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.
Swiss Re on emerging risk insights
Swiss Re’s SONAR 2025: New emerging risk insights report identifies new or changed risks that could impact on insurers today and in the future.
Swiss Re’s SONAR 2025: New emerging risk insights report identifies new or changed risks that could impact on insurers today and in the future. The report highlights a range of emerging risks, with those most relevant to the life and health insurance sector being: declining consumer trust in institutions and the insurance industry; elevated levels of excess mortality; aging populations; extreme heat events; fungi-adaptations; harm caused by plastics; new technologies in healthcare delivery; rising consumption of ultra-processed foods; workforce gaps and skillset shortages. It’s an interesting read - we’ve picked out some things we think are particularly relevant to the New Zealand market.
With aging populations, fewer and later family formations could lead to less events (such as the birth of a child) that typically spur life insurance purchases.
While NZ is not subject to such extremes of temperature as in other parts of the world, a recent study estimated that 500 children under five are hospitalised for heat-related reasons each year in NZ . Currently 14 heat-related deaths occur in Auckland’s over-65 population annually – with climate change increasing the number of days exceeding 25C, we can expect the number of people dying from heat-related deaths to increase correspondingly.
With fungi adapting to warmer temperatures and the overuse of fungicides leading to more multi-drug-resistant fungal pathogens, there could be an increase in fungal infections and limited medical treatment options for those with fungal infections.
The potential health effects from micro- and nano-plastics and their additives are still being studied, but there is growing research on the negative impacts of plastics on human health.
Swiss Re highlight that innovations like GLP-1 weight-loss medications and the increasing uptake of these drugs should help reduce mortality in the future. Semaglutide (Wegovy/Ozempic) was approved for weight-loss use in New Zealand by Medsafe last month, though it is not Pharmac-funded.
The increasing availability and variety of AI and virtual health services should lead to healthier populations over time, by enabling early detection and preventative interventions. Personalised health monitoring and nudges towards healthier behaviour (a la AIA’s vitality product) will potentially reduce claim frequencies and lead to longer healthspans. Conversely, the digitalisation of medical records and other previously private health information, comes with greater data security and privacy risks.
Research has shown associations between high consumption of ultra-processed foods and elevated health risks, including obesity, type-2 diabetes, depression, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
An aging workforce will contribute to labour and skillset shortages in the healthcare field, which could lead to delays in medical treatment, under-diagnosis and sub-standard levels of care – leading to an increase in morbidity and mortality. Healthcare worker shortages have been in the news regularly in NZ and The Royal NZ College of General Practitioner’s 2022 workforce survey found 64% of specialist GP’s were intending to retire by 2032.
More news:
Fidelity Life roll out this year’s annual product re-accreditation
Financial Advice NZ community of Practice: Central District 17 July
Scheme of Arrangement between Foundation Life and policyholders approved
Russell Hutchinson writes of how insurers could improve awareness
Australian advisers change fee structure, higher revenue and profit
nib NZ completes company amalgamation
nib NZ has successfully amalgamated its two operating entities into a single company, nib nz limited.
nib NZ has successfully amalgamated its two operating entities, nib nz limited and nib nz insurance limited, into a single company, now operating as nib nz limited.
nib NZ Chief Executive Officer Rob Hennin said
“By bringing our health, life and living insurance businesses together, we’re making it easier for members to engage with us and access the support they need. Importantly, this change does not affect members’ existing insurance cover, benefits or terms and conditions. For most, the only visible difference will be the name of the insurer on policy documents, renewal certificates and bank statements.
More news:
mySolutions webinar 'Kevin Smee- presents a Business Case Study' 9 July
FSC announce Dress of Success as charity partner for FSC25 Conference: Transforming for Tomorrow
Financial Advice NZ 'Professional Ethics Workshop' 31 July
Jon-Paul Hale believes AI doesn't have the nuance required for individual situations
Financial hardship withdrawals from KiwiSaver reach record highs
New Zealanders continue to have a low uptake of personal insurance
New Zealander’s low uptake of insurance is in the news again, with Willie Moala listing some of the reasons why more New Zealanders don’t have personal insurance.
