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.
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
Privacy authorities release statement on additional takeaways for industry; APRA release Life Insurance Claims and Disputes statistics; FMA consult on renewal of class exemptions for DIMS licensees from certain financial reporting requirements; ASIC release audit findings; FSC publish spotlights on Life Insurance and KiwiSaver; Government seeks feedback on information sharing agreement between IRD and MBIE; FMA renews notices.
29 Oct 2024 - Global privacy authorities, including the office of the Privacy Commissioner, have engaged with some of the world’s largest social media companies after issuing a joint statement on data scraping last year. As a result of this engagement, they have now issued a follow-up statement laying out additional takeaways for industry. This follow-up joint statement lays out further expectations, including that organisations:
Comply with privacy and data protection laws when using personal information, including from their own platforms, to develop artificial intelligence (AI) large language models.
Deploy a combination of safeguarding measures and regularly review and update them to keep pace with advances in scraping techniques and technologies.
Ensure that permissible data scraping for commercial or socially beneficial purposes is done lawfully and in accordance with strict contractual terms. https://www.privacy.org.nz/publications/statements-media-releases/global-privacy-authorities-issue-follow-up-joint-statement-on-data-scraping-after-industry-engagement/
29 Oct 2024 - APRA has released its Life Insurance Claims and Disputes Statistics publication, covering a rolling 12-month period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-and-asic-publish-latest-data-on-life-insurance-claims-and-disputes-9
30 Oct 2024 - The FMA are consulting on renewal of class exemption for DIMS licensees from certain financial reporting requirements, consultation closes 29 November 2024. https://www.fma.govt.nz/business/focus-areas/consultation/consultation-renewal-of-class-exemption-for-dims-licensees-from-certain-financial-reporting-requirements/
30 Oct 2024 - ASIC has released findings from its financial reporting and audit surveillance for the 12 months to 30 June 2024, and announced a proactive surveillance focused on auditors’ compliance with independence and conflicts of interest requirements. https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2024-releases/24-240mr-asic-releases-fy-2023-24-financial-reporting-and-audit-report-and-launches-auditor-independence-surveillance/?altTemplate=betanewsroom
30 Oct 2024 - The FSC has published its KiwiSaver Industry Spotlight September 2024. https://blog.fsc.org.nz/kiwisaver-spotlight-september-2024
30 Oct 2024 - The Government is seeking public feedback on a proposed approved information sharing agreement (AISA) between Inland Revenue and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). The AISA would allow Inland Revenue and MBIE to share prescribed information with the other agency for the benefits outlined in the discussion document. https://www.taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz/news/2024/consultation-information-sharing-ir-mbie-aisa
31 Oct 2024 - The FMA has decided to renew the Financial Markets Conduct (Disclosure of Relevant Interests by Directors and Senior Managers) Exemption Notice 2019, and the Financial Markets Conduct (NZCDC Settlement System) Exemption Notice 2019, for a further five years. They are working to finalise new notices to give effect to this decision, which they intend to have in place before the current notices are revoked on the close of 30 November 2024. https://www.fma.govt.nz/business/focus-areas/consultation/consultation-class-exemption-renewal-for-disclosure/
30 Oct 2024 - The FSC has published its Life Insurance Industry Spotlight September 2024. https://blog.fsc.org.nz/lifeinsurance-spotlight-september-2024
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
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
23 Apr 2024 - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand released its submission on the Commerce Commission’s draft report from its market study into personal banking services. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2024/04/rbnz-releases-submission-on-draft-commerce-commission-market-study
23 Apr 2024 - The Financial Markets Authority has published its guide for Managed Investment Scheme managers and their supervisors for effective liquidity risk management, following consultation. https://www.fma.govt.nz/news/all-releases/media-releases/importance-of-effective-liquidity-risk-management/
23 Apr 2024 - Commerce Minister Andrew Bayly is planning to align the rules of the four approved financial dispute resolution schemes - Banking Ombudsman, the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman, Financial Services Complaints Limited, and the Financial Dispute Resolution Service – and raise the maximum amount the schemes can award to $500,000. The government aims to have the regulations providing for the changes in place by July 18. https://www.goodreturns.co.nz/article/976523065/aligning-disputes-resolution-schemes.html
23 Apr 2024 - The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released a consultation on proposed enhancements to the content and presentation of its suite of quarterly insurance statistical publications. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-consults-on-enhancements-to-quarterly-insurance-publication-suite
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
A round-up of recent legal and regulatory updates including APRA’s update on life insurance claims and disputes statistics
16 Apr 2024 - The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released its Life Insurance Claims and Disputes Statistics publication, covering a rolling 12-month period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-and-asic-publish-latest-data-on-life-insurance-claims-and-disputes-8
17 Apr 2024 - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is continuing its exploration of a central bank digital currency, called 'digital cash' and asking for feedback from the public. Consultation is open 17 April until 26 July 2024. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2024/04/consultation-opens-on-a-digital-currency-for-new-zealand
22 Apr 2024 - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s 2023 Climate Stress Test has found Climate-related risks need to be actively managed to protect the resilience of the financial system to other shocks. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2024/04/climate-stress-test-assesses-resilience-of-major-nz-banks
22 Apr 2024 - The Council of Financial Regulators has published an updated Regulatory Initiatives Calendar for Q1 2024. https://www.cofr.govt.nz/files/regulatory-initiatives-calendar/regulatory-initiatives-calendar-q1-2024.pdf
Fidelity Life and Kaplan Professional join together to deliver Career Connect training
Fidelity Life has partnered with Kaplan Professional to deliver their Career Connect financial adviser training programme. Kaplan Professional will join as the programme’s education provider, in conjunction with Massey University.
