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.

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.

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Nominations for the FSC industry awards open

The Financial Services Council (FSC) has opened entries for their 2025 Awards programme. The awards will be presented at the FSC Awards Dinner on 11 September 2025, at the Cordis Hotel in Auckland, as part of the FSC25 Conference. Entries are open to individuals, teams and organisations, with nominations closing 29 June 2025.

There are two new award categories this year.

• New: Innovation of the Year

• New: Excellence in ESG

• Emerging Trailblazer: sponsored by Swiss Re

• Excellence in Wellbeing and Inclusion: sponsored by Swiss Re

• Contribution to Community

• Team of the Year

• Workplace Savings

• Chair's Award for Service to the Industry

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29 Apr 2025 - The FMA release Jess Learns to Invest Episode 4 | Market Volatility and Your Investments with Brad Olsen. https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/podcast/jess-learns-to-invest-episode-4/

29 Apr 2025 - The FMA has announced the six fintech firms who will be testing their innovative products, services or business models in the FMA’s pilot regulatory sandbox.

The successful fintech firms are:

• ECDD Holdings Limited   - part of the exchange service Easy Crypto) intends to launch a yield bearing NZD-backed stablecoin and to generate revenue from interest earned on money held on trust in interest-bearing accounts.

• Emerge Group Limited   - intending on offering a digital-first business banking alternative for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

• Homeshare  - which appears to be an investment company aiming to assist period with home sharing schemes.

• IndigiShare  - with aims to offer a koha-loan platform designed to break down barriers to entry for indigenous businesses and provide funding for Māori entrepreneurs, startups, and SMEs, especially those with a strong social impact

• Invest in Farming Co-op - with intention to offer individuals a way to invest in agricultural businesses directly from their smartphones.

• Tandym Limited - currently offers full-service solutions for recruitment and workforce development and management, connecting businesses with top talent, we are unsure what their interest in financial services.

https://www.fma.govt.nz/news/all-releases/media-releases/fintech-sandbox-participants/

29 Apr 2025 - The FMA has published the first edition of FMA Financial Advisers Update. https://createsend.com/t/r-B06F256588858C182540EF23F30FEDED

29 Apr 2025 - The FMA have published a Consumer Confidence Factsheet. The results of the Consumer Confidence Survey indicate that that Māori and women are less likely like to feel confident in NZ's financial markets, and less likely to feel confident our financial markets are effectively regulated. The results indicate that Māori and women are less likely like to have health or life Insurance, but Māori are more likely to have funeral Insurance. https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/research/consumer-confidence-factsheet-2025/

29 Apr 2025 - The FMA release ‘5 mins with the FMA’ podcast #13: Consumer Confidence Survey. https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/podcast/5-mins-with-the-fma-podcast-13/

30 Apr 2025 - The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is asking for feedback on Privacy Amendment Bill (IPP3A) draft guidance. Feedback can be submitted between 30 April - 25 June 2025. https://www.privacy.org.nz/news/haveyoursay/

1 May 2025 - The RBNZ has released research which investigates why the ‘natural interest rate’ has fallen in New Zealand over recent decades. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/05/research-investigates-why-the-natural-interest-rate-has-fallen-in-new-zealand-over-recent-decades

Bigger not necessarily best when it comes to KiwiSaver

Consumer NZ has taken a look at how KiwiSaver is going. Big banks, with their brand recognition and big budgets, have long been an almost default choice for people deciding who to invest their KiwiSaver funds with. That looks like it’s starting to change. Encouragingly, 29% of new members chose their KiwiSaver scheme independently, and 8% consulted a financial adviser about what their best option would be, though 14% were automatically allocated a default scheme. There is still some reluctance to change providers, with 12% of people feeling it’s too much hassle to change provider, 8% having thought about switching but haven’t gotten around to it and 5% not knowing where to start.

With more than 3.3 million members and more than $111 billion of total funds under management, it’s worth putting in a little effort to see which fund best suits your situation.

While banks in general are big spenders on advertising, ANZ outspends them all. Yet ANZ’s KiwiSaver returns are underwhelming, coming in last (12th) for its management of conservative KiwiSaver funds, 6th (out of 12) for moderate funds, second to last (out of 15) for balanced funds and 10th (out of 12) for growth funds, according to Morningstar’s December 2024 results. Yet ANZ holds the largest share of the KiwiSaver market, with $21.9 billion funds under management.

As of 2021, ANZ and ASB are no longer default KiwiSaver providers, leaving BT Funds (Westpac) and BNZ as the only default big bank providers for new members. It will be interesting to see how this impacts the various banks’ KiwiSaver market share over the next decade or two.

In good news, Consumers NZ’s annual survey on KiwiSaver satisfaction highlights growing satisfaction, with February 2025 results showing 82% were satisfied with their provider.

