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.

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Southern Cross release their Healthy Futures Report

Southern Cross have released the Healthy Futures Report 2024, which surveyed 2,000 New Zealanders about their health and wellbeing behaviours.

Southern Cross have released the Healthy Futures Report 2024, which surveyed 2,000 New Zealanders about their health and wellbeing behaviours. Some of the key findings include:

  • The biggest concerns for New Zealanders were the cost of living (91%); violence in society (86%); not having access to good, affordable healthcare (84%); and affordable housing, mental health and not having access to cancer treatment services all at 82%.

  • Health professionals remain the main source of health information (64%), followed by online articles/websites (52%), but social media is increasing in popularity with young people and Pasifika people (up 6% to 27%).

  • A majority of people seek treatment immediately (12%) or within a day or two (47%), though 10% usually don’t seek professional advice or treatment.

  • The main barriers to accessing healthcare include cost (35%) and wait times being too long (34%). There has been a jump in people not being able to access healthcare at the time they want (up 4% to 20%).

  • When it comes to dental treatment, the main barriers are cost (60%) and not being covered by medical treatment (13%).

  • New Zealander’s define ‘healthy’ as mental wellbeing (70%), avoiding smoking and tobacco (70%), getting enough sleep (67%), eating a balanced diet (67%) and emotional wellbeing (66%).

  • Physical health concerns include level of fitness (65%), making sure kids eat healthy foods (65%), long term physical health effects (65%) and family health and wellbeing (65%).

  • The average kiwi exercises for 30 minutes, three times a week – 61% don’t feel they are getting enough exercise. Being too tired (33%) and not having enough time (32%) continue to be the main barriers to exercising.

  • While 92% of kiwis consider themselves knowledgeable about what healthy food is, 82% consider healthy eating to be expensive and 74% would like to lose weight.

  • ·The top emotional wellbeing concerns are concentrated around family, with kiwis concerned about whether their children will cope with the pressures of life (60%), not having enough money to support myself/my family (55%) and parents/relatives getting elderly and needing care (51%).

  • Only 44% of New Zealanders consider themselves as getting enough sleep, with those living with kids or living with a disability being more sleep deprived than others. Reasons given for not getting enough sleep included having too much to think about (49%), going to bed too late (41%) and being anxious or stressed (40%).

  • While 88% consider work life balance to be important, only 33% consider they currently have a good balance. Factors kiwis consider as important to achieving a good work/life balance include having flexible working hours (43%), switching off from work when finished for the day (43%) and sticking to set work hours (34%). Conversely, factors contributing to a negative work/life balance include workload being too high (60%), financial pressures (46%) and not having flexible working hours (40%).

  • Actions New Zealanders are taking to look after their emotional health and wellbeing include keeping your brain stimulated (60%), spending time outdoors (58%), nurturing and maintaining relationships (54%) and spending more time with family (52%).

 

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Simon Papa on what the Commerce Commission’s Banking report could mean for advisers

Simon Papa has written an excellent analysis of what the Commerce Commission’s final report on competition in the personal banking services sector could mean for mortgage advisers on Good Returns.

Simon summarises the recommendations likely to impact mortgage advisers, cautions that some of the recommendations may look different once implemented and acknowledges the Commission’s engagement with the advice sector after they released their March 2024 draft report. Simon posits that the recommendation that advisers make more applications to multiple banks is likely to result in more work for advisers, though this may be offset by banks improving application systems and making offers more comparable (and we’d love to hear what you think will end up happening!). Simon also discusses what a best interests duty could mean for advisers. It's a great read and we suggest you check it out.

We reached out to Simon around what advisers could do in light of these recommendations and he advised,

“Changes to law are required to implement most of the Commission’s recommendations. So advisers will have an opportunity to make submissions on the law changes. They can also try to engage with MPs and officials. Professional bodies will also get involved, so advisers can talk to them about adviser concerns.”

 

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TSB to pay $2.47m penalty for CCCFA breaches

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Life advisers reminded they need to actively review legacy policies

Compliance Refinery director Steve Burgess has reminded life insurance advisers they need to review legacy policies or risk opening themselves up to censure by the FMA.

Compliance Refinery director Steve Burgess has reminded life insurance advisers they need to review legacy policies or risk opening themselves up to censure by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA).

Speaking at a Quotemonster roadshow event in Lower Hutt, Burgess said of legacy products,

“If you don't look at it, the regulator could decide that's you saying that product is suitable for your client.”

Burgess also cautioned that some legacy products have features that are difficult or impossible to replicate with new policies, so as well as listing the advantages of replacement policies, advisers need to be recording any disadvantages clients may face if they change.

