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

AIA appoints new Chief Distribution Officer and new Chief Customer Officer

AIA has announced two executive appointments, with Angela Busby being appointed Chief Distribution Officer and Maddie Sherlock being appointed Chief Customer Officer.

Busby was previously AIA NZ’s Chief Customer Officer and Chief Strategy Officer and has held a variety of other senior roles across Sovereign, ASB Securities and Aegis. Her new role will see her responsible for business development including IFA and Group Distribution, Aligned Advice and AIA NZ’s ASB Partnership, as well as Distribution Performance and Supervision.

Angela Busby, Chief Distribution Officer

Sherlock has been with AIA since 2015 and was most recently AIA NZ’s Head of Customer Strategic Delivery. In her new role, Sherlock will oversee all the functions of Customer operations including the management of customers, underwriting, claims, rehabilitation, and customer experience.

Maddie Sherlock, Chief Customer Officer

Sharron Botica, former AIA NZ Chief Partnership Distribution Officer, has recently resigned her role at AIA to pursue new career opportunities.

More news:

Fidelity Life E-App updates how they capture Direct Debit details

FSCL has commenced its third independent review

A new life insurance company is planning to launch later this year

Findings from FSC member satisfaction survey released

Unimed Breakfast Series event on the Power of Movement 11 February

Rohaan Mohanty has joined Apex Advice as Adviser Manager - Investments

Asteron Life announce extended sponsorship of the Gut Foundation

Tony Vidler writes of the importance of influencers, advocates and fans

Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector

23 Dec 2024 - Westpac admitted to misleading customers entitled to advertised discounts as well as overcharging some of its business customers, in civil proceedings brought by the FMA at the High Court in Auckland. Westpac’s breaches of the fair dealing provisions under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMCA) affected a total of 24,621 customers and resulted in $6.35m in overcharges. https://www.fma.govt.nz/news/all-releases/media-releases/westpac-admits-to-misleading-representations/

23 Dec 2024 - The Privacy Commissioner has announced his intention to issue a Biometric Processing Privacy Code of Practice and is calling for submissions on the draft Code. https://privacy.org.nz/news/consultations/

29 Jan 2025 - RBNZ publish Chief Economist Paul Conway's speech which discussed New Zealand’s longer-term ‘potential output’ and its significance for monetary policy. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/01/beyond-the-cycle

29 Jan 2025 - Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Hon Andrew Bayly December 2024 diary released with the following potential financial services sector related meetings noted:

• 5 Dec 2024 – ZOOM: REVOLUT + UK High Commision (Jeannie Lum + Officials)

• 6 Dec 2024 – MEET: Fintech Roundtable (invited attendees)

• 6 Dec 2024 – MEET: Westpac (Catherine McGrath)

• 6 Dec 2024 – SPEAK: Confirmation of Payee Launch (Duncan Robertson and guests)

• 10 Dec 2024 – MEET: Resolution Life (Tim Tez & Toda Kazuhide)

• 16 Dec 2024 – MEET: Commerce Commission (Hon Stephen Jones and Commerce Commission Officials)

• 16 Dec 2024 – MEET: FMA (Hon Stephen Jones, Craig Stobo, Samantha Barras)

• 18 Dec 2024 – MEET: Retirement commissioner (Jane Wrightson)

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2025-01/Proactive%20Diary%20Release%20Dec%2024%27%20Hon%20Andrew%20Bayly.pdf

Introduction to Kiwimonster on Wednesday, 29 January

Kiwimonster free service now available to Quotemonster users.

Check out free KiwiSaver scheme and fund data comparisons at  www.kiwimonster.co.nz - if you already have a quotemonster login then you can get immediate access. Explore the free comparison tools and let us know how to keep improving the reporting. Soon KiwiSaver research will be available bringing comparisons in categories such as service, support, and facilities research to financial advisers to support your advice process.

If you’re interested in learning more about Kiwimonster, we have an in-dept training session scheduled on Wednesday, 29 January 2025 12:00 pm-12:20 pm, please email us on info@quotemonster.co.nz if you are interested in joining us.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Accessing our Terms of Use and Privacy policies

If you have any questions about our terms of use or privacy policies, find out how to access them here.

How much do you need to save for retirement?

There are many differences in opinion in how much people need to save. Here is a run through some excellent current resources:

This article calculates that if you want a ‘choices’ lifestyle (income of $60,000 - $87,000 a year) you’ll need to have between $890,000 and $1,360,000 saved depending on if you are a single person or a couple. If you want a well-off lifestyle (income of $100,000) a year, you’ll need to have saved somewhere between $1,929,000 and $2,640,000.

Some advisers like to exclude ‘lifestyle assets’ such as a mortgage-free home, caravan and boat from calculations, basing retirement calculations solely on cash and liquid investments. Other people may have downsizing to a smaller home to release some equity as a key part of their retirement strategy.

Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson advocates for people to start saving for their retirement as early as possible

“How much you need to save will depend on your own circumstances, but the sooner you start, the better the position you’ll be in when you stop working.”

Mercer Financial Advice launched a retirement income simulator late this year. If you haven’t already checked it out, we recommend you do. This is quite a comprehensive calculator that lets you estimate your projected retirement savings and how long it may last in retirement. What I particularly like about this tool is it lets you factor in the impact of a career break or move to part-time work, something a lot of parents decide to do at some point. It shows you the results in today’s dollars (having deflated the projected dollar amounts based on the rate of wage inflation of 3.2%).

