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.

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Hays publish salary guide

Hays have published their Salary Guide for FY24/25.

Hays have published their Salary Guide for FY24/25. Of note, the extreme skills shortage is lessening yet there is a hesitancy for businesses to take on new hires, due to macro-economic conditions.

Their survey data highlights the importance of brand reputation; diversity, equity and inclusion policies; and environmental, social and governance strategies in attracting talent. Once an employee starts, team culture and job security are the biggest reasons an employee plans to stay with their employer. A huge 82% of employees said that team culture is the most important factor in their decision to stay with their current employer, and 64% said that continued remote or hybrid working was important. More than 77% of employees are currently looking or planning to look for a new job within the next 12 months, with the rising cost of living being the most cited reason (64%).

Currently, 97% of organisations offered a hybrid working model, with 74% not expecting their hybrid work offering to change in the year ahead. This tracks closely with employee wants, with 92% preferring a hybrid mode of working.

86% of organisations are planning on offering pay rises in the year ahead, though the value of the salary increases is dropping, at odds with employee expectations, with 61% of employees expecting an increase of more than 3%. 71% of employees stated that a pay rise was the most important factor to their career in the year ahead but benefits also featured highly in priorities – with learning and developing technical skills (63%) and being able to work flexibly (54%) being important to people.

The survey had 15,324 respondents across Australia and New Zealand, across both employers (6,461) and employees (8,863).

 

More news:              

mySolutions webinar 'nib - Navigating Health Insurance' 10 July

The FSC extend the submission deadline for the FSC awards 2024 by two weeks and widen the scope of the Excellence in Sustainability Practices Award

Financial Advice NZ Professional Ethics Workshop 30 July

Aplus Compliance has merged with Strategi Compliance

The Co-operative Bank share $2.5 million with 135,000 of their customers

Westpac offer financial support to customers affected by the extreme weather events

TAP looking for a Group Senior BAS Accountant

Select committee against bill to limit use of KiwiSaver as part of pay package

Expanded scope announced for Covid-19 Royal Commission

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Steve Wright identifies areas where FAPs and advisers need to improve

Steve Wright has examined the FMA’s FAP monitoring report and gone through the findings to highlight areas advisers and FAPs need to keep their eyes on.

Steve Wright has examined the FMA’s FAP monitoring report and gone through the findings to highlight areas advisers and FAPs need to keep their eyes on.

While the FMA was for the most part happy with the results of their monitoring visits to around 60 FAPs, they did highlight a number of gaps where improvement is needed. In particular, the FMA identified ‘tick-box’ approaches to compliance as a root cause of some of these gaps.

Some areas that were identified as needing improvement were proper oversight of advice; identifying and working to close knowledge gaps; a considered approach to continuing professional development (CPD) with the identified learning achieved and recorded; some situations where the advice given was ‘unsatisfactory’; consideration of clients’ future needs.

 

More daily news:

mySolutions webinar 'Camilla Tumai, Bizcap Offering' 26 June

Pinnacle Life has been shortlisted for the 2024 Best Places to Work Awards

Southern Cross Healthcare supports Bowel Cancer New Zealand’s awareness campaign

Southern Cross Healthcare organises volunteer beach cleanups

Tony Vidler discusses the importance of an individual brand

TAP introduce the TAP Adviser Steering Committee

AMP announce 23 of their funds have been certified by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA)

New research shows physical activity can clear brain toxins while simulating new neurons and connections

The US surgeon general seeks tobacco-like warning labels on social media platforms

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Naomi Ballantyne joins The Adviser Platform Board

TAP Group has announced the appointment of Naomi Ballantyne as an independent director.

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Chubb Life appoint new General Manager – Distribution

Chubb Life have appointed Chris Hand to the role of General Manager – Distribution.

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A year in review

We look back at some of the big industry news, mergers, acquisitions, court cases and people changes in 2023.

2023 has been a difficult year for consumers and businesses alike. Conditions are similar to last year, with inflation remaining high, resulting in a continuing cost-of-living crisis, the OCR set at 5.5% and the RBNZ not ruling out a further hike next year, and housing prices only just starting to rise. How has that affected the insurance sector? Combined with an increase in regulatory red-tape tangling up banks, there has been a spike in lapse rates that very much looks like it is driven by the same forces.

NZ was badly affected by natural disasters this year, with insurers having to fork out $3.5 billion in general insurance claims for the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle. Such heavy claims have impacted general insurers, perhaps part of the reason why Tower is looking to do a strategic review of its ownership structure.