Steve Wright has also written of how the FMA have flagged ‘suitability of advice’ as something they will be focusing on in future. Wright has helpfully listed some steps advisers should be following to help ensure the suitability of their advice, including having a suitable fact find process; needs analysis and quantification of client risks; avoiding limiting or transferring risks to an insurer; assessment of insurance types required and sums insured; and giving appropriate product recommendations.

 

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Financial Advice NZ's webinar on the Code of Professional Conduct is on 28 August

ASB's net profit after tax down 10% from previous year

Travis Hamilton named the New Zealand country Chair for the Million Dollar Round Table organisation

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Should more employers be looking at offering more flexible working options?

Increasingly, organisations are seeing the benefits of offering more flexible working options, in terms of productivity output, being able to attract a more diverse range of employees and employee satisfaction.

Increasingly, organisations are seeing the benefits of offering more flexible working options, in terms of productivity output, being able to attract a more diverse range of employees and employee satisfaction.

Stats NZ data shows that in 2023, 81% of organisations offered flexible working hours, up from 57% of organisations in 2018. In 2023, 77% of organisations offered part-time work roles, up from 53% in 2018.

Kiwibank economist, Sabrina Delgado, highlighted flexible work’s impact on the wider economy,

“Whether it’s working around school hours or the location of work, greater work flexibility perhaps has the biggest economic impact on improving the labour market outcomes and productivity.”

Infometrics chief executive and principal economist Brad Olsen said,

“Increasing participation even further can be supported by removing barriers to work for different groups, like parents, while still allowing them to do their parental duties without as much compromise as before.”

Dr Ellen Ford, the creator of #workschoolhours movement, said,

“There are a huge amount of parents who would absolutely love to work in an organisation that provides a school hours framework and they would add immense value to the organisation.”

“One of the economic benefits is that it actually allows organisations to tap into a massively underutilised section of the workforce.”

“If businesses are struggling to attract and retain great talent, one of the ways they can do that is actually offer roles that work within school hours.”

“People on part time contracts are typically the most productive in the workforce. They just get their stuff done in a shorter amount of time.”

It seems like flexible work options are here to stay. An international survey of more than 500 CEO’s around hybrid working, found 91% had adopted hybrid working and 74% said a full-time office return is not a business priority. 73% of CEO’s agreed that hybrid work allows them to attract the best workers and 76% saw improved staff retention since offering flexibility to employees.

 

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AIA celebrate 5 years of AIA Vitality

AIA have released some statistics about AIA Vitality to celebrate five years of AIA Vitality being in the market

AIA have released some statistics about AIA Vitality to celebrate five years of AIA Vitality being in the market.

  • To date, over 60,000 people have joined AIA Vitality.

  • On average, an AIA Vitality member in New Zealand completes a health and wellbeing assessment available in the app every 15 minutes.

  • AIA Vitality members have completed over 18,500 free Vitality Health Checks.

  • Since becoming AIA Vitality members:

    • 79% have moved to a healthy glucose range from an unhealthy glucose range.

    • 64% have moved to a healthy cholesterol level from an unhealthy level.

    • 49% have moved to a healthy blood pressure range from an unhealthy range.

  • Less than 50% of New Zealanders meet the recommended guidelines of 2.5 hours of weekly physical activity but 95% of AIA Vitality Silver+ members meet this target.

  • AIA Vitality members combined have walked the length of New Zealand 1,295 times.

  • Members have achieved over 86,800 Status Reward vouchers and 976,500 Active Rewards vouchers – a combined worth of $9.1 million in rewards.

To celebrate the anniversary, AIA is giving customers who activate their AIA Vitality membership by 31 October the chance to win one of 20 Woolworths Gift Cards, each worth $500. Existing AIA Vitality members who hit their $5 weekly physical activity target anytime between 5 August and 1 September, go in the draw to win 1 of 5 Apple Store Gift Cards worth $729.

AIA have recently made some improvements to AIA Vitality, with a new AIA Vitality app with enhanced features and functionality being launched in April this year.

 

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Poll finds expectation of higher growth in health insurance advice than life insurance advice

A riskinfoNZ poll has found that advisers are expecting to see more growth in health insurance advice than life insurance advice in the near future.

A riskinfoNZ poll has found that advisers are expecting to see more growth in health insurance advice than life insurance advice in the near future. Currently, 41% of respondents expect health insurance to generate the most business, compared to only 23% expecting life insurance to generate the most business. 30% of respondents expect a 50/50 split between health and life insurance advice.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, what do you see the split as being in your organisation over the next 6 – 12 months?

