Introducing our new Quotemonster Masterclass

We're excited to announce our brand-new Quotemonster Masterclass series designed specifically for experienced Quotemonster users who want to deepen their understanding of our tools and rating methodologies.

Who Should Attend?

These sessions are ideal for advisers who have been using Quotemonster for a while and have already completed our "Introduction to Quotemonster" session.

Session Details

Date: Thursday, 17 April 2025

Time: 10:00 am – 11:00 am

Location: Online via Microsoft Teams

What You'll Learn:

• An overview of key research tools

• Standalone Head-to-Head comparisons

• Effective use of Checkmonster

• Managing complicated quote scenarios

• Deep dive into our rating methodologies

• A behind-the-scenes look at our database

• Insights into our rating review process

Don't miss the opportunity to join our inaugural session hosted by Russell Hutchinson!

How to Register:

To secure your spot, please email us at info@quotemonster.co.nz and our team will respond with an invitation link.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Fidelity Life celebrates its latest 20 Career connect graduates

Last week, Fidelity Life held a celebration to honour its latest 20 Career Connect graduates. Each graduate has successfully completed their Level 5 qualifications in life, disability, and health insurance.  

• Anna Devereux; Women in finance scholarship recipient (Dunedin)

• Ashlee Cuttance (Dunedin)

• Awhina Scott; Pounamu scholarship recipient (Christchurch)

• Briar Evans (Auckland)

• Caitlin Hayward (Morrinsville)

• Christabel Bertie (Auckland)

• Grace McIntyre; Rural scholarship recipient (Dunedin)

• Harpreet Rehal (Auckland)

• Jenny Silva; Kōwhai scholarship recipient (Queenstown)

• Kim Forsythe (Invercargill)

• Kirsty Gobbie (Auckland)

• Leean Te (Auckland)

• Marna Breetzke; Pāua scholarship recipient (Auckland)

• Matthew Roxburgh (Dunedin)

• Myja Gregory (Auckland)

• Namrata Kumar (Auckland)

• Shiwangni Mala (Auckland)

• Sydnee Taylor; Toe Toe scholarship recipient (Christchurch)

• Taylah Marr; Rāngi Po scholarship recipient (Christchurch)

• Vanessa Jones-Dutton (New Plymouth)

This year, 95% of Career connect graduates were women, and a quarter of the group identifies as Māori or Pasifika.

Michelle Doyle, Head of Solutions said

"More than 60% of the graduates who asked for introductions to adviser businesses have already landed jobs, excited to start careers that help New Zealanders protect what matters most.”

Since its inception in 2023, Career connect has had more than 200 registrations for 70 course places, welcomed 47 students and helped almost 40 people gain their Level 5 qualifications in life, disability, and health insurance.

Submissions to be part of the 2025 intake of Career connect closed earlier this month with nearly 70 applications from a diverse group of candidates across various ages, genders, and cultural backgrounds. 

More news:

Expressions of interest for Partners Life New Adviser Training Course open

The latest issue of ASSET features Katrina Church on FMA monitoring visits, Naomi Ballantyne discussing the year ahead for the life insurance industry and Russell Hutchinson on the challenges of insurance retention

mySolutions webinar 'Navigating the future ' 2 April

FSC webinar 'How financially resilient are Kiwis?' 29 April

Adviser refunds income protection premiums in FSCL dispute

Steve Wright considers issues posed by FSCL dispute

Study finds insurers rate inflation, recession, market volatility, geopolitical tensions and AI adoption as macroeconomic threats

Minister says country on track to have open banking operational by the end of the year, with regulations specific to the sector to be confirmed in the coming weeks

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. 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, 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

Lee-Ann du Toit appointed new Chief Actuary at Chubb Life

Chubb Life New Zealand has announced the appointment of Lee-Ann du Toit as its new Chief Actuary. She will be part of the senior leadership team and report directly to CEO Gail Costa. Du Toit has more than 25 years of experience in financial services and comes to Chubb Life from Deloitte New Zealand where she served as lead partner for Actuarial Service. Du Toit is also the president of the New Zealand Society of Actuaries.

Gail Costa said

“With our industry rapidly evolving, Lee-Ann’s extensive expertise in driving strategic business outcomes and fostering customer-centric solutions will be invaluable to Chubb Life NZ. The chief actuary plays an important role in supporting both our board and senior leadership team to make strategic business decisions, and we’re looking forward to having Lee-Ann’s voice and unique perspective at the decision-making table.”

More news:

Women in Insurance Summit 26 February in Auckland

Expressions of interest open for Partners Life's new adviser training course 24 - 26 February

Steve Wright shares his thoughts on CPD for giving life and health insurance advice

Massey Fin-Ed Centre Retirement Expenditure Guidelines released

Westpac launches several initiatives to improve accessibility

Happy New Year!