It is this situation which greets the new National-Act-NZ First coalition government. They  have outlined a 100-day plan that includes: stopping work on the Income Insurance Scheme; introducing legislation to narrow the Reserve Bank’s mandate to price stability (removing the mandate to ensure maximum sustainable employment); signing a memorandum of understanding with Waikato University to progress a third medical school; disestablishing the Māori Health Authority; taking the first steps to extend free breast cancer screening to those aged up to 74; repealing amendments to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 and regulations; and setting five major targets for the health system. National promised to roll back the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA) and to make changes to allow kiwis to split their KiwiSaver savings between different providers during the election campaign, so we will be watching how this plays out next year. In August, then National Party Leader, Chris Luxon, told the Financial Services Council conference that it was also their intention to repeal the Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Act 2022. That hasn’t explicitly made it into the coalition agreement, but may possibly be covered by the planned regulation sector reviews to which the coalition commits under the Act Policy Programme. Although regulatory relief is often welcomed by the sector, so is long-term stability, so we have found views split on the proposed changes to the conduct law.

As of March 2023, all financial advice providers needed to have obtained their level 5 certificates to continue operating this year. We wrote about the impact of this on the market and just how many financial advice providers and financial advisers there are in the September 2023 Quarterly Life and Health Sector Report.

Accuro and Unimed members voted in favour of combining operations. Approval from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is likely to come early next year. The Lifetime Group acquired Protection Solutions. Fidelity Insurance, formerly known as Westpac Life, was integrated into the Fidelity Life Assurance Company. In March 2023 Cigna NZ changed its name to Chubb Life Insurance New Zealand Limited (Chubb Life NZ) and is now trading under the Chubb brand. nib have told customers they are planning to amalgamate, with their health insurance company ‘nib nz limited’ and their life and living insurance company ‘nib nz insurance limited’ combining to form one single company known as nib nz limited. The acquisition of Partners Life by Dai-Ichi has been made more real by the appointment of new personnel and the announcement of Naomi Ballantyne’s change of role to come in 2024.  The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) and the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) have announced they will merge to form the Financial Advice Association of Australia. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) denied the sale of Suncorp Bank to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ).

There were some interesting court cases, with AMP settling with Australian advisers for A$100 million; MAS were penalised $2.1 million for making false and misleading representations to customers; Cigna was fined $3.575m for false and/or misleading representations.

There were lots of new faces joining the industry or changing roles this year.

  • AIA New Zealand appointed Michele Embling as an independent non-executive Director; Ben Lovelock as Chief Risk Officer; Shaun Baird as Chief Financial Officer; Maddie Sherlock as Head of Customer Operations; Andrew Anisi as Senior Manager Contact Centre & Business Solutions; Aaron Gilmore and Katie Hunter as AIA Vitality Coaches; Calvin Romeo to the role of head of ASB Partnership.

  • Asteron Life appointed Kirsten Young as the National Manager Adviser Distribution.

  • Chubb Life board chairman Steven Fyfe retired and Paul Brock took over his role as Chairman while Linley Wood joined as an Independent Director to the board. Chubb appointed Monique Ravening as its new Head of Underwriting and Erica Hamer as Chubb's new Wellington-based Business Partnership Manager. Adit Witjaksono was appointed as property manager for Australia and New Zealand.

  • Fidelity Life made some new appointments to key roles.  David Winspear was appointed as Head of Channel Strategy, Michelle Doyle appointed as the new Head of Solutions and Kylie Oldham appointed as Senior Group Insurance Business Manager.  Leigh Bennett was promoted internally to the role of Head of Underwriting and Mat Bark was appointed as Head of Channel Enablement. Giselle Baker was appointed as Head of Data and Analytics. In October, Ian Clancy acted as the Acting CEO until Campbell Mitchell was bought on board as the new CEO after Melissa Cantell resigned. Sam Kelly was appointed as Head of Regulatory Affairs.

  • MAS appointed Matt Harvey as Chief Distribution and Marketing Officer, Craig Ward as Chief Innovation and Digital Officer, Dan Mead as an Investment Manager.

  • nib appointed Stu Crowther as new National Manager – Adviser Distribution; Ian Sargeant as National Manager – Group, Partnerships & Strategy; Chris Carnall as Head of Distribution; Stan Bennetto as Group Health Business Development Manager.