Fidelity Life has partnered with Kaplan Professional to deliver their Career Connect financial adviser training programme. Kaplan Professional will join as the programme’s education provider, in conjunction with Massey University. Kaplan Professional will fund a new Women in Finance Scholarship, to join Fidelity Life’s existing six scholarships.
Applications are open for Career Connect’s 2024 intake, with 30 places, including 7 scholarships, available. The programme runs from May until December 2024.
The scholarships available are:
Women in Finance scholarship brought to you by Kaplan Professional, designed to assist female applicants to become financial advisers
Rural scholarship brought to you by FMG, designed for applicants with a rural connection
Pounamu scholarship, designed to assist Māori applicants
Kōwhai scholarship, designed to assist Pasifika applicants
Rāngi Po scholarship, designed to support underrepresented identities in our industry.
Toe Toe scholarship, designed to recognise outstanding young applicants.
Pāua scholarship, designed to recognise outstanding applicants who demonstrate excellence.
Kaplan Professional CEO Brian Knight said
“Programs like Career connect provide the ideal launchpad for a bright future in financial advice, so we are delighted to collaborate with Fidelity Life on what we believe is a terrific initiative to strengthen New Zealand’s talent pipeline.”
“We also remain steadfast in our commitment to encouraging and promoting diversity within the industry, so we are thrilled to be able to provide a scholarship for women in every intake of the program.”
There is a free online career evening on March 19 where those interested can find out more about becoming a financial adviser, what being a financial adviser is really like and how Career Connect can support you to gain the qualifications and skills necessary to become a successful financial adviser.
More daily news:
Westpac introduces the LanguageLoop interpreting service
ANZ discloses slight improvement in its gender pay gap for 2023
Survey finds 62% of kiwis feel KiwiSaver contributions should be compulsory
The Co-operative bank is hosting a webinar on 12 March about proposed governance changes
The New Zealand Health Survey found roughly a million New Zealanders missing out on seeing their GP
New campaign tries to lure NZ health workers to Australia
Kordia study highlights toll cyberattacks take on New Zealand's large businesses
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
13 Dec 2023 - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand acknowledges the amended Remit for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) issued by the Minister of Finance. The MPC Remit sets the operational objectives for monetary policy. The amended Remit retains an inflation target of 1% to 3% over the medium-term, with a focus on the 2% mid-point, and removes the objective to support maximum sustainable employment. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2023/12/monetary-policy-remit-amended
14 Dec 2023 - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has issued a formal warning to Citibank N.A. New Zealand Branch (Citibank NZ) relating to the wire transfer identity requirements under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act 2009. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2023/12/citibank-nz-issued-formal-warning-under-aml-cft-act
14 Dec 2023 - FMA offices are closed from midday, Friday 22 December, and will reopen 8.30am, Monday 8 January 2024 https://www.fma.govt.nz/contact/christmas-2023-holiday-hours/
14 Dec 2023 - The FMA has censured Go Financial Solutions Limited for failing to comply with several obligations under its financial advice provider (FAP) licence. Go Financial Solutions is a Christchurch-based FAP that provides advice on health, life and business insurance and mortgage lending. During a monitoring review earlier this year, the FMA found that Go Financial Solutions:
Had inadequate record keeping in relation to advice given to its clients
Failed to gather sufficient information about a client’s circumstances and was unable to demonstrate that recommendations made to clients were suitable
Failed to ensure its clients understood the financial advice they received
Failed to exercise care, diligence and skill when providing financial advice to its clients.
