome Anne Haira to the Kiwibank board
Westpac won the Corporate ESG award at the INFINZ awards
ASB has joined the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower programme
People seeking help from financial mentors jumps 40% in a year