We hope you had a lovely break, got to enjoy some sunshine and had a chance to relax. The Chatswood and QPR teams are back in the office and looking forward to everything we have planned this year.

Things you may want to check out again now you’re back:

1. Research: If you come across legacy products, then dive into our Standalone Head-to-Head feature, designed to make product comparisons more precise and efficient. This tool lets you compare two products side by side in detail, highlighting key differences across benefits, features, and ratings.

2. Insurer updates: A range of new insurer benefits and features were launched late last year – have you seen…

   o   Chubb Life – Continuous trauma

   o   Fidelity Life – Specific Injury benefit

   o   AIA – Accidental Injury benefit

3. Advicemonster: If you’re not already using Advicemonster to create better, faster, and more robust SOAs, we’ve added even more reasons to make the switch. Have you tried our new AI features?

4. Businessmonster: New Year, New Business!? Whether you are experienced or new to giving advice on business insurance we offer you the best online business insurance statement of advice assistance tool you can find. It includes access to the companies office API and AI services to help get you the data you need faster and even help with drafting parts of the SOA. If you have Advicemonster you can check it our for free. If not, request a trial so you can check it out by clicking here.

5. Security: Your FAP has requirements to meet certain standards. Want to take another look at what we do to help you? Check out our Outsource Provider Statement and information security bulletins for extra peace of mind.

6. If you haven’t already, check out Kiwimonster - compare over 30 KiwiSaver schemes and 300+ funds with ease at www.kiwimonster.co.nz or by clicking on the new icon at the top of the screen when you login to www.quotemonster.co.nz.

7. You’ve read this far. Not many people have. Email Russell to ask about a super special offer (but hurry, the rest of the staff will get in and stop him by the 16th of January – so you must email before then).

Hit us up with any questions you have. And if you have any thoughts on training you would find useful, please let us know here or here.

Final training sessions for 2024 released

You’re invited to join our final training sessions for 2024, our team have had a great time running these sessions, meeting new and experienced advisers and receiving valuable feedback on what we can do to improve.

If you’re interested in joining us, please see our scheduled below:

• Introduction to Quotemonster – Wednesday, 11 December 2024 10:30 am-11:30 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 - Wednesday, 11 December 2024 12:00 pm-1:00 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 – Thursday, 12 December 2024 9:30 am-10:15 am

In this session, Aneel will demonstrate how to use our business risk pricing, research, and SOA functionality.

If you would like to join either of these sessions, please email your request to info@quotemonster.co.nz

Happy Crunching!

Fidelity Life open applications for training programmes

Fidelity Life has opened applications for Advice Masters, Professional Pathways, Practice Manager Masterclass and Career Connect.

Applications are open for Advice Masters, Fidelity Life's intensive training and personalised professional development programme designed for experienced business owners in the financial services industry. The programme encompasses a wide range of topics: M&A; capital raising/funding strategies; high performance for business leaders; leading high performing teams; business strategy design and execution; governance; board craft; director skills and sustainability; business efficiency; technology and AI. The 30 available spots are by invitation only – interested people can talk to their business manager or apply here.

Professional Pathways is Fidelity Life's customisable extended training and development programme designed for motivated advisers, who are dedicated to growth and achieving their business goals. Over a 9-month period the programme will take participants through key topics – developing their business; advice and planning; business sales and growth; business efficiency. The programme consists of skills based workshops, self-paced learning through courses, resources and quizzes, online webinars and interactive online workshops.

Practice Manager Masterclass are targeted at admin staff and will help to improve workflow and productivity.

Career Connect is Fidelity Life's comprehensive education and skills programme designed to develop the next generation of financial advisers. Career Connect equips participants with relevant qualifications, practical skills and knowledge, and industry connections. The 2025 intake will commence in May and will run for 6 months. Applicants will be invited for an interview and the fee for the programme is approximately $1650.

More news:

Financial Advice NZ webinar 'Shaping the future of financial advice' 11 December

Unimed offer customers My Food Bag discounts

Russell Hutchinson reviews a game to teach financial literacy

Sam Friggens appointed general manager climate transition at ASB

Health NZ proposing to lay off 1500 staff in restructure proposal

Fidelity Life announce product enhancements and digital, service, and retention initiatives

At Fidelity Life’s Engage 2024 conference, Fidelity Life announced a range of product enhancements, digital, service and retention initiatives and other news.

