AM Best reaffirms Partners Life ratings

AM Best has reaffirmed the financial strength rating of A (Excellent) and the long-term issuer credit rating of “a” (Excellent) for Partners Life Limited, with the outlook for both remaining stable. AM Best categorises Partners Life’s balance sheet position as very strong.

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TAP has launched a new AI Document Reader

Financial Advice NZ’s National Adviser Conference introduces sessions for new advisers

FSC Empower Women Networking Events 6 & 11 March

The Adviser Platform launch Insider Insights video series

68% of Australians are worried about paying for life insurance

Survey finds almost all diversified KiwiSaver funds achieved positive returns in the December quarter

Update to New Zealand Retirement Expenditure Guidelines released

David Seymour calls for option for kiwis to opt out of public health system in exchange for private insurance funding

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.”

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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.

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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

Antimicrobial resistance poses major global health threat

The World Health Organisation (WHO) categorises antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the top global public health threats. Antimicrobials (that is antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics) being overprescribed and misused is contributing to the development of drug-resistant pathogens. AMR happens over time as pathogens (including bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites) mutate – those resistant to the antimicrobials they were previously susceptible to survive, multiply and spread. The more microbes are exposed to pharmaceuticals, the more likely they are to adapt and develop resistance. This happens in all areas and at all income levels and has global ramifications. Infections become harder to treat, surgeries become riskier and more people die. Modern medicines that were once able to quickly and effectively treat a raft of ailments from tuberculosis to urinary tract infections become progressively more ineffective. In 2019, AMR was estimated to be directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths and a contributing factor in 4.95 million deaths.

Paul Murray, CEO Life & Health Reinsurance at Swiss Re, has written about this ‘silent pandemic’. He calls out the overprescription of antibiotics during the other pandemic, with a reported 75% of patients hospitalised for Covid-19 being treated with antibiotics despite only 8% having bacterial co-infections. He highlights that the impacts are unequally distributed, with those in more vulnerable regions being disproportionally affected, with death rates in sub-Saharan Africa double those of developed countries. Climate change and its accompanying extreme weather, climate-driven migration and warfare are all  vectors expected to intensify exposure to drug-resistant pathogens.

In addition to health impacts, AMR is increasingly causing significant financial impacts. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has calculated antibiotic resistance can add as much as $1,400 to hospital bills for patients with bacterial infections. When standard treatments regiments for infections don’t work any longer, complex, often costly, treatment regimens need to be explored. Last resort antibiotics tend to be particularly expensive.

If you want to read more, Swiss Re has published ‘Antimicrobial resistance: a silent threat to our future’, available here.

Government announces reforms to strengthen NZ’s capital markets

The Government has announced a package of reforms to help ensure New Zealand’s capital markets are working to support a productive economy. The Government is making it easier for businesses to raise money from the public by making it voluntary to provide forward-looking financial information as part of an Initial Public Offering of shares. These changes are expected to be in place by May 2025.

The Government has also opened consultation on two proposals: enabling KiwiSaver investment in private assets; and potential adjustments to the climate-related disclosures regime. Consultation closes 14 February 2025.

The Financial Services Council (FSC) has expressed strong support for enabling KiwiSaver funds to invest in unlisted assets. FSC CEO Kirk Hope said,

“By enabling KiwiSaver investments in unlisted assets, such as infrastructure projects and innovative New Zealand businesses, we can unlock substantial capital for domestic growth.”

“This reform will not only provide Kiwi businesses with much-needed capital to innovate and expand but the opportunity of greater diversification for KiwiSaver.”

Some financial advisers warn that regulators need to get on board with the proposals, however. At a recent event we held in conjunction with the Financial Services Council, advisers asked questions about whether the Financial Markets Authority would be supportive of fund managers choosing to invest more in private assets and infrastructure projects which tend to be illiquid in nature. We think that these are good questions, and the answers will be highly sensitive to the context in each fund: for example, the scale of the investments relative to the total fund size and the liquidity of other assets, and the ages, balances, and probable withdrawal patterns of investing members.

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Fidelity Life discounts on certain exclusions for Trauma covers are live

AIA release updated Working with AIA Guide

AIA webinar 'Webinar - Guide to Medical Conditions' 28 February

More locations offering AIA Vitality Fitness Assessments & Health Checks

Steve Wright dissects a recent FSCL complaint

nib promotion offers $300 woolworths vouchers to eligible applicants

Advice Link has appointed of a new general manager Sébastien Pierre

Tony Vidler writes of the importance of soft skills

Government announces hikes to ACC levies

Chapter Zero discusses experiences from year one of New Zealand's mandatory climate reporting

Significant increase in cyber incidents across New Zealand in Q3 2024

Resolution Life purchased by Nippon Life

Nippon Life Insurance Company, a Japan-based insurer, is set to acquire full ownership of Resolution Life Australasia and the remaining 20% stake in MLC Life Insurance currently held by National Australia Bank.

MLC Life Insurance and Resolution Life Australasia will merge under a new brand, Acenda. The merger is expected to be finalised in the second half of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals. MLC Life Insurance, will begin the transition to the Acenda brand from December 2024, targeting late 2025 to complete the transition.  Once the merger is complete, Resolution Life Australasia will move to the Acenda brand in Australia, with the intention to transition the Resolution New Zealand business to the Acenda brand ‘in due course’.

