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Asteron Life updates personal and business insurance products
Asteron Life has unveiled a raft of updates to their personal and business insurance products.
Asteron Life has unveiled a raft of updates to their personal and business insurance products.
The changes include clarification of existing policy terms to ensure greater transparency and ease of understanding and a range of new and enhanced benefits.
The new benefits and enhancements include:
Repatriation benefit on personal and business life cover
Advancement benefit for terminal conditions on personal life cover
Shortened waiting periods for income protection and mortgage and living cover
Cover conversion benefit on business disability cover and farmers disability cover
Enhancements to the Funeral benefits on life cover, kids cover and business expenses
Enhancements to two definitions for trauma recovery and 11 definitions for major trauma
The requirement for 14 days total disability as part of the waiting period has been removed from business disability cover, farmers disability cover and business expenses cover
Introduction of a premium and cover suspension to the optional needlestick benefit
Removal of some restrictions from various benefits such as specific injury support – lump sum and monthly, trauma reinstatement option and the crisis benefit within the optional immediate assist package
Claire Sutton, Executive Manager Life Portfolio and New Business at Asteron Life said
“It's key that our range of covers continue to add value for our customers, policies and terms are easy to understand, and insurance remains as affordable and accessible as possible. We know that these things really matter for our customers and advisers. We also worked hard to ensure that these improvements have not increased customer premiums, given we know how tough it is for many New Zealanders right now.”
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Fidelity Life report digs into the role of financial advice in New Zealand
Fidelity Life’s ‘Advice for good: Rethinking New Zealand’s relationship with financial advice’ report highlights some worrying findings in New Zealander’s feelings towards their financial situation.
Fidelity Life’s ‘Advice for good: Rethinking New Zealand’s relationship with financial advice’ report highlights some worrying findings in New Zealander’s feelings towards their financial situation. The report found that:
28% of kiwis feel their financial situation is out of their control.
47% of kiwis often or always worry about money, and 53% of under-35s saying they always worry about money.
The majority of New Zealanders don’t feel confident making financial decisions until after age 55 – once this age is reached 63% feel confident in their money decisions.
Only 28% of women feel confident about their financial outlook, compared to 44% of men.
While 88% of kiwis agree financial advisers are the most trustworthy source of financial information, only 22% have consulted one – though 36% have sought help from family.
Many New Zealanders don’t know where to get trusted financial advice, with 41% of those under-35 unable to say where to find good advice.
There are different emotions towards money depending on ethnicity, with 30% of Māori and 38% of Middle Eastern, Latin American and African (MELAA) respondents said their financial situation made them feel overwhelmed. Meanwhile, 27% of Pacific Islanders were ashamed, and 58% viewed their financial situation negatively overall. 74% of Pacific Islanders, 59% of Asians and 56% of Māori respondents feel unconfident or unsure making financial decisions.
There was some good news about New Zealanders’ finances too.
88% of New Zealanders feel like they typically have enough to pay the bills.
34% feel financially comfortable, especially older New Zealanders – with 81% of those aged 65+ feeling positive about their financial situation.
Attitudes towards the future seem to be optimistic, with 41% feeling their financial situation will improve in the next 12 months, compared to 28% expecting things to worsen.
Kiwis are generally focusing on short-term horizons, with 89% of people prioritising day to day spending, 65% focusing on saving and 57% concentrating on paying off debt. Only 13% put growing their wealth and 4% put protecting their finances as their highest priority. 34% of those surveyed didn’t have any form of insurance and only 11% had consulted an insurance adviser.
This short-term focus is highlighted again with only 3% of those under 35 mentioning setting themselves up for a comfortable retirement as an aspiration, with home ownership being the number one goal in this age bracket. While retirement seems a long way away when young, only 23% of those in the 55+ age group mentioned a comfortable retirement as one of their aspirations, despite being less than a decade away from receiving the pension. 79% of those surveyed had KiwiSaver, 30% have stocks and shares and 17% have managed funds.