New Zealander’s low uptake of insurance is in the news again, with Advice First’s Willie Moala listing some of the reasons why more New Zealanders don’t have personal insurance. Moala considers the kiwi ‘she’ll be right’ attitude, a distrust of insurance companies, price, and the mistaken belief that ACC will cover people in more instances than it actually does, all lead to people failing to get adequate insurance cover.
Last year the Financial Services Council’s Money & You: Managing Risk Through Challenging Times research found that only 41% of respondents had life insurance, 39% had health/medical insurance, 23% had trauma/critical illness insurance and18% had total and permanent disability insurance.
With the Government’s announcement that financial education will be embedded in the curriculum for Year 1 – 10 students, starting from next year, we can only hope this will help change attitudes around the importance of insurance, and in the longer-term help improve NZ’s underinvestment in insurance.
More news:
Law firm has concerns about impending changes to the Financial Markets Conduct Act
Study finds NZ banks typically outperformed insurers in the climate-related disclosure regime
ASB appoint Frank Jasper as chief investment officer
Munich Re assess the potential of anti-obesity medications to reverse upwards obesity trends and improve health outcomes
With obesity expected to continue to trend upwards worldwide, Munich Re’s Life Science Report 2025 looks the impact of anti-obesity medications on mortality and morbidity.
Munich Re’s Life Science Report 2025 looks at obesity and the impact of anti-obesity medications on mortality and morbidity. Obesity is expected to continue to trend upward worldwide, with projections that more than half of the global population will be overweight or obese by 2035. Obesity is associated with a range of adverse health risks, and corresponding higher mortality and morbidity.
In the past decade, a range of injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists drugs (such as Ozempic or Wegovy), initially approved for type 2 diabetes mellitus management, have been shown to be effective in weight loss and approved for use to manage obesity. Given their popularity (and profitability), many more medications in this class are being researched and aim to be bought to market, including an oral version and a longer-acting monthly injectable. If these weight-loss drugs can stop or reverse increasing obesity rates, the ramifications to mortality and morbidity could be huge, with corresponding impacts on life, disability and critical illness insurance products.
Medical literature continues to highlight added benefits the new generation of weight loss drugs may have on many other medical conditions, from cardiovascular disease to obstructive sleep apnoea and certain neurological diseases.
Key to weight loss effectiveness is anti-obesity medications being taken in conjunction with lifestyle counselling about nutrition and exercise. Products like AIA’s Vitality programme could be key to help steer users of these medications towards better health outcomes.
Munich Re analyse a hypothetical US scenario to quantify the potential impact these medications could have on insurance portfolios. They make several assumptions, and choose a long-term horizon. Their final projection is a 21% mortality reduction for non-severely obese individuals, and a 40% morality reduction for severely obese individuals over the next 10 – 20 years. Munich Re highlight that insurers need dedicated, knowledgeable medical teams to address these findings with regards to potential insurance impacts.
More news:
Katie Wesney excited by opportunities AI offers advisers
Financial Advice NZ are looking for an Independent Director
Financial Advice NZ webinar 'New Zealand Long Term Equity Returns And Their Determinants' 30 July
Westpac have partnered with local open banking intermediary Akahu
New CEO of nib announced
Skye Daniels has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer at nib New Zealand, effective from 4 August 2025.
Skye Daniels has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer at nib New Zealand, effective from 4 August 2025.
Skye Daniels
Daniels was formerly the Chief Financial Officer at Southern Cross Health Society and the Executive Sponsor for the Southern Cross life insurance strategy, Māori strategy, Te Ao Māori Rōpū and the Pacific languages collective.
nib Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ed Close said
“We look forward to Skye joining nib NZ and leading our NZ team. Skye has strong commercial, strategic and financial service skills, and brings to nib knowledge of the local healthcare market, and extensive experience across a broad range of New Zealand industries.”
More news:
New Head of Strategic Accounts at AIA
AIA has appointed Jonathan Beale as Head of Strategic Accounts, a newly established role within its Distribution leadership team.
