Monsters in March off to a great start

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

TAP are looking for a Senior .NET Core Developer

nib release launch date for Ultimate Life & Living

nib Ultimate Life & Living will launch on 28 March 2025. Details of the suite of products were released at nib’s nationwide adviser events last month, and advisers can complete their training and accreditation on the nib Learning Management System using their existing password.

Products available will include:

• Ultimate Life Insurance – cover to support a client’s loved ones if they die or are expected to die within the next 24 months;

• Ultimate Trauma Insurance – cover that extends beyond the initial diagnosis of a medical condition to support a client and their family’s well-being;            

• Ultimate Income and Mortgage Protection Insurance – pays a monthly amount if a client is unable to work because of illness or injury;

• Ultimate Total & Permanent Disability Insurance – focuses on the financial impact of lasting disability, so clients can rebuild their future with less financial strain;

• Ultimate Waiver of Premium – removes the burden of premium payments for a client if they’re disabled, ensuring their Ultimate Life & Living cover remains active.

 The full suite of products will be available for comparison on Quotemonster by the end of the month. You can find out about how Ultimate Life and Living works on Quotemonster at our forthcoming roadshows.

More news:

ANZIIF is set to participate in International Women’s Day 2025

nib develops resources to inform people about the health checks they need

Keri Jenkins to leave Wealthpoint

Key changes to Asteron Life team

Asteron Life have made a number of personnel changes following the recent acquisition by Resolution Life Australasia. There have been three appointments to the Leadership Team - Kristy Redfern as Chief Risk Officer, Stefan Azzopardi as Chief Financial Officer and Catherine Henshall as interim Appointed Actuary.

Redfern joined in February 2025 and was previously General Counsel and Company Secretary for AIA Australia. Azzopardi will join in March 2025 and was most recently CEO of Donaldson Brown Insurance Brokers.  An external search continues for the permanent Appointed Actuary position.

In addition, Scott Jenson has been appointed as Acting Executive Manager, Claims and Customer Solutions while the recruitment process for the permanent role is active.

Grant Willis, Chief Executive Officer Asteron Life New Zealand, said

“Kristy, Stefan and Catherine bring a wealth of experience that will bolster the strength and expertise of our existing leadership team, and it is great to see Scott step up to the acting role. I am very much looking forward to their input as we continue to grow our incredible business and transition into one of New Zealand’s largest life insurance businesses.”

More news:

Register for Quotemonster 'New research and tools' events in March in Auckland and Christchurch

mySolutions webinar 'Stuck to Sorted' 26 February

Monsters in March – Registrations Now Open!

Advisers, don’t miss this must-attend event covering the latest research and tools for insurance and KiwiSaver. With limited seats, secure your spot now!

We are holding two in Auckland and one in Christchurch, dates and venues with links to register are below.

This event is a must-attend for advisers looking to refine their expertise, embrace new opportunities, and integrate cutting-edge research into their practice.

The events will each have three 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.

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, highlighting key statistics on insurance uptake 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 this event include:

1.        Explore the latest new research and platform enhancements firsthand

2.        Gain insights from expert speakers and earn valuable CPD credits

3.        Connect with industry professionals through networking and enjoy complimentary catering

4.        Unlock exclusive access to extended free trials

18 March – Remuera Golf Club, Auckland Central

20 March – Addington Raceway, Christchurch

25 March – North Harbour Stadium, North Shore

Please reach out to us if you have any questions, we can’t wait to see you there!

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. 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!

Using Company Reports on Quotemonster

Find out how to get additional information for specific insurers, including key performance metrics, using Company Report.

Thoughts from advisers

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.

Wilhelmina Eveleens, Financial Adviser – Risk at InsuranceBASE

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Supporting clients to make better financial decisions.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone looking to get into the financial services industry, what would it be?

Align yourself with the best people in the industry (and sign up to QuoteMonster!). 

What is something you are looking forward to about the industry over the next 10 years?

Seeing the quality of advisers and advice improve.

What steps can people take to set themselves on the best financial path in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s?

Save, save, save … and make sure your KiwiSaver is appropriately invested.

What’s the last book you read?

Stolen Focus - Johann Hari.

Recent rate changes on Quotemonster

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!

Quality Product Research by the numbers

As 2024 draws to a close we thought we’d do a quick by the numbers post to review what we’ve been up to this year. It has been a busy but wonderful year, and we’d like to thank everyone who has crunched numbers with us, come along to our roadshows, invited us along to their events and done business with us.

Research Advisory Board events held this year: 3

Years in operation: 13

Team members: 16

Quotemonster roadshows held: 17 venues all around the country plus one online

Research: 8 types of personal, 5 types of business, 24+ insurers, 80 on-sale products, 200+ legacy products – phew!

Users of Kiwimonster so far: 198

Number of insurer price changes: 230+

Highest number of users logged in on one day: 495

Attendees at roadshows: More than 800

Subscribers: 1100+

Unique number of IT update and improvement tasks: 2941, exclude duplicate and on hold items of which the IT team closed and made live more than 89.46%

Kilometres travelled by the team: more than 9,200 kilometres travelled, from the smallest meeting in Taupo to the largest on the North Shore of Auckland. And yes, we use carbon offsetting!

Rating factors: 27,000+

Frequency of quotes produced: A quote every 13 seconds, on average. Even more during busy periods leading to…

Total quotes crunched to date this year: more than 2.5 million

Total quotes crunched ever: more than 30 million

Quality Product Research – Major Review: the proposed rating for Special Events and Future Insurability

Introduction

Special Events Increase (SEI) and Future Insurability Option (FIO) increases are valuable but often underutilised features in products like Life or Trauma insurance. Recently, we were challenged by a rated company on our methodology for assessing these benefits.  As a result, we have initiated a major review of these items.

While SEI and FIO share similarities, they cater to different needs:

• Special events increases are reactive to life milestones.

• Future insurability options are proactive, providing periodic opportunities for growth. This is an optional feature to be selected at application time, and often results in an increase in premium.

Both features provide flexibility, especially as life circumstances evolve, and combining them offers the best of both worlds.

·        Our review aims to assess the following:

·        The sub-items used for each benefit.

·        The weightings applied to each sub-item.

·        How the Amount score should be captured: per event, allowable increase at policy anniversary, or total maximum increase over the life of the policy.

Key Considerations for Scoring

1. Per event: Capturing the increase per special event may highlight significant variations in amount scores between insurers. However, this could lead to confusion, as insurers often apply different limits to different special events.

2. Over lifetime of policy: This approach would provide more straightforward scoring but may result in most insurers receiving the same amount score, which could fail to reflect nuanced differences in limits for specific events.

Below, you’ll find our proposed sub-item list with preliminary weightings. These weightings will be refined based on feedback received during this consultation process.

Review process

Our review began with internal discussions and a comprehensive analysis of policy wordings across the market. We have conducted an initial review of the sub-items, and our next step is to seek feedback from insurers and reinsurers. Once all relevant information has been gathered, we will make appropriate updates to our database and share the new ratings on our social media channels.

Your feedback

We highly value your feedback on how these wordings are being applied in the real world. Please email us at info@quotemonster.co.nz with details of your experience to help us refine our understanding, or alternatively please use the Adviser Claims Experience on Quotemonster to log your claims experience, a video on this feature can be found here.