Sorted also have their retirement calculator you can check out. Simply add your current age, the age you’d like to retire, whether you’re planning on your own or with a partner (and their current and retirement ages), whether you want to live in a main centre or the regions, whether you want a no frills, choices or custom weekly allowance, plus your expected KiwiSaver balances at retirement and any other savings, investments, inheritances, sales of a business or other income. You can also choose to include or exclude NZ Super, depending on whether you think it will still be around by the time you retire.

A useful guide for planning how to spend your savings nest egg when it comes time to retire is The New Zealand Society of Actuaries’ Drawdown Rules of Thumb. It sets out different strategies you may like to use depending on your priorities and risk level, whether you intend to leave an inheritance or whether you want to front-load your spending. They have also published Spending patterns through retirement: implications for retirement planning and drawdown which urges those planning for or managing income in retirement to consider how spending patterns can be expected to change throughout the duration of retirement. Their analysis suggests a typical scenario for New Zealand retirees is that real spending reduces by around 2% a year, which would significantly reduce the amount needed to be saved compared to commonly used benchmarks that assume spending stays level in real terms. Though it’s important to note that the data doesn’t show whether the lower spending is because people become less active during retirement and choose not to do things or become constrained by their resources and must give up such options.

All these reports could be used to build a sound basis for the KiwiSaver and wider Superannuation planning services you may offer.

As always, when it comes to something as important and complex as your retirement savings, if you are reading this and you are not a financial adviser, we encourage you to speak to an adviser about your retirement – and while you are at it, your life and health insurance too.

But you probably are a financial adviser, in which case – why not check out Kiwimonster? Our new, free, data service for advisers to help support your KiwiSaver advice process. You can find it at www.kiwimonster.co.nz

Research deep dive session - Thursday 24 January at 11am

This session is not for everyone! We have our research team live most months. In this session we cover: FAQs, legacy product research, rural IP rating, and roadmap. It is usually a very small group, so if you have any other questions you want to ask the research team, this is a great opportunity. If you would like to join us, please drop us a line to kim.oliver@qpresearch.co.nz

Menopause in the news

Menopause, where oestrogen levels drop and menstruation stops, has been in the news a lot recently. While people are starting to talk about it more, there is still a lack of understanding and even misdiagnosis of symptoms. One survey found a third of respondents waited at least three years for their menopausal symptoms to be correctly diagnosed, and a further 18 per cent visited their doctor six times before they received the help they needed.

While hot flushes may be the symptom most people first think of, brain fog has been found to be more common. Other symptoms can include night sweats, mood swings, joint pain, low energy, memory problems, sleep problems, low mood, low libido, irritability, nervousness, headaches and more.

Dr Lisa Mosconi says “Menopause changes the brain’s structure, functionality, and even its connectivity in fairly unique ways.” Dr Louise Newson even suggests it should be reframed as a neurological condition instead of a gynaecological one.

So what can be done to help improve menopausal symptoms? Eat a mediterranean-style diet filled with whole foods, avoid alcohol, get regular physical exercise, challenge your brain (puzzles, learning a new language or playing a musical instrument are all good), get quality sleep, try stress management techniques such as yoga and mindfulness, discuss hormonal and non-hormonal options with your doctor.

Some workplaces have started to hold workshops to encourage dialogue about menopause, or implement menopause policies. AIA NZ has produced a Menopause toolkit, to help employees understand and support people going through menopause.

More information can be found at The Australasian Menopause Society website.

Researchmonster Demo

Watch our video that takes you through how to use Researchmonster, including some of the time saving enhancements we’ve added to make it even easier to use.

The future of NZ Superannuation

Interest.co.nz ran a very interesting series of articles by Andrew Coleman around NZ’s superannuation system. He takes readers through the history of NZ super, how it differs from most overseas pension schemes, different ways schemes can be taxed and more. In particular, I though his bathtub metaphor was an excellent illustration of the difference between pay-as-you-go and save-as-you-go schemes.

Coleman advocates for a revamp of NZ’s superannuations scheme, including a compulsory savings scheme he dubs KiwiSaver 2.1. He makes the point that NZ super was designed so long ago it may not be fit for purpose for kiwis today and going forward into the future. He argues that New Zealanders under the age of 45 (those who were too young to vote in the 1997 referendum) should consider a fundamental restructure of the NZ government’s retirement income scheme.

All in all, a very interesting, easy-to-understand read – check it out if you haven’t already. Andrew Coleman joins The NZ Tax Podcast to talk more about KiwiSaver 2.1 here, if you prefer to listen.

Retirement, tax and preferences: Understanding New Zealand’s most intractable problem | interest.co.nz

A history of New Zealand’s retirement policy | interest.co.nz

Could NZ change from pay-as-you-go funded pensions to save-as-you-go funded pensions? | interest.co.nz

How much tax you pay versus what to expect to receive in pensions, and why when you were born matters | interest.co.nz

Making the transition from PAYGO to SAYGO | interest.co.nz

Death, taxes, and wealth inequality | interest.co.nz

New Zealand Superannuation, behavioural economics, and investment choices | interest.co.nz

New Zealand’s unusual tax system | interest.co.nz

New Zealand’s odd taxation of retirement savings is bad for the country | interest.co.nz

Taxes and the housing market | interest.co.nz

Survey evidence on what New Zealanders want from retirement policy | interest.co.nz

KiwiSaver 2.1: why compulsory savings would be great for young New Zealanders | interest.co.nz

New Zealand's retirement income policy time warp | interest.co.nz