And what do people most want from their KiwiSaver provider? Good returns with responsible investments came out top (42%), followed by the best returns (37%) and investing responsibly, even if it comes with slightly lower returns (14%)

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Concerns and scepticism about AI

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly being rolled out globally, concerns remain around privacy, cybersecurity and accuracy and reliability of outputs.

A survey by the Financial Planning Standards Board of more than 6,000 individual practitioners in finance found that 54% of respondents were either already using or piloting AI in their business (with a further 10% planning to rollout AI in the next 12 months). Respondents believe likely uses of AI will include collecting client information, analysing data and developing recommendations. Yet almost half worried about data privacy and cybersecurity and 42% worried about accuracy and reliability of outputs.

GlobalData’s 2024 Emerging Trends Insurance Consumer Survey, which polled more than 5,500 people across 11 countries, found consumers believed AI could have some benefits. Perceived benefits using AI included shortened time required to reach a customer service representative (73.8%), gains in operational performance (71.5%) and better pattern recognition than humans (71.2%). Those who have engaged with AI insurance chatbots were impressed, with 74.5% reporting being satisfied or very satisfied with the interaction. Despite these beliefs, consumers were found to have data privacy concerns and trust issues.

GlobalData’s 2024 Emerging Trends Insurance Consumer Survey (Q3), found that 39% of respondents would be quite or very comfortable having an AI tool decide the outcome of their insurance claim.

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Naomi Ballantyne honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award

Naomi Ballantyne, chair of The Adviser Platform (TAP), was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Financial Advice New Zealand (FANZ) Conference.

Financial Advice NZ said

“Her commitment to making financial advice accessible to more New Zealanders is evident in her continued efforts towards driving the importance of advice and innovation…Her tireless advocacy for the importance of financial advice is sure to inspire the new generation of advisers, leaders and entrepreneurs to walk in the path she has carved.”

Naomi’s career in the life insurance industry spans more than 40 years and includes founding two insurance companies, advocating for making financial advice more accessible for all New Zealanders, and spearheading initiatives aimed at supporting advisers through technology-driven solutions.

At TAP, Naomi has worked on embedding fintech solutions to streamline compliance and administrative processes, freeing up members to have more time to focus on clients; shares her invaluable expertise through TAP’s Insider Insights series; leads initiatives designed to empower and inspire female advisers; and is a regular presence at TAP events and conferences.

Ballantyne will lead TAPs inaugural Women in Advice event being held in July in Auckland, a full day event to empower, connect, and inspire female advisers and staff within the TAP community.

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Product changes at Chubb Life

Chubb Life have introduced a Moderate Trauma Cover option under Assurance Extra. Offering coverage for the same critical illness conditions, it is a more affordable alternative to Trauma Cover. Moderate Trauma Cover requires a higher level of severity to be met on 11 of the more common conditions to be eligible to claim. Customers have the option to take Moderate Trauma on its own or mix and match their cover level across both Trauma and Moderate Trauma Covers. They’ll also have the option to take out Continuous Trauma on both covers.

Chubb have also made enhancements to Assurance Extra Trauma Covers and Assurance Extra Business Life, Trauma, Complete Disablement and Monthly Disability Covers. Assurance Extra Trauma Covers have added a Newborn Children’s Benefit, Complimentary Children's Benefit conversion enhancement and added a feature allowing policyholders to convert Trauma Cover to Moderate Trauma Cover. Assurance Extra Business policies have had to Age 65 and to Age 70 level premium review periods added and the payment term options have been extended to include a two-year payment term for Replacement Labour.

Chubb Life has made changes to the underlying premium rates on their Specific Injury Cover under Assurance Extra, Assurance Extra Business, Business Assurance and Agribusiness Extra. The new underlying rates come into effect on 8 May 2025 and will see the average Specific Injury premium increase by $3.10 per month depending on gender, occupation and cover level.

They have also updated their non-medical codes and associated limits – reducing the number of medical code categories and removing several mandatory testing requirements, and making some improvements to limits. 

Chubb Life have also extended their 15% Lifetime Reward and 2 months’ free cover for new policies or cover increases under an existing eligible policy until 31 March 2026.

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Fidelity Life offers drought-affected customers premium relief

Fidelity Life has announced they will offer drought-affected Northland, Waikato, King Country, Horizons (Manawatū-Wanganui) and Marlborough-Tasman customers premium relief. Fidelity Life customers who are facing financial hardship as a direct result of the drought in these regions who are eligible can apply to have their premiums temporarily waived for up to 3-months, with the potential to extend for up to a further 3-months, without affecting their insurance protection. 

