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 announce premium changes
Effective from 1 April 2025, Fidelity Life are re-rating the premiums for customers in the Adviser channel.
Effective from 1 April 2025, Fidelity Life are re-rating the premiums for customers in the Adviser channel. Key aspects are below:
A re-shaping of the pricing curve to reflect a lower risk due to the underwriting selection effect.
A 5% increase to all lump sum premiums and disability premiums (where the benefit period is 2 or 5 years). And a 7.5% increase to all disability covers with a benefit period of ‘to age 65’ or ‘to age 70’ due to claims experience.
An adjustment of the rates for all customers.
More news:
Jon-Paul Hale suggests reasons for medical premium increases
Fitch has lifted the outlook on ASB's credit rating to positive from stable
ANZ-Roy Morgan’s report shows consumer confidence has dipped to 93.2
The Reserve Bank is considering loosening its bank capital rules
Product and pricing changes at Partners Life
Partners Life have announced a range of product changes, effective from 15 March 2025, aimed at giving customers more flexibility and the option to remove features if they don’t want to pay for them.
Partners Life have announced a range of product changes, effective from 15 March 2025, aimed at giving customers more flexibility and the option to remove features if they don’t want to pay for them.
The built-in Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Benefit will become a TPD Option. If a client opts out of TPD, the premium for their monthly disability cover will reduce accordingly. This change applies to Mortgage Repayment Cover, Household Expenses Covers and Income Cover Agreed Value, Agreed Loss of Earnings and Indemnity Loss of Earnings.
They have made changes to Trauma Cover and Moderate Trauma Cover for clients who have suffered an out of hospital cardiac arrest. They have removed obsolete medical requirements, and added current diagnostic tools used by medical staff to confirm a cardiac arrest has occurred. The wording has been updated to allow for new and future diagnostic tools.
They have updated Trauma, Moderate Trauma and Severe Trauma Cover wordings to let clients know that Partners Life will notify them when they can exercise their Life Cover or Deferred Trauma Cover buy-back options.
Any beneficial enhancements to policy wordings are automatically applied to existing in-force policies under the Guaranteed Upgrade of Future Benefits feature.
In addition to the product changes, Partners Life have reviewed premiums, in light of increased volume and cost of medical claims. Premiums for Private Medical Cover including Specialists and Tests Option will increase by 18% and the policy fee will increase from $58.08 to $64.13 per annum, both from 22nd April 2025.
More news:
FSC25 Conference: Transforming for Tomorrow is on 10 - 11 September in Auckland
The Rising Stars in Insurance Seminar expands to more cities
Managing risks posed by Artificial Intelligence in the banking Sector
70% of NZ CEOs say AI has increased efficiencies in their employees’ time at work
Steve Wright on potential implications of government’s plan to use private health care facilities for public health treatments
Good Returns has an interesting article by Steve Wright considering some of the implications of what may happen if the government goes ahead with their reported plan to consider using private health care facilities to reduce elective surgery waiting lists.
Good Returns has an interesting article by Steve Wright considering some of the implications of what may happen if the government goes ahead with their reported plan to consider using private health care facilities to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. Aside from the obvious benefits of kiwis on public health waiting lists potentially getting treated quicker, Wright considers some potential downsides, from reduced pressure to improve public sector capacity, to the private sector becoming overwhelmed or people ditching their health insurance and the private sectors viability coming into question.
We think these risks are low, given the scale of the intervention proposed by Minister Brown – just $50m to be spent between March and the end of June. For context, ACC will purchase around $500m in surgery in the 2023/24 year, and the total New Zealand Health budget is circa $16.6 billion. For an individual who gets a needed surgery a little faster, we are delighted, but this intervention is unlikely to make a big impact.
More news:
Partners Life new training module ‘Fair Treatment of Customers’
Fidelity Life offers drought-affected Taranaki customers premium relief
The FMA is on track to approve 77 licence applications under CoFI regime
Finance Minister Nicola Willis is reassessing the capital held by banks
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.
More news:
Applications for Fidelity Life’s Career Connect 2025 intake are open
The ‘Get AIA Vitality and Start Thriving’ brand campaign is back
Fidelity Life has made five new appointments to its Adviser council
Fidelity Life has made some changes to their Adviser council, adding five new members.