• Trauma and Life covers: The entry eligibility for the Inbuilt Child’s Trauma benefit has been reduced from two years to three months, allowing more families to receive early protection. A new, separate benefit specifically for newborns facing trauma has also been introduced. Fidelity Life will also trail a premium discount for defined exclusions on trauma covers in the coming months.

• Condition Definitions: Refinements have been made for clarity, and Terminal Illness has been introduced as a defined condition across the trauma range, including Child's Trauma.

• Bereavement and Child’s Funeral Benefits: The Bereavement Benefit has been increased from $15,000 to $25,000, and the Child’s Funeral Benefit has been increased from $3,500 to $15,000 for children aged 10 to 20.

• Grief Counselling Benefit: A new benefit offering an additional $2,500 to the sum insured.

• Financial Planning Benefit: Easier access by removing thresholds and extending the claim period.

• New Specific Injury Cover: A low-cost solution that pays a lump sum for any of 30 defined injuries.

• Live Chat: Quick and easy access to New Business and Underwriting teams via Adviser Centre.

• New-Look E-App: A modern and intuitive user experience launching in March 2025. The E-App’s latest upgrade goes live later this month, with the new ‘share’ feature enabling advisers to send a link to their customers, allowing customers to complete all or part of the application on their own.

• Dedicated Adviser Service Team: A team committed to servicing all adviser needs.

• Enhanced Retention Tools: Including renewal reminders and automated SMS reminders for customers. There will be additional roles created too.

• Expanding adviser support roles: Fidelity Life are creating new roles, including a National Partnership Manager for mid-sized and corporate firms, as well as an Auckland Business Manager and a Desk-Based Business Manager, to provide more tailored support and drive closer engagement.

• Adviser Edge Programme: New additions to the programme include an invitation-only overseas study tour and new practice manager masterclasses for admin staff.

• Grow Together programme: Coming in early 2025, the invitation-only Grow Together programme will provide dedicated, prioritised support across key areas including new business, underwriting, and retention. Advisers in the programme can expect to benefit from dedicated support resources, exclusive benefits, and access to a wide range of support tools and professional development opportunities.

• Adviser Council: Fidelity Life are inviting advisers to express their interest in joining their Adviser council, which meets quarterly with Fidelity Life’s leadership team to discuss industry updates, share market trends, and provides objective feedback on their initiatives.

• Adviser relationship survey: To better understand market perceptions and Fidelity Life are launching a bi-annual Adviser relationship survey to provide key insights into advisers' experiences and expectations and where Fidelity Life need to improve.

• Group Solutions enhancements: From early 2025, Fidelity Life will be launching a quarterly industry insight, Group IQ; holding an annual onsite Group HQ conference for the top 30 group advisers; and launching a new group solution designed for small businesses, providing enhanced tools and technology for a smoother experience and better outcomes.

Bronwyn Kirwan, Fidelity Life's Chief Commercial Officer, said

"We are thrilled to introduce these new product enhancements and initiatives. They are a testament to our ongoing commitment to providing our advisers and customers with the best possible support and value.

These enhancements deliver more value, greater accessibility, and increased choice."

More info:

Chubb Life change underwriting process for Mortgage Repayment Cover

Partners Life are holding Summer Roadshows in November & December

AIA has launched new Specified Accidental Injury Cover product

AIA survey advisers around the need for terminal illness cover

AIA Vitality members can get up to 40% off Garmin and New Balance

The FSC has recorded a small deficit of almost $46,000 before tax over the 12 months to June 30

ICNZ has welcomed the passage of the Contracts of Insurance Bill

Financial Advice NZ's national adviser conference is on 1 - 3 April 2025

mySolutions webinar 'Why Chubb?' 27 November

Lyka Burr & Vincent Zhang join TAP's compliance and governance team

Unimed offer psychologist led introductory sleep workshops

Ashleigh Buchanan from Southern Cross Health Insurance named Emerging Leader of the Year

Susan Taylor says a fresh solution to liability gaps needed

Upcoming training sessions

We are hosting online training sessions on Researchmonster, Advicemonster and Business Risk/Research on a regular basis, we invite you and your team to join us if you’re interested in learning more about these new features.

Our next sessions will be: 

• Introduction to Quotemonster – Wednesday, 30 October 2024 9:30 am-10:30 am

In this session, we will demonstrate the basic functions of our website, along with some handy tips and tricks along the way.

• Demystifying Advicemonster - Tuesday, 29 October 2024 9:30 am-10:30 am

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 – Tuesday, 29 October 2024 11:30 am-12:15 pm

In this session, Aneel will demonstrate how to use our business risk pricing, research, and SOA functionality.

If you would like to join either of these sessions, please email your request to info@quotemonster.co.nz

Happy Crunching!