AIA has appointed Jonathan Beale as Head of Strategic Accounts, a newly established role within its Distribution leadership team. Beale will lead the Strategic Accounts channel, driving innovation, growth and alignment with AIA’s broader distribution strategy.
Angela Busby, AIA NZ Chief Distribution Officer, said
“Jonathan’s appointment reflects our commitment to advisers and to the growth and value of our strategic partnerships. I’m confident that Jonathan’s proven track record and innovative mindset will make him a fantastic addition to the team.”
Jonathan Beale, Head of Strategic Accounts
FSC Life and Health Insurance Special Interest Group Networking Event and launch of Money and You research
The FSC will be exploring trends and insights from their latest Money and You research report ‘'Protecting Possessions, Not People' at the upcoming Life and Health Insurance Special Interest Group Networking Event in July.
The Financial Services Council (FSC) will be exploring trends and insights from their latest Money and You research report ‘'Protecting Possessions, Not People' at the upcoming Life and Health Insurance Special Interest Group Networking Event in July. The event is open to FSC members in the Life and Health insurance community and will feature:
The value of Fringe Benefit Tax exemptions for health insurers with insights from the NZIER investigation, presented by Tony Reid from Southern Cross.
Genetic testing - examples of the impacts of banning the use of genetic testing in underwriting, presented by Stephen Potter from AIA New Zealand.
Outlining good practice for informing future MBIE consultations with Kirk Hope, CEO of the Financial Services Council.
Money and You: Protecting Possessions, Not People Research Launch - a taster of the FSC’s newest research with FSC Research Committee Chair, Mark Banicevich and a small panel discussion on the attitudes of New Zealanders and insurance.
The event will run from 10:30am – 12:30pm on 15 July at Russell McVeagh, Level 30, Vero Centre, 48 Shortland Street, Auckland Central, or people can join online, you can register here.
Asteron Life announce enhancements across Personal and Business Insurance
Asteron Life has announced a suite of enhancements across their Personal and Business Insurance products.
Asteron Life has announced a suite of enhancements across their Personal and Business Insurance products. All enhancements apply to in-force policies issued after August 2004 and will apply to claimable events from 5 June 2025.
Some of the key enhancements include:
New support benefits. An example is the new Family Member Accommodation & Transport Benefit which offers up to $300/day for accommodation and $2,500 in travel expenses reimbursed to support a family member during treatment.
Life Cover with accelerated Trauma Recovery Cover conversion benefit
Updated definition for major organ transplant, including widening the scope of eligible procedures.
Updated definition for diabetes, including reducing the threshold for claims from two complications to one.
New Rehabilitation and retraining Benefit for Business Insurance customers - increased support of return-to-work efforts by reimbursing rehabilitation and retraining costs.
Increased flexibility to increase cover in line with life or business changes that happen to customers.
More news:
FSC's Empower & Elevate Women in Finance Leadership series, Session 3: Male Allyship is on 22 July
The FMA has said the CoFI regime “is essential” for it
Russell Hutchinson writes of Australians longevity and some of the reasons for it
mySolutions webinar 'Booster - How to give KiwiSaver advice efficiently' is on 11 June
Kiwibank won't charge third parties for standard API requests
Gallagher named Official Insurance Broker for the All Blacks, Black Ferns
NZ consumer confidence dropped in May, with the ANZ-Roy Morgan index falling 5.3 points
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
APRA release March quarter insurance stats; FMA release AML/CFT guidance for Financial Institutions on risk ratings for new customers; ACC Board Chair resigns; APRA and ASIC update on life companies progress; new Assistant Governor Enterprise Services at RBNZ.
