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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Changes to KiwiSaver announced by Government

The Government has announced a raft of changes to the KiwiSaver scheme, effective from 1 July 2025. We’re updating our tools to reflect the new KiwiSaver rules—including contribution increases and reduced government top-ups—so you can continue to deliver great advice, confidently.

The Government has announced a raft of changes to the KiwiSaver scheme, effective from 1 July 2025.

  • Default contribution rates increasing. The default KiwiSaver employee and employer contribution rate will be moving from 3% of salary and wages to 3.5% on 1 April 2026, then to 4% on 1 April 2028. Employees will be able to opt to contribute at a lower 3% rate and have that lower rate matched by their employer. Contributions will be reset to the default rate after 12 months, but employees can choose to reselect the lower rate again.

  • Government contribution has been halved. Currently, for every $1 a KiwiSaver member contributes (up to a maximum of $1046.86) in a year, the Government puts in 50c. The government contribution rate will be halved to 25c for every $1 contributed, up to a maximum of $260.72 annually.

  • High income earners no longer qualify for Government contribution. The Government contribution will be removed for KiwiSaver members with a taxable income over $180,000 per annum.

  • KiwiSaver eligibility extended to 16- and 17-year-olds. The Government contribution and employer matching will be extended to 16- and 17-year-olds in the workforce.

The Financial Services Council (FSC) has come out in support of the changes to increase the default contribution rate, and extend contributions to 16- and 17-year-olds. However, they have cautioned that the Government’s decision to reduce its contribution could disincentivise participation in the scheme, particularly for the self-employed. With 40% of members not actively contributing (for example, those on contributions holidays or people in irregular work), halving the government contribution makes it even less appealing for these members to start investing in KiwiSaver again.


Kiwimonster is evolving with KiwiSaver

 

We’re updating our tools to reflect the new KiwiSaver rules—including contribution increases and reduced government top-ups—so you can continue to deliver great advice, confidently.

While the new rules aim to increase participation, they don’t do enough to support the 40% of KiwiSaver members who aren’t actively contributing. That’s where Kiwimonster can help.

Even for those not currently contributing, Kiwimonster enables advisers to project future retirement outcomes. For example:

  • Self-employed clients – whether or not they’re making regular contributions.

  • People on a break – such as those on parental leave or overseas on their OE.

Using existing balances, advisers can still create meaningful forecasts—giving clients clarity, even if they’re pressing pause on contributions.

If you would like to find out how, give us a call.

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mySolutions webinar 'Living an intentional life and building a legacy business' is on 4 June

Pinnacle Life awarded Most Trusted Brand for Funeral Insurance

Andrew Couch to the Wealthpoint team as Head of Investments

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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

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AIA announce new leadership appointments

AIA have announced two new appointments to their Distribution team. Hannah Anderson has been appointed as Head of Retail Distribution, and Ben McQuay as Head of Corporate Solutions, effective from 28 April 2025.

AIA have announced two new appointments to their Distribution team. Hannah Anderson has been appointed as Head of Retail Distribution, and Ben McQuay as Head of Corporate Solutions, effective from 28 April 2025.

Anderson has been with AIA since 2021, most recently as Regional Sales Manager for the Southern Region. As Head of Retail Distribution, Anderson leads a team of business development managers providing support and strengthening relationships with advisers across New Zealand, within AIA’s IFA, Aligned Advice, and Home Loans distribution channels.

Hannah Anderson, Head of Retail Distribution

 

 Ben McQuay has been with AIA for the last 13 years, most recently as National Sales Manager – Strategic Accounts. As Head of Corporate Solutions, Ben leads AIA’s Group insurance distribution team, supporting long-standing relationships with organisations across New Zealand, while identifying and establishing new opportunities for growth within this important distribution channel.

Ben McQuay, Head of Corporate Solutions

 

AIA NZ Chief Distribution Officer Angela Busby said

“Hannah and Ben are valued existing members of our AIA NZ team, and I’m very proud to be able to promote some great internal talent with these appointments.”

“They are both highly experienced in business development and relationship management and have a strong track record of delivering great results for our advisers and distribution partners. I know their passion for our industry and their focus on growth will serve them well as they step into these roles.”

In other changes, AIA farewells Head of IFA and Group Distribution, Anna Schubert, and Head of Aligned Advice, Jack Newman.