Resolution Life Australasia is currently in the process of acquiring Asteron Life, Suncorp Group’s New Zealand life insurance business, which will operate as a standalone entity post-acquisition.

Tim Tez, CEO of Resolution Life Australasia, said

“New Zealand remains an important market for both Resolution Life Australasia and Nippon Life. [The] announcement will not impact our focus on completing the acquisition of Asteron Life and our support of the business’ current strategic growth agenda.”

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Fidelity Life accepted 93% of all new claims in FY24

Westpac has unveiled its GDP nowcasting model

Semi-Finalists for the Kiwibank 2025 New Zealander of the Year Awards announced

Jon-Paul Hale dissects a recent FSCL complaint

Independent review of ACC announced because of concerns about declining rehabilitation rates and increasing costs

FSC’s FAP round table breakfast with the FMA

Quality Product Research are sponsors of the Financial Services Council’s (FSC's) FAP round table breakfast with the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) last month. Several of our team were there, including Aneel Ravji, AdviceTech Lead, Kelly Pulham, National Partnerships Lead, and Russell Hutchinson, Research Director.

The FMA covered how the new regime is working, approaches to enforcement and other initiatives. Attendees were taken through the background and given an overview of the Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) regime.  Other topics included observations on remediations, fair conduct programmes and an overview of the CoFI intermediated distribution guide. Russell Hutchinson facilitated a lively Q&A session.

Here's a few snaps from the day. We highly recommend you attend the FSC round tables if you get the chance, they always make for an interesting and engaging start to the day.

Pictured, from the Financial Markets Authority, from left to right: Michael Hewes, Director, Deposit Taking, Insurance and Advice; Anna Jared, Technical Specialist – Deposit Taking, Insurance & Advice; Kyla Bottriell, Senior Adviser, External Relations; and Romil Ghelani, Head of Financial Advice

Russell Hutchinson, Director at Quality Product Research Ltd, facilitates a Q&A session.

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ACC appoint Michael Frampton as Deputy Chief Executive for Service Delivery

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Phase One of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Covid-19 Response has been released

The FSC has released its latest Money & You research

The Financial Services Council (FSC) has released their latest research report, Money & You: Managing Risk Through Challenging Times, which explores the attitudes of New Zealanders towards risk management. Some of the key findings are below.

• Only 41% of respondents had life insurance, 39% had health/medical insurance, 23% had trauma/critical illness insurance, 18% had total and permanent disability insurance.

• For the 12 months to 30 September 2024, FSC industry data showed 1,521,740 health insurance policies and 4,145,287 life insurance products (one person may have more than one policy e.g. life insurance, income protection insurance and total and permanent disability insurance policies).

• The majority (66%) who have life and health insurance consider it value for money.

• The biggest drivers of taking out life and health insurance policies are peace of mind and worry about financial consequences.

• The most common reason given for not having life and health insurance was that insurance is too expensive (74%), followed by being healthy and not seeing the need for it (14%), and not trusting insurance companies (13%).

• Cost of living meaning people can no longer afford insurance was the top reason given for no longer having insurance across life, trauma or critical illness, income protection, total and permanent disability and health/medical.

• For those without insurance, 64% would consider taking out an insurance policy if they had more money, 25% would take out an insurance policy if their health started declining and 18% would take out an insurance policy if they started a family. There is a gap in understanding of how insurance works, with only 3% of those who would consider taking out an insurance policy if their health started declining knew that they might not be able to get cover for certain health issues or they might face higher premiums because of them.

• The majority of health (61%) and life (77%) insurance policies are paid by individuals, with the remainder being partially or fully subsidised by employers.

• When it comes to health/medical insurance or life insurance being provided by employers, 54% really want this and a further 35% might possibly want this.

• 45% of respondents have a poor understanding of the relationship between risk and return.

2,002 online survey responses were collected during March 2024 and were representative of the NZ consumer population in terms of age, gender and income.

It is worth noting that as a low engagement product, life and health insurance is something that respondents find hard to recall accurately. That leads to interesting results - this survey contains a probable over-estimate of the number of people who own health insurance, and a probable under-estimate of the number of people who hold life insurance. But the recalled level of cover is, in itself, interesting. For example, if you think you do not have life, trauma, or income insurance, but in fact you do, you or your estate may fail to claim when you may be eligible to do so.

Readers interested in contrasting these survey results with data on the eligible population should contact us.

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Partners Life has decided to stop using its Customer Outcome Matrix

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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.

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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

Southern Cross creates new role to oversee hospital network

Southern Cross Healthcare has announced Roger Cronin as the new chief operating officer responsible for the organisation’s 10 wholly owned hospitals. The new role’s focus is on overseeing the operational performance of the hospitals and acting as a strategic link between the hospitals and the national support office.

Cronin was recently CEO of PresMed Australia, a private healthcare provider specialising in surgical day-stay procedures for ophthalmology and ENT patients. Cronin has held a variety of leadership roles in major public hospitals and has worked with the New South Wales Ministry of Health. Cronin will commence his new role in late November.

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Westpac campaign highlights dangers of impulse buying and debt accumulation

mySolutions webinar 'Panel Discussion' 4 December

The IFSO Scheme welcomes changes introduced by the Contracts of Insurance Act 2024

Government announces funding for 50 new senior doctors, plus nurses and other health professionals

The RBNZ has cut the Official Cash Rate, taking it from 4.75% to 4.25%