https://www.fma.govt.nz/news/all-releases/media-releases/fma-censures-go-financial-solutions/
14 Dec 2023 - The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released the bi-annual life insurance institution-level statistics publication. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-releases-life-insurance-institution-level-statistics-0
14 Dec 2023 - APRA and ASIC have released an update to life insurers and friendly societies (life companies) on premium increases in the life insurance industry. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-and-asic-release-an-update-on-premium-increases-life-insurance-industry
15 Dec 2023 - Michele Embling, Chair of the External Reporting Board (XRB), has announced that the Climate-related Disclosures standards have now been published. https://www.xrb.govt.nz/news/latest-news/
15 Dec 2023 - ASIC today published its annual dashboard of regulatory costs for 2022-23 by activity for each sector and subsector under the industry funding model (IFM). https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/news-items/asic-industry-funding-release-of-2022-23-annual-dashboard-and-summary-of-variances/
15 Dec 2023 - The Council of Financial Regulators has released an updated Regulatory Initiatives Calendar for the financial sector for Q4 2023. https://www.cofr.govt.nz/files/regulatory-initiatives-calendar/regulatory-initiatives-calendar-q4-2023.pdf
19 Dec 2023 - The Government is introducing and progressing under urgency a Bill to repeal the Taxation Principles Reporting Act 2023 https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-introduces-taxation-principles-reporting-act-repeal-bill
19 Dec 2023 - Health Minister Dr Shane Reti is appointing a Crown observer to Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/crown-observer-be-appointed-health-new-zealand
19 Dec 2023 - The Climate Governance Initiative summarises the key pieces of information relevant to board directors from the UAE Consensus that was agreed in Dubai at the COP28 climate conference, to help directors understand the implications on business strategy and investment decisions. https://www.chapterzero.nz/news/cop28-key-outcomes-for-board-directors/
19 Dec 2023 - The Taxation Principles Reporting Act Repeal Bill had its First Reading https://bills.parliament.nz/v/6/9faa9e21-c7a9-4433-7e32-08dc003a05e3?Tab=history
Changing business demographics opens up opportunities for advisers
Stats NZ’s latest business demography statistics (as at February 2023) paints a promising picture of New Zealand’s economic landscape. With more new businesses and a rise in employment, opportunities abound for insurance advisers specialising in Business Risk Protection products.
Stats NZ’s latest business demography statistics (as at February 2023) paints a promising picture of New Zealand’s economic landscape. With more new businesses and a rise in employment, opportunities abound for insurance advisers specialising in Business Risk Protection products.
Key highlights include:
· The number of enterprises in NZ is following an upward trajectory, with 605,000 enterprises in February 2023, up 1.8% from February 2022. This is on top of a 5.3% increase in the year to February 2022.
· The number of paid employees in these enterprises (not an official employment statistic) was 2.5 million, up 3% from February 2022.
· These enterprises operated across 641,560 business locations, up 1.4% from February 2022.
There has been a marked increase in new businesses across a range of sectors, indicating a healthy and growing economy. The data also reveals a positive trend in employment, with employees in large enterprises up 5.9% from February 2022.
Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment figures show 196,584 people entered NZ on work visas in the 12 months to September, up dramatically from 39,501 in the 12 months to September 2022. The arrival of these overseas workers further increases the pool of workers available and makes it much easier for employers to fill any vacancies.
Certain industries, such as construction; professional, scientific and technical services; and health care and social assistance industries, have shown significant growth. These sectors often have specialised insurance requirements, like protecting shareholder needs or covering key people within an organisation, providing a niche market for advisers.
Quality Product Research Ltd have recently completed independent research on Business Insurance lump-sum products, putting a wealth of information at advisers’ fingertips in order to make well-informed recommendations. With disability products soon to be included, advisers can offer a comprehensive suite of options to their clients.
Advicemonster has functionality that allows users to streamline the process of creating Business Statements of Advice (SOAs), speeding up the time spent on admin and freeing up more time to spend with clients. Please get in touch if you’d like a sample copy of a Business SOA. Advicemonster’s tools assist advisers in conducting a Fact Find and Needs Analysis and being able to offer highly personalised solutions.
The combination of up-to-date research and specialised tools allows advisers to educate new businesses on effective risk mitigation strategies. This is particularly crucial for sole traders and SMEs that may not yet be aware of the full range of risks they face.
To find out more about what Advicemonster can do for you, please contact Aneel Ravji on 0212160905 or ask us about our next online training sessions.
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
27 Sep 2023 - The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released a consultation on its proposed changes to the Economic and Financial Statistics (EFS) reporting standards and guidance, drafted in conjunction with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). Submissions should be sent to APRA by 6 November 2023. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-consults-on-updates-to-modernised-economic-and-financial-statistics
29 Sep 2023 - KPMG, Chapter Zero New Zealand and the Institute of Directors release 'What difference can directors make?', a new guide to climate governance based on interviews with 13 of New Zealand’s most experienced directors https://www.chapterzero.nz/news/what-difference-can-directors-make/
29 Sep 2023 - The Council of Financial Regulators has released an updated Regulatory Initiatives Calendar for the financial sector for Q3 2023. https://www.cofr.govt.nz/key-documents/regulatory-initiatives-calendar.html
Research finds those in disadvantaged neighbourhoods have to travel further to reach public green spaces
As section sizes continue to decrease and more people end up living in homes with little to no backyards, are we inadvertently causing further deprivation for those from disadvantaged backgrounds?