 

More news:

Foundation Life policyholders can choose to take cash, swap for new policies with greater benefits or a combination in the firms’ windup

The unemployment rate remained at 5.1% in the March quarter

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Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector

The FMA publish takeaways from the CrowdStrike event survey; RBNZ publish response to submissions on core standards that set the prudential requirements deposit takers will need to meet in order to be licensed under the DTA; Cabinet designate banking as first sector under Customer and Product Data Act; Westpac is to pay a penalty of $3.25 million for misleading customers entitled to advertised discounts as well as overcharging some of its business customers; RBNZ special topic looks at how AI could impact financial stability; ASIC unveils digital portal for AFS licence applications; FSC publish KiwiSaver Industry Spotlight and Life Insurance Industry Spotlights for March 2025; The Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Bill had its first reading and was referred to select committee; RBNZ release May Financial Stability Report; RBNZ change structure of its Executive Leadership Team.

29 Apr 2025 - The FMA have published key takeaways from the CrowdStrike event survey​, which investigated how well financial service providers were prepared for and responded to the CrowdStrike incident. https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/research/key-takeaways-from-the-crowdstrike-event-survey/

1 May 2025 - The RBNZ has published its response to submissions on three of the four core standards that set the prudential requirements deposit takers will need to meet in order to be licensed under the Deposit Takers Act 2023 (DTA). The response covers liquidity, disclosure, and Depositor Compensation Scheme (DCS) related requirements.   https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/05/reserve-bank-publishes-response-to-deposit-taker-core-standards-consultation

1 May 2025 - Cabinet has agreed to designate banking as the first sector under the Customer and Product Data Act. https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/better-banking-competition-one-step-closer-kiwis

2 May 2025 - Westpac is to pay a penalty of $3.25 million for misleading customers entitled to advertised discounts as well as overcharging some of its business customers. Westpac admitted its conduct in civil proceedings brought by the FMA at the High Court in Auckland in December 2024. Westpac’s breaches of the fair dealing provisions under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMCA) affected a total of 24,621 customers and resulted in $6.35m in overcharges. https://www.fma.govt.nz/news/all-releases/media-releases/westpac-to-pay-3-25-million-penalty-for-misleading-customers/

5 May 2025 - The RBNZ publish a special topic from the May 2025 Financial Stability Report - Rise of the machines: How could artificial intelligence impact financial stability. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/05/rise-of-the-machines-how-could-artificial-intelligence-impact-financial-stability

5 May 2025 - ASIC has unveiled a new digital portal to allow applicants to apply for an Australian financial services (AFS) licence. https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/news-items/asic-launches-new-portal-for-australian-financial-services-licensees/

5 May 2025 - The FSC publish KiwiSaver Industry Spotlight March 2025. https://blog.fsc.org.nz/kiwisaver-spotlight-march-2025

5 May 2025 - The FSC publish Life Insurance Industry Spotlight March 2025. https://blog.fsc.org.nz/lifeinsurance-spotlight-march-2025

6 May 2025 - The Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Bill had its first reading and was referred to select committee. https://bills.parliament.nz/v/6/6193a33c-40d6-4354-0d5a-08dd6ff875cc?Tab=history

7 May 2025 - Risks to the financial system have increased over the past six months, Reserve Bank Governor Christian Hawkesby says in releasing the May 2025 Financial Stability Report. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/05/risks-to-the-financial-system-have-increased

7 May 2025 - The RBNZ is consolidating the structure of its Executive Leadership Team (ELT). The new ELT structure, which takes effect from Monday, 12 May 2025, is made up of four roles:

  • Assistant Governor Financial Stability

  • Assistant Governor Money Group

  • Assistant Governor Enterprise Services

  • Assistant Governor Operations

https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/05/rbnz-executive-leadership-team-changes

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MAS announce appointment of new CEO

Jo McCauley has been appointed new Chief Executive Officer of MAS, starting 4 August 2025.

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FSC release Financial Resilience Index 2025

The Financial Services Council (FSC) have released their latest Financial Resilience Index 2025. Results find that Kiwi are still feeling the financial pinch.

The Financial Services Council (FSC) have released their latest Financial Resilience Index 2025. Results find that Kiwi are still feeling the financial pinch.