Fidelity Life has made some changes to their Adviser council. Last year when Fidelity Life announced they were looking for new council members, they were overwhelmed with responses. The five new members joining the Adviser council are:
Sarah Hunger, Managing Director and adviser – Cura Advisers Ltd
Andrea Reid, Director and adviser – Aliya Brokers Ltd
David Jochem, Director and adviser – Insure Ltd
Cory Bennett, Director and adviser – Float Financial Advisers
James Pearson, Head of Risk – Total Life Ltd
The departing members are:
Johny Winstone
Emma Hunter
Mark Breen
Yang Gu
Andrew Millar
The Adviser council was established to hear insightful and relevant feedback and respond with actions that drive better outcomes for Fidelity Life’s Adviser community and their customers. They meet quarterly to give objective feedback on new adviser and customer initiatives; collaborate to drive positive change for the industry; share and feedback on market and industry trends, opportunities and issues; and provide fresh insights, ideas and views.
More news:
Partners Life’s office is closed on 27 February 2025 as they hold an all-staff conference
nib to roll out life insurance offering next month
nib’s new Ultimate Life and Living products, which include life, trauma, TPD, income protection and mortgage protection will be available from next month.
nib’s new Ultimate Life and Living products, which include life, trauma, TPD, income protection and mortgage protection will be available from next month. nib are currently running roadshows outlining its new products, but pricing will not be released until closer to the policies being in the market. QPR has rated the products, and they have come out favourably.
New customers buying bundled health insurance and Ultimate Life and Living policies will qualify for a 10% premium discount, while current members can qualify for multi-cover discounts ranging from 10% – 15%.
More news:
Fidelity Life increasing the underlying premium rates from 1 April
Partners Life’s QFA Phase 2 upgrade is now live
Financial Advice NZ Community of Practice: Central District 25 February
Willis Towers Watson will carry out the first independent investment review of ACC
Partners Life to release Quote for Alteration Phase 2
Partners Life new upgrade to their Quote for Alteration (QFA) digital tool is coming soon.
Partners Life new upgrade to their Quote for Alteration (QFA) digital tool is coming soon. There’s a handy tutorial here. The upgrade will provide a fully digital process, where advisers can apply for increases and alterations for existing clients in the same way they do for new clients within QFA. QFA applications will be available on Partners Protection Plan and Business Protection Plan policies; Funeral Plan, Essential, Heritage and Loancare policies cannot be serviced online through QFA.
More news:
AIA extend their 3 months' insurance free offer until 31 March 2025
AIA are introducing digital arrears notifications
AIA increases pricing for some Trauma products
AIA introduce SovLink microlearning
Fidelity Life simplify underwriting process
Partners Life paid out 93% of claims in the year ending March 31, 2024
Government commissions two independent reviews to improve the performance and sustainability of ACC
Website and research upgrades: what you need to know – website version v4.6.6 / QPR v16.4
Our team have made some monstrously good updates to Quotemonster recently, here we detail all the changes we’ve made.
Our team have made some monstrously good updates to Quotemonster recently. If you’ve noticed we’re running a bit slower than usual, please refresh your page and scroll down to ensure that you’re on our latest version – QUOTE ENGINE V.3.0 B1 | QPR V.16.4 | WEB V4.6.6.
Researchmonster updates:
- Pricing and research available for SBS Home Loan Repayment Cover
SBS Insurance launched a new mortgage protection product on 1 February 2025.
To include the company in your price and research comparisons, simply ensure they are selected in your Product and Provider Settings.
- Upgrade to Multi Trauma Functionality
We have made an update to how Fidelity’s Multi Trauma product is quoted, and this is a direct result of adviser feedback. When Instant Trauma Buyback is selected, Fidelity Life’s Multi Trauma product will now automatically be quoted in your comparison, alongside the following products:
Asteron Life and Chubb Life’s Continuous Trauma, and Partners Life Immediate Buyback.
- Minor review of the following items:
Trauma - minor sub-item review for Inflation Adjusted Benefit (personal) and Life Cover Buyback (personal & business)
TPD - minor sub-item review for Counselling & Support (personal & business)
Income and Mortgage Protection - sub-item review for Reduction in Wait Period (personal)
Other noteworthy updates:
- Updated terms and conditions pop-up
We’ve updated our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to keep things fresh, legal, and slightly more interesting than watching paint dry.
What's changed? Some boring but important updates about Kiwimonster, data protection and slick new tools like API’s—because the future is coming, and our policies need to keep up!
Before you start crunching, please read our new terms and click Agree and Continue. Once accepted, you won’t see the pop-up again. However, if you’re in front of a client we will allow you to skip once, but you’ll need to agree the next time around or you will no longer be able to login.