29 May 2025 - APRA has released its suite of quarterly industry aggregate insurance statistical publications for the March 2025 quarter. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-releases-quarterly-insurance-statistics-for-march-2025
30 May 2025 - The FMA has released AML/CFT guidance for Financial Institutions on risk ratings for new customers. https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/guidance-library/aml-cft-guidance-for-financial-institutions/
30 May 2025 - ACC Minister Scott Simpson has accepted the resignation of ACC Board Chair Dr Tracey Batten. https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/acc-minister-accepts-board-chair%E2%80%99s-resignation
5 Jun 2025 - APRA and ASIC have released an update on the progress life companies (life insurers and friendly societies) have made in addressing issues related to premium increases, product design, and disclosure and marketing materials. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/asic-and-apra-provide-update-on-review-of-life-insurance-premium-practices
5 Jun 2025 - Kate Le Quesne has been appointed to the new role of Assistant Governor Enterprise Services at RBNZ. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/06/new-appointment-to-the-rbnz-executive-leadership-team
Munich Re look at improving Cancer outcomes
As part of Munich Re’s Life Science Report 2025, they have investigated the projected impact of advances in cancer treatment and research. These advances will change how cancers are defined, prevented, diagnosed and treated and are expected to significantly improve cancer mortality.
As part of Munich Re’s Life Science Report 2025, they have investigated the projected impact of advances in cancer treatment and research. These advances will change how cancers are defined, prevented, diagnosed and treated and are expected to significantly improve cancer mortality.
Cancer is the leading cause of death among policyholders for most insurers worldwide, as such it demands investigation. Much progress has been made in the past couple of decades to improve cancer mortality, through both reducing cancer risk factors (such as the dramatic downturn in tobacco use) and better diagnosis and treatment. Mortality improvement trends are expected to accelerate as our understanding of cancer genetics are combined with artificial intelligence (AI).
AI will be used to both improve cancer risk prevention and diagnostics. AI analysis of an individual’s personal information such as health data, family history, genetic and epigenetic profiles, microbiome, living environment and exposure history, sometimes called a statistical biopsy, will give a better understanding of risk for a wide range of cancers. This could potentially allow for a personalised approach to risks, behaviours, and identification of which strategies may be most effective in addressing these factors.
Being able to diagnose cancer more accurately, and at earlier stages, should improve cancer mortality. AI has already led to refinements in imaging studies, and in blood, urine and tissue samples. AI can also be used to analyse the tumour’s genetic pattern, other associated biomarkers and an individual’s risk profile to allow for better prognosis and management approach. AI’s ability to recognise patters not apparent to humans will help with diagnostic tools such as imaging studies, pathologic specimen interpretation and photograph analysis.
More effective screening approaches will lead to earlier cancer diagnosis and improved cancer mortality. An important technology, ‘liquid biopsy’, is currently used to analyse fluids to look for markers indicating the presence of a cancer, typically used to detect residual cancer after treatment or recurrence. If a liquid biopsy test that can screen for multiple cancers in asymptomatic individuals could be brought to market at a price point where it is accessible to the masses, it would be a game changer. Though it would also raise concerns about over-diagnosis and surveillance bias, as some identified cancers may never post a significant mortality risk.
The combination of AI and genomic analysis of tumour cells and immune cells has led to the development of targeted treatments that exploit specific genetic patterns. These treatments are more precise and safer than chemotherapy, with the four key categories of therapies emerging being targeted monoclonal antibodies, immune checkpoint inhibitors, cancer vaccines and adoptive cell immunotherapy.
With potential changes in how cancers are classified, product definitions will need to be modified. Instead of being classified based on their tissue of origin, it’s expected new cancer tests will be able to categorise cancers based on their underlying genetic causes – potentially leading to thousands of cancer subtypes.
Where previously terminal cancers become able to be managed and instead turn into chronic disease, there may be implications for living benefits products. Reduced mortality should be favourable for life insurances businesses, though the costs of more sophisticated, individualised cancer treatments may have a negative cost impact on health insurance businesses. Munich Re predict that advances in diagnosis and changes in diagnostic criteria are going to increase cancer incidence rates in the short term, but may decrease critical illness rates if major advances in cancer prevention are realised.
AI will also have implications for underwriting. AI-based diagnosis is likely to be more accurate and predictive than current methods, with fewer false positive and false negative results, enabling risk to be better assessed. Better monitoring post-cancer treatment will mean recurrence risk can be more accurately assessed too.
More news:
Southern Cross Health Trust to fund salaries of nursing positions at City Missions
Kiwi advisers believe AI could help improve advice delivery
Pharmac to fund or widen access to three treatments, including for skin cancer, from 1 June 2025