Key findings include:

  • 55% of New Zealanders worry about money daily or weekly

  • Job security is more of a concern, with 80% of respondents feel secure in their current roles, down from 85% in 2024 and 89% in 2023

  • Only 44% feel financially prepared for retirement, down from 50% in 2024. 20% feel not at all prepared.

  • Concerns around inflation, housing prices and interest rates have eased slightly across the board

  • KiwiSaver remains the top investment New Zealanders have, with 81% of Kiwis enrolled. The next most common investments are cash, including term deposits (40%), NZ shares (23%) and managed funds (17%)

  • Only 44% feel financially prepared for retirement (down 6%)

  • Self-reported financial literacy continues its downward trend, with only 43% of respondents considering themselves financially literate

 

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ICNZ publish their annual report for 2024

mySolutions webinar 'Strengthen client relationships and grow referrals with AIA New Zealand' is on 7 May

New research shows 75% of Kiwi want their money invested according to their values

AMP are looking for a Client Relationship Manager

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Partners Life announce new Chief People Officer

Partners Life has announced that Helen Meade has been appointed as their new Chief People Officer, effective April 2025.

Partners Life has announced that Helen Meade has been appointed as their new Chief People Officer, effective April 2025. Most recently Meade was Chief People Officer at Les Mills International and she has over 20 years’ experience in human resources, transformation and communications, having worked in the insurance, wellness/health, technology and FMCG sectors.

Partners Life CEO Michael Weston said

“I'm delighted about Helen joining our executive team. She's a dynamic leader with a proven track record of attracting, developing and retaining great people and teams – who are our most important asset and competitive advantage.”

 

More news:

Banking Ombudsman Service cases up 3% more than the previous quarter

ICNZ finds 20% had switched insurance providers in the last two years

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Bigger not necessarily best when it comes to KiwiSaver

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.

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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Report finds increasingly, pregnant people are presenting for care with no, or minimal, antenatal care

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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.

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.

 

More news:

Fidelity Life held first adviser council meeting of the year

Tony Vidler writes about the importance of a prospecting system

NZUAC Christchurch Expo is on 7 May

Apex Advice are looking for a Head of Marketing and Communications

mySolutions webinar 'The journey of building a multi discipline practice' is on 30 April

Code of Banking Practice updated with new commitments to better protect customers against scams

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Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector

RBNZ’s Assistant Governor/General Manager Strategy, Engagement and Sustainability is leaving; CoFR releases a joint Issues Paper on Access to Basic Transaction Accounts; FIU release The CASH Report for March; Banks update code of practice to better protect consumers from scams; FMA release latest podcast.

17 Apr 2025 - RBNZ’s Assistant Governor/General Manager Strategy, Engagement and Sustainability Simone Robbers will be leaving at the end of May 2025 after six years in the role. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/04/ag-gm-strategy-engagement-and-sustainability-leaving-rbnz

23 Apr 2025 - CoFR has released a joint Issues Paper on Access to Basic Transaction Accounts. CoFR is seeking feedback on the proposed introduction of basic transaction accounts to better support customer groups that are currently excluded. The consultation will remain open for eight weeks and will close on 18 June 2025. https://www.cofr.govt.nz/news-and-publications/cofr-seeking-feedback-on-access-to-basic-transaction-accounts.html

23 Apr 2025 - NZ Police Financial Intelligence Unit release “The CASH Report” for March 2025. https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/fiu-monthly-report-mar2025.pdf

23 Apr 2025 - Banks are updating their Code of Banking Practice with five new commitments to better protect customers from scams. The five commitments introduced to the New Zealand Banking Associate Code of Banking Practice include:

  • a Confirmation of Payee service for customers to check that the name of the person they are paying matches the account number, which has already commenced roll-out

  • pre-transaction warnings to consumers based on the payment purpose

  • identification of and response to high-risk transactions or unusual account transaction activity, and the ability to block or delay transactions in some cases

  • providing a 24/7 reporting channel for customers who think they’ve been scammed, and responding to protect accounts

  • sharing scammer account information with other banks to help prevent criminal activity, and freezing funds where appropriate

The updated Code comes into force on 30 November 2025. 

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/better-compensation-scam-victims

23 Apr 2025 - The FMA release ‘5 mins with the FMA’ podcast #12: Access to Financial Advice Review. https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/podcast/5-mins-with-the-fma-podcast-12-access-to-financial-advice-review/

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