Fidelity Life’s customer engagement initiative is back

Fidelity Life have announced details of their Customer Engagement Initiative 2025. The programme is designed to recognise advisers for exceptional customer outcomes based on Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys.

The campaign runs between 1 May and 31 October 2025. The top 45 qualifying advisers will be invited to an exclusive professional development focused forum. While the location of the forum hasn’t been released yet, it will take place in early 2026 and will be hosted by the Fidelity Life leadership team and business managers. Last year, the top 30 advisers attended the forum at Kauri Cliffs in Northland.

The forum will include a range of professional development sessions and deep dive business sessions, and Fidelity Life will share new customer insights from survey results. Attendees will receive a certificate of completion, which can be used as evidence of ongoing professional development.

To qualify, advisers need:

• A minimum of 5 survey responses submitted during the programme period

• A positive Net promoter score

This year, Fidelity Life have developed personal dashboards, which detail and advisers survey submissions and current overall score.

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Fidelity Life welcomes record number of advisers to Career Connect programme

Fidelity Life has announced the fourth intake of its adviser programme, Career connect, for new advisers. This year sees the programme expand to welcome its largest cohort to date - 30 emerging advisers. The company will also soon invite adviser businesses to join the Career connect registry; to signal their interest in offering work experience opportunities to newly qualified financial advisers. 

Submissions this year attracted greater diversity, , with 56% of applicants under the age of 35, 62% coming from female applicants and just under 30 ethnicities represented across the more than 70 applicants.

The Career connect programme awarded eight scholarships this year, up from seven last year, with each valued at up to $5,000. The recipients of the 2025 Career connect scholarships are:

• Grace Leaso, Auckland - Kōwhai scholarship (for an outstanding Pasifika applicant)  

• Grace Shearer, Hastings - Toe Toe scholarship (for an outstanding young applicant aged 21-25)

• Jada Mandery, Auckland - Women in Finance scholarship (supported by Kaplan Professional)

• Marcel Stenning, Auckland - Pāua scholarship (for outstanding applicant demonstrating excellence)

• Michelle Andrews, Auckland - Women in Finance scholarship (supported by Kaplan Professional)

• Milly Elworthy, Mosgiel – Rural scholarship (supported by FMG) 

• Olivera Vasic-Wooller, Auckland - Rāngi Po scholarship (for an underrepresented community in financial services)

• TK Buchanan, Christchurch - Pounamu scholarship (for an outstanding Māori applicant)

Fidelity Life Head of Solutions Michelle Doyle said

“By taking part, advice businesses play a vital role in mentoring fresh talent… It helps new advisers gain industry experience and build confidence as they transition into the profession.” 

The 2025 cohort of 30 will start their journey this week. Over the next six months, they’ll take on part-time study to earn their Level 5 qualification through Kaplan Professional. Fidelity Life will host a graduation ceremony early next year to celebrate their accomplishments.  

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AIA announce four new national sales manager appointments

AIA has made four new appointments within their Distribution team.

Aaron Gilmore has been appointed National Sales Manager, Retail. Gilmore has been with AIA since 2023 and has been an AIA Vitality Coach and Northern Region Manger, Business Development.

Carley Ellis has been appointed National Sales Manager, Aligned Advice. Ellis has 20 years of experience in New Zealand’s financial services industry and has a proven track record in business development, financial advice, and leadership.

Sarah Hepper has been appointed National Sales Manager, Corporate Solutions. Hepper has over 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, and has spent the past 15 years contributing to the growth of Corporate Solutions at AIA NZ

Nick Russell has been appointed as National Sales Manager, Home Loans. Russell has extensive experience working alongside home loan advisers.

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FSC Investment and KiwiSaver Committee meeting on 3 June

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Best product, no. Best solution, yes!

We are in enthusiastic agreement with Steve Wright’s recent article, in which he questions what makes the best product in his latest article on Good Returns. Steve advocates that the FMA and Disputes Resolution Service need to debunk the view of advisers that they sell only the ‘best’ product as rated by independent services.

As a research business, we are happy to debunk the notion that we tell people what to sell, or ‘rank’ products. We go to great pains to point out that this is not our job, we understand that our role is to provide useful information about the meaningful differences between products to enable advisers to have better conversations about suitability. We will never tell you what product to recommend because only financial advisers can give financial advice. To quote directly from a slide from our recent roadshow:

We also highlighted the importance of recognising the financial adviser’s unique role in the process of reconciling objectives with options and choices and limitations to arrive at a good solution, which is nearly always a compromise, unique to the client. That’s the essence of suitability assessment, entirely within the financial adviser’s legally defined role. If you haven’t heard us talk through the leading car purchase example, join us at a training session coming soon!

Like Steve, we believe that the best product is the one that suits the specific clients’ needs – even if it’s not the most generous, or the highest rated. He stresses that advisers must thoroughly understand a client’s individual circumstances, risks, and goals to come up with the most suitable product, then give enough detail that the clients can understand the advice and the products recommended.

What are some examples you’ve come across of products that at first look may not be the ‘best’, but actually have been the best fit for your clients?

If you have missed some of the comments on Steve’s article, we particularly like these:

“Advisers must give financial advice that I'd suitable… suitability has a lot more to do with the client circumstances than stars”

“In short, I don’t believe that we should be looking for who’s the “best.” I believe we should be looking for the “best fit.” And that’s a very different thing!”

“It's a good discussion point, but if you want a more realistic glimpse of what is likely to happen here in the future, speak to those involved in the Australian market about the removal of the 'safe harbour' provision in their financial advice regulation. Not only is it likely that product research into features and benefits likely to become more necessary, not less, but it also seems more and more likely that the actual underwriting terms offered across the entire market will need to be considered.”

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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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