This will appear on all logins including PA logins the next time each user tries to log in.
- Recent rate changes
- nib Ultimate Health and Ultimate Health Max effective 1 February
- Chubb Life & Living rates have been added into our Estimates section
- Kiwimonster is live
Our free KiwiSaver comparison tool, Kiwimonster is now live. We have collaborated with Morningstar and Investment News New Zealand to help deliver fund and fee comparisons to help elevate your KiwiSaver advice process. Research is coming soon…
If you’re an existing user, all you need to do is log in to your Quotemonster account and click on the Kiwimonster logo on the top left.
If you’re a new user, please head over to www.kiwimonster.co.nz and click the orange sign up button on the top right to have access to this new feature.
Join now with a free trial and you can also check out the research and advice services available with a subscription.
- Updated research infographics
Research on previous policy document versions (if applicable) can be found in our Standalone Head to Head.
The following infographics have also been updated:
· Personal Product Rating Map
· Standalone Head to Head Product Map
Training sessions:
Our team hosts online training sessions on a regular basis and invites you and your colleagues to join us if you’re interested in learning more about our services.
Our next sessions will be:
Introduction to Quotemonster – Tuesday, 18 February 2025 9:30 am-10:30 am
In this session Kelly Pulham, our National Partnerships Lead, will demonstrate the basic functions of our website, along with some handy tips and tricks along the way.
Demystifying Advicemonster - Tuesday, 18 February 2025 11:00 am-12:00 pm
In this session Aneel Ravji, our AdviceTech Lead, will demonstrate how to use our needs analysis and statement of advice (SOA) tools.
Business Risk Research and SOAs with Quotemonster – Wednesday, 19 February 2025 10:30 am-11:15 am
In this session, Aneel will demonstrate how to use our business risk pricing, research, and SOA functionality.
Introduction to Kiwimonster - Monday, 24 February 2025 11:30 am-11:50 am
A session on our brand spanking new service – Kiwimonster.
If you would like to join any of these sessions, please email your request to info@quotemonster.co.nz
Happy Crunching!
Thoughts from advisers - Jeremy Bernstein
Hear from Jeremy Bernstein, Senior Adviser - Life & Health at Gallagher.
We reached out to some advisers and other experts in the industry for their thoughts and opinions on the job, advice they’d give to people looking to get into the financial services industry, what they’re looking forward to and steps people can take to set themselves on the best financial path at different stages.
Thoughts from Jeremy Bernstein, Senior Adviser - Life & Health at Gallagher
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
I get huge satisfaction from writing insurance for people that are not otherwise insured, new policies for new clients, creating financially resilient families & businesses and growing the insurance market.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone looking to get into the financial services industry, what would it be?
Find ways to enjoy continuous learning. Over time, aim to understand every corner of detail of how these policies work - understand that attention to detail is absolutely vital in this industry.
What is something you are looking forward to about the industry over the next 10 years?
I look forward to the industry maturing into regulation and contributing to higher standards of ethics and professionalism.
What steps can people take to set themselves on the best financial path in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s?
20’s: Find a career they love and one where you are not simply renumerated by wages alone i.e. share in profits through professional partnership or business ownership or a role that offers bonuses if sales targets are achieved. Contribute to KiwiSaver with high growth asset allocation with low fee investments. If not already insured, apply for Private Medical Cover with Partners Life, apply for Loss of Earnings Income Protection with Level Premium until age 70 with Asteron Life.
30’s: Buy a home and review insurance to ensure Life Cover is sufficient.
40’s: Work hard to achieve career goals and find ways to enjoy continuous education. Stay healthy and try hard to keep relationships intact i.e. divorce is a massive financial setback.
50’s: Apply for higher professional roles and actively seek opportunities for business growth and increased income, repay mortgage and step up investment.
60’s: Stay married, stay happy, stay healthy, stay professionally relevant and stay working!
What’s the last book you read?
How Star Wars Conquered the Universe - Chris Taylor.
Recent rate changes on Quotemonster
We are pleased to confirm that the following rate changes are live on Quotemonster effective 1 January 2025.
Dear Quotemonster users,
We are pleased to confirm that the following rate changes are live on Quotemonster effective 1 January 2025.
nib Ultimate Health and Ultimate Health Max
AIA monthly policy fee
If you have any questions or comments on these changes please reach out to us on info@quotemonster.co.nz
Happy Crunching!