  • Partners Life appointed Gemma Vivian as GM Adviser Engagement; Gareth Allen as Senior Manager Adviser Partnerships. Naomi Ballantyne announced her retirement from Partners Life in March 2024.

  • Southern Cross Healthcare appointed Mark Phillips as Chief Digital Officer; Dr Erica Whineray Kelly as Transformation Lead for Women’s Health; Jo Fair as Chief of People & Culture; Monica Goldwater as Chief Nursing Officer.

  • Suncorp New Zealand appointed Suraiya Phillimore-Smith as its new Chief Customer Officer. Lindsay Tanner was appointed as an independent director of the firm’s three boards.

  • Justine Gilliland was appointed to Unimed's board.

  • ASB appointed Carl Ferguson Chief Financial Officer and Rebecca James as its new Executive General Manager of Business Banking.

  • Westpac welcomed a new GM of Consumer Banking and Wealth, Michael Norfolk.

  • Kiwibank appointed Julia Jack as chief purpose and brand officer.

  • TSB appointed Kerry Boielle as new CEO after Donna Cooper resigned. Penny Burgess was appointed General Manager Customer Delivery; Molly Auva'a-O'Brien as General Manager Operational Excellence.

  • AMP appointed Blair Vernon as CFO.

  • Tim Grafton announced he’s stepping down as chief of the Insurance Council of New Zealand next year.

  • Tony Dench started as Financial Advice NZ’s interim CEO following Katrina Shanks’ departure to head up The Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF). Sonja Barrett was appointed as Financial Advice New Zealand’s Board Member Director (Risk) and Peter Fa’afiu was appointed as an Independent Member Director on the Financial Advice NZ Board. Stefanos Boulieris joined Financial Advice NZ, communicating online webinars and the upcoming conference in 2024 and Sarah Maxwell joined as Communications and Social Media Manager.

  • Tim Tez and Sarah Phillips joined ANZIIF’s Board of Directors.

  • Anna Scott, Ana-Marie Lockyer and Campbell Mitchell all joined the board of the Financial Services Council (FSC). David Bishop was appointed to the Chief Marketing Officer role.

  • The FMA appointed Daniel Trinder as Executive Director – Strategy and Design; Michael Hewes as Director for Deposit Taking, Insurance and Advice; John Horner as Director of Markets, Investors and Reporting; Peter Taylor as Director Specialist Supervision and Response; Stuart Johnson as Chief Economist; Sharon Thompson as Executive Director – Transformation and Operational Delivery.

  • Graeme Edwards took on the role of Lifetime Group director and chairman and David Haintz was appointed as an independent chairman of Lifetime Group Holdings and its subsidiaries.

  • Craig Wagstaff joined New Zealand Home Loans (NZHL) as its new general manager for franchise, distribution, and marketing.

  • The Adviser Platform (TAP) appointed Pooja Shetty as Senior Operations Specialist and Naz Mistry as a Compliance Specialist and Adviser Support.

  • Some big names in the industry have retired, with David Haak, Tony Arthur, and our very own Rob Dowler retiring

Here’s to another exciting year in 2024!

 

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AIA campaign offers customers up to $100 in rewards

AIA has launched a new AIA Vitality campaign offering up to $100 in rewards to new and existing customers.

AIA has launched a new AIA Vitality campaign offering up to $100 in rewards to new and existing customers.

When customers add AIA Vitality to any new or existing eligible health, trauma, income protection or life insurance policy and activate their membership before 20 December 2023 they will receive a $50 Countdown or Airpoints Dollars™ reward. If they complete an AIA Vitality Health Check before 20 December 2023, they will receive another $50 countdown or Airpoints Dollars™ reward.

Existing AIA Vitality members who have already completed their AIA Vitality Health Check this year are entered into a separate draw to win 1 of 50 $100 Countdown vouchers or Airpoints Dollars.

 

More daily news:

FSC holding 'Outlook 2024 - Regulatory and Economic Update' 31 January

Surgeons at Southern Cross Rotorua Hospital will be assisted by a Robotic Orthopaedic Surgical Assistant (Rosa)

Fidelity Life's Head of Information Security awarded 'Champion of Change'

DLA Piper cautions that the FMA's push to move away from compliance to address perceived harm missed by the current regulatory regime raises serious questions

TAP say their system supports independent advisers

Pulled FMA campaign cost $16,000

Calls for New Zealand to have a centre for disease control

The World Health Organization has proclaimed loneliness to be a “pressing” global health threat

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