 

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Russell Hutchinson Russell Hutchinson

Graeme Lindsay has died

Graeme Lindsay, a life insurance industry stalwart, has died of cancer. Adviser and pioneer insurance product researcher, his presence will be remembered and missed.

Graeme Lindsay, a life insurance industry stalwart, has lost his battle with cancer. Throughout his career Lindsay worked as an adviser, was involved in an industry association, was a member of Million Dollar Round Table, and founded Strategy Financial Services, a business that provides analysis to life and health insurance agents. He was a competitor of ours and yet we will miss his presence in the industry. Whether he was writing about products or insurers he was always keen to highlight the value of good insurance coverage and identify issues that needed to be addressed. He was a pioneer in our sector.

Last December, Lindsay posted on LinkedIn explaining his situation and advocating for everyone to review their insurance cover and make sure they had the right policies and cover in place.

The funeral for Lindsay is scheduled to be held on Monday.

We will miss his voice in our sector.

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Jon-Paul Hale critiques insurers' use of “MedSafe indicated” wording in policies

Jon-Paul Hale critiques insurers' use of 'MedSafe indicated' wording in policies, saying if clinicians and customers were more aware of what the wording meant they may change their treatment plans.

Jon-Paul Hale critiques insurers' use of 'MedSafe indicated' wording in policies, saying if clinicians and customers were more aware of what the wording meant they may change their treatment plans to ensure that coverage extends to the use of the medicine.

In policy wordings, “MedSafe indicated” can significantly limit access to treatment; where MedSafe guidelines include "indicated first-line treatment", this means the medication is only authorised for use as the first treatment. Hale suggests that clients consider any mediations with ‘first-line’ indications may wish to be treated with these medications first, as insurers are unlikely to approve them for later use.

What may surprise you is that many, many, medicines are prescribed that are outside Medsafe indications. Some are prescribed even though the medicine is unapproved for any purpose in New Zealand. Several insurers will not cover medicines that are unapproved. Obtaining a Medsafe approval for the use of a medicine can be time consuming and expensive. We are a small market and some disorders are rare. That means that while it may be economically viable to gain approvals in the United States and Europe, sometimes the New Zealand market may be too small for these companies to consider seeking approval economically viable, especially when some medical professionals will still prescribe an unapproved medicine.

At Quality Product Research Limited we are committed to ensuring that research scores are descriptive of these differences, which are increasingly important. There is a review of the non-PHARMAC coverage item in our health / medical insurance research which is being consulted on right now. If you would like to participate in the review please contact us. Results of the review will be announced at our forthcoming national roadshow which runs from 23 July to 29 August. Register for the roadshow, at a venue near you, here.

References:

Medsafe – about and role: https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/other/about.asp

Medsafe – use of Unapproved Medicines and Unapproved Use of Medicines: https://medsafe.govt.nz/profs/riss/unapp.asp#need

 

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AIA releases data on claims by age bracket

AIA has released information on claims by age bracket – counter to what is often seen in the media about elderly people having the highest health costs, the age bracket that had the most claims in 2023 was those aged 50 – 59.

 AIA has released information on claims by age bracket – counter to what is often seen in the media about elderly people having the highest health costs, the age bracket that had the most claims in 2023 was those aged 50 – 59. This age group was paid out more than $197 million in 2023 out of $734.8 million in total claims.

Those aged 60 – 69, while still making up a large proportion of total claims, had  a total of more than $139 million in claims paid out, with $65.55 million being on life policies, while those aged 70 and over claimed just $71 million, with $50.52 million being against life policies. The lower level of claims of those aged over 70 could be due to people reducing or dropping their cover as they get older and no longer have dependants to consider or mortgages to pay off.

It comes as no surprise that those aged 20 – 29 had a low level of claims, with only $2.6 million paid in claims against life policies and $7.7 million paid on health policies in this age bracket.

 

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The FSC appoints a new CEO

The Financial Services Council has appointed a new Chief Executive Officer, Kirk Hope.

The Financial Services Council (FSC) has appointed  a new Chief Executive Officer, Kirk Hope. Hope is currently Chief Executive of BusinessNZ and will start his new role at the FSC effective 18 September 2024.

FSC Board Chair Rob Flannagan says

“Mr Hope is a proven leader with a deep understanding of financial services, the business landscape, and the challenges facing many New Zealanders.

His expertise and experience in regulatory affairs, policy and advocacy will provide strong stewardship as we continue to deliver value for our members and advance our strategic priorities to grow the financial confidence and wellbeing of New Zealanders.”

 

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