There seems to be a lack of understanding of the benefits financial advice can bring to people at all ages and stages of life. 31% of respondents said they don’t see the relevance of professional advice, and 10% listed being embarrassed or scared or consider their financial position to be private as a barrier to seeking advice. Only 5% of people stated they don’t know how to/who to talk to as a reason. Part of the lack of understanding on the benefits on advice might be due to a lack of familiarity on the role advisers perform, with only 13% being able to describe it with any confidence. Borrowing money was the most common catalyst for seeking out advice (48%) compared to 36% looking to invest to grow wealth. Just 28% have sought advice on products like income protection insurance or mortgage insurance. For those who consulted a professional financial adviser, 81% said getting financial advice provided peace of mind and 70% said it helped them achieve their goals.
Campbell Mitchell, Chief Executive of Fidelity Life said
“…the evidence shows most New Zealanders aren’t seeking financial help, either through regular financial health checks or at key life stages, until they’re nearing retirement – when it may be too late,”
“As a result of seeking amateur advice, we get stuck in the same old ways of doing things and can’t see a way forward – especially when the people we most often turn to for advice, our parents, have experienced different conditions. Baby Boomers who have achieved financial success via the traditional route of buying a home and an investment property may consider themselves financially savvy without taking into account the fact they’ve lived through one of the greatest property booms in our history, and that as the world changes, a different approach might work better today”.
The report was commissioned to explore attitudes towards financial advice and how to overcome the barriers to seeking professional guidance. The report surveyed more than 1,100 New Zealander’s aged 18 – 69, representative across age, gender, ethnicity and income level and consisted of a mix of quantitative and qualitative interviews.
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Fidelity Life announces expanded careers development programme and new digital, product, service and retention initiatives
Fidelity Life is expanding on its Career connect adviser training course to support financial advisers at different stages of their career. Adviser Edge is due to launch in April 2024 and consists of:
Career connect: For advisers new to the industry (0-1 years' experience), a comprehensive adviser skills and training programme, aimed at attracting and training the next generation of financial advisers to the industry. Fidelity Life have announced two new intakes with spots for up to 15 adviser-nominated candidates and 15 new to industry advisers.
Professional pathways: with places for 50 advisers with 1 – 7 years of experience, Professional pathways will offer customisable and targeted educational resources, training, mentoring and development opportunities.
Advice masters: 30 experienced business owners with 7+ years in the industry will receive a tailored programme, delivered either 1:1 or in small groups on specialist topics including mergers and acquisitions, capital structuring and funding, value optimisation, succession planning, purpose-driven strategy, governance and sustainability.
Expressions of interest for Professional pathways and Advice masters are open now and applications for Career Connect will open in February 2024, with all starting in April 2024.
Fidelity Life have also introduced a suite of initiatives following completion of a series of transformation projects.
Live chat - quick and easy access to New Business and Underwriting teams now live via Adviser Centre.
New-look E-App – a modern an intuitive user experience from March 2024.
Dedicated adviser service team - now available, a team committed to servicing all adviser needs.
Working together - a comprehensive guide covering everything you need to know to do business with Fidelity Life, coming soon.
Signatureless forms - the need for some signatures has been removed and acceptance of digital signatures has been extended.
Transparent turnaround times –turnaround times for new and existing business queries on Adviser hub will be published shortly.
Renewal reminders - copies of customers’ renewal letters for Tahi policies.
Keeping customers covered - automated SMS reminders and outbound calls to customers in arears.
Online masterclass – coming in November: the latest in lapse data and trends and how behavioural science can support customer conservation.
Monthly mortgage repayment - cover benefit percentages to increase from 110% to 115% of mortgage repayments and 40% to 45% of income, to better reflect the high cost of living.
Special events and Future insurability - new Special event triggers to be added as reasons for optional cover increases such as buying investment property, land, holiday home, co-signing a child’s mortgage or supporting a child with fulltime tertiary study. Some exclusions for Special events and Future insurability (i.e., for customers with loadings or special terms) will also be removed to enable customers' better access to these benefits.
Key person new to business and Key person for farmers - monthly cover limits will be increased from $4,000 to $6,500 for Key person new to business and from $5,000 to $9,000 for Key person for farmers covers to acknowledge increasing labour costs.
Repatriation benefit - available on all inforce and new on-sale retail life covers, the newly added benefit will be on top of the life cover sum insured and will be accessible to repatriate a body home from and to New Zealand.
Trauma stand-down period - the stand-down period will be adjusted to start on the date of application submission, not completion of underwriting, to acknowledge pressures within the healthcare system which can cause underwriting delays.
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