Newsroom conducted some research using mobile phone data investigating the ease of access to green spaces. They measured distances between homes and the nearest park and found that people living in neighbourhoods with a higher concentration of social housing had further to travel to get to a park than people from neighbourhoods with minimal social housing.
Extensive research has shown that people from disadvantaged backgrounds are at a higher risk of health problems because of their social and economic circumstances, and the lack of access to green spaces in cities is a significant factor contributing to these health disparities. Limited access to green spaces means limited opportunities for physical activity, which can have detrimental consequences, and consequently strain our social and healthcare systems and our collective wellbeing.
It doesn’t seem a great leap of logic to think that in densely populated areas, there should be more access to public parks. It makes me wonder, is unequal access to green spaces contributing to health disparities? And if so, is there a moral imperative for local and national government to act to provide more equitable access to these public spaces?
More daily news:
Tony Vidler writes about some of the most important principles in the advice process
David Greenslade believes majority of FAPs are compliant, but are taking a challenging route
RegTechNZ: Simplifying CPD processes is on 23 August in Auckland
Government announces funding of $73 million for Nelson Hospital redevelopment
Swiss Re reports on mortality trends
Swiss Re’s latest report, which can be found here - The future of life expectancy: Forecasting long-term mortality trends for insurance, investigates life expectancy trends, developments and medical advancements that have contributed to rising life expectancy and estimates what the future causes of death trends will be.
Stats NZ shows that life expectancy at birth in 1955 was 68 for men and 73 for women. By 2019 that had increased dramatically to 80 for men and 83.5 for women.
Recent drivers of big increases in life expectancies have included improved diagnoses and treatment of cardiovascular disease and people quitting smoking. Since 2010, in many developed areas mortality improvement has slowed or plateaued.
In America, life expectancy has declined in recent periods, due to factors including unequal access to healthcare; high levels of opioid addiction and death rates; societal obesity; and high levels of deaths from violent crimes. Healthcare is so expensive, 28% of Americans said they skipped medical care due to costs, with 42% of uninsured Americans skipping medical care because of costs.
High socioeconomic groups in America generally have higher mortality improvements than the overall population, with continuing divergence in mortality trends between those at either end of the socioeconomic scale.
Socioeconomic status is a major determinant of mortality risk in many mature markets, with the risk of dying inversely proportionate to income levels. Large international studies have shown that individuals of lower socioeconomic status have greater premature mortality than those with high socioeconomic status. Low socioeconomic status is also associated with a 2.1-year reduction in life expectancy between the ages of 40–85.
Although, by comparison with the United States, New Zealanders have good life expectancy, there are many countries where it is higher. We continue to lose many years of life expectancy to treatable conditions. Chatswood examined possible life expectancy gains by comparing death rates for the top ten causes of early death with those in other OECD countries, and identifying the gains that could be made by improving mortality to the level of the average of the OECD and the best in the OECD. A summary of the research is included here. If you would like to obtain a copy of the full mortality improvement report, please contact either Kelly Pulham at kelly@quotemonster.co.nz or Russell Hutchinson Russell.hutchinson@chatswood.co.nz.
The report identifies neurogenerative and aging diseases such as Alzheimer’s to become a more significant cause of death.
The risk factors of dementia are varied, with 40% falling into the range of being potentially modifiable behaviours and activities throughout life (see Figure 10). The remaining 60% of the risk remains unknown, likely comprising genetic factors, as yet unidentified lifestyle factors and other determinants. Higher incidence in future could be influenced by a growing proportion of people with a high BMI leading to Type 2 diabetes, along with air pollutants and consumption of processed foods.
Swiss Re expect lifestyle factors including rising rates of obesity and diabetes to put future life expectancy gains at risk.
The World Obesity Federation estimates that 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men will be living with obesity by 2030, equating to one billion people globally. If the US continues on its current trajectory, it would imply that 90% of its population could be overweight or obese by 2042.
They also highlight emerging risks as a future threat to life expectancy, whether through known risks like climate change and antimicrobial resistance or as yet unknown risks such as new diseases or some other development.
Future drivers of improvements in mortality are predicted to be due to advanced cancer diagnostics and the evolution of personalised, precision medicine. Swiss Re write that aging-related and neurodegenerative diseases will likely benefit from improvement in treatments over the next couple of decades. Lifestyle and behaviour modifications to improve nutrition and physical activity could have a substantial impact on diabetes and obesity-related mortality.
More daily news:
Southern Cross Healthcare appoint Mark Phillips as Chief Digital Officer
Health workforce plan includes investing in Pacific health workforce