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Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup

October 8th, 2012 | Posted by Editor in News - (Comments Off on Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup)

Most funds to offer default IP for MySuper
More than half of Australian superannuation funds will offer default income protection in their MySuper offers, according to a survey released at the recent AIA Australia Group Insurance Summit held in Sydney.

TAL’s bolsters direct to consumer team
TAL Direct, a division of life insurance company TAL, has appointed Dave Hunt as chief marketing officer.

TAL Direct appoints marketing head
TAL Direct, a division of life insurance company TAL (formerly known as TOWER Australia), has appointed Dave Hunt as chief marketing officer.
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Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup

October 2nd, 2012 | Posted by Editor in News - (Comments Off on Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup)

One good churn deserves another
Outsider now accepts that Clearview chief executive Simon Swanson always does his homework before participating in an industry event.

Metlife appoints head of group pricing
MetLife Insurance has named Adam Fusca as head of group pricing in Australia. Prior to his new role, he worked at Tal where he held the role as head of group insurance products and pricing.
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Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup

September 24th, 2012 | Posted by Editor in News - (Comments Off on Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup)

Investors without financial advisers make bad decisions
Only 45% of the middle class would seek financial advice for complex decisions, yet two-thirds have made at least one “really bad financial decision” – costing them thousands. The federation’s report found that most middle class respondents rate their ability as “excellent” or “good” to make decisions on a wide variety of financial issues, while 63% rated highly their ability to save for retirement, and 66% rated highly their ability to purchase life insurance (66%).

Insurers key to stamping out churn: Summers
The solution to Australia’s insurance churn issue is in the hands of life companies, according to the former chair of My Adviser. Australia’s life insurance providers must develop a new generation of fee-for-service insurance products and adopt a stringent replacement of product protocol if the practice of churning is to be stamped out, an industry executive has said.

Hard knock life? Trauma Insurance
IT IS one of the ironies of life that we take care to insure against unlikely events, yet ignore protecting ourselves from some of the most common and serious illnesses that can occur. Fortunately, there is now insurance available that pays a lump sum on the diagnosis of a serious illness – trauma insurance.

Do I need Life Insurance?

September 20th, 2012 | Posted by Editor in Articles - (Comments Off on Do I need Life Insurance?)

In most cases yes, many of us do not realise how affordable Life Insurance has become. The intention to sell your assets including your home and investments in the event you should die or become ill or injured should be a thing of the past.
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Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup

September 17th, 2012 | Posted by Editor in News - (Comments Off on Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup)

OnePath’s Trauma Premier a winner for offering plenty of choices
When competitors ‘zig’, OnePath tends to ‘zag’ and it has worked for the company once again, with its Trauma Premier cover getting the top spot in this year’s Money Management/Dexx&r Adviser Choice Risk Award for trauma products.

Brokers: how to solve our public perception crisis
Three leading Australian insurance brokers tell Insurance Business how to tackle the public perception problem that insurance brokers are simply not to be trusted…
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Does My Business Need Key Person Protection?

September 10th, 2012 | Posted by Editor in Articles - (Comments Off on Does My Business Need Key Person Protection?)

If you run a business then chances are that you are well aware that your employees are your biggest asset. Irrespective of the size of your company, the people who work for you are precious since they manage the show and take care of various things for you. If you have found an employee or a few employees that have a higher level of competence than the others then you may notice increased profits and an improved customer relationship with important clients. In such cases, you should take care of this employee or employees since doing this can in turn ensure that your business runs smoothly at all times.
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Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup

September 9th, 2012 | Posted by Editor in Articles - (Comments Off on Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup)

How brokers can solve Australia’s underinsurance problem
Small businesses in Australia remain woefully under-insured, with the latest research unveiling the shocking extent that many firms have insufficient or no cover in vital areas. How can brokers reverse this trend?

Zurich weighs into clawback debate
Insurance heavyweight Zurich has set out its position on the FSC’s controversial clawback plans, and its views may offer some hope to financial advisers.

Risk advisers facing an opt-in dilemma
The opt-in requirement will touch the day-to-day operations of risk advisers who have switched to some form of fee remuneration model, writes Sue Laing. With the passing of the Future of Financial Advice legislation