Fidelity Life’s Chief Commercial Officer Bronwyn Kirwan said

“We recognise how tough it’s been for these regions as the dry weather continues and we want to show our support in a meaningful way. Our premium relief offer is a way we’re trying to help ease the burden and be there for our customers when they need us most.”

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Strategi Group white paper outlines ways for FAPs to future-proof their business

Strategi Group have released a white paper Next Gen Advice: Future-Proofing Your Business For 2030, which explores evolving trends shaping the future of the financial advice industry and outlines practical steps for FAPs to future-proof their business. The findings from the report were presented at the 2025 National Adviser Conference – Shaping the Future of Advice.

Firms that thrive in 2030 will look very different to those operating today – the paper explores what a ‘Next Gen’ advice business will look like – a FAP that uses technology, marketing, outsourcing, people and governance/compliance to their advantage.

Unsurprisingly, technology advancements will be more widespread and better incorporated in 2030 – whether that’s AI agents handling administrative tasks such as scheduling appointments and answering client queries or calls being recorded, transcribed and summarised into client summaries and adviser’s file notes.  Video is anticipated to play a greater part, with SOA’s predicted to be delivered as video presentations incorporating interactive, scenario-based calculators and past video calls available to be retrieved via a secure app. Leveraging data analytics and AI will enable hyper-personalised advice aligning to each client’s goals and life stages.

The report cautions that AI rollouts need to be approached with careful thought and planning around

• current and future expected markets and how they prefer to engage;

• how to ensure AI integration is seamless, scalable and easily upgradeable;

• privacy, security and compliance needs being fulfilled;

• hardware capability;

• upskilling staff;

• implementing new technologies in a way that ensures smooth transitions and minimal disruption.

To successfully market themselves, FAPs need to decide if they will be specialists who focus on a single product area and establish themselves as experts or generalists who can save clients time by simplifying all the financial aspects of a client’s life. In both instances, FAPs will need to focus on providing proactive advice that anticipates and helps prepare clients for their future financial needs, opportunities and challenges.

The report predicts successful FAPs will have larger client numbers but use fewer staff to manage them, with non-core tasks being outsourced to specialist providers. Currently, functions such as accounting, payroll, IT & data security, data storage and CRM, research, marketing and investment platforms are commonly outsourced. In future, Strategi envisages further areas for outsourcing to be compliance, AML/CFT, technology integration, training, HR and back-office admin.

Effective governance is critical to help future-proof advice businesses. While small firms may rely on a trusted professional consultant, mid-sized firms may need independent directors to be appointed. The report predicts that compliance providers will play a crucial role in helping firms adopt new technologies while ensuring that their advice processes remain compliant with evolving regulations. Improving governance competence, knowledge and skill and planning for governance scalability as businesses grow will be key to succeed.

Implementing these steps will allow the FAP of the future to spend less time on admin and more time engaging with clients.

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Fidelity Life announce several key appointments

Fidelity Life have announced a range of changes to their team.

Craig Wagstaff appointed Head of Individual Life

Craig starts the role 9 June, and he will report directly to Bronwyn Kirwan, Chief Commercial Officer. Craig brings extensive expertise in life insurance, adviser relationships and bancassurance partnerships and most recently was Group General Manager Franchise, Brand and Marketing at NZHL. Craig will lead all aspects of Fidelity Life’s distribution strategy and channel performance for advisers, strategic alliances, bancassurance, and digital partners - areas of significant investment as Fidelity Life continues its growth journey.

Simon Millward takes on newly created role of National Partnerships Manager – Corporate and Growth

Simon will manage a portfolio of intermediary partnerships at regional and national levels while driving growth through new relationships.  Simon was formerly Fidelity Life’s Head of Service Excellence, overseeing adviser onboarding, customer value and retention, customer advocacy and complaint resolution, and quality assurance.

Rhys Knight takes on the new role of Group Business Manager (contract)

Rhys was previously at Suncorp New Zealand and his new role will enable Fidelity Life to provide greater support to Group advisers and offer more protection to employees across New Zealand. 

Sam Paterson takes on the role of Canterbury & Marlborough region Business Manager

Sam starts mid-April and was previously Area Manager for the Canterbury region at Farmers Mutual Group (FMG).

Peter Warfield & Kirsty Michell promoted to Senior Business Managers

Peter Warfield has been promoted to Senior Business Manager – North while Kirsty Michell has been promoted to Senior Business Manager – South.

Title changes for Michelle O’Connell and Gary Binnie

Following Peter and Kirsty’s promotions, Fidelity Life’s two current Senior Business Managers have had title changes. Michelle O’Connell has a title change to Regional Manager – North while Gary Binnie has a title change to Regional Manager - South.

Kenny Kaushish leaves Fidelity Life

Kenny Kaushish leaves Fidelity Life on 30 June, to transition into new role as a financial adviser. A search for a new Auckland Business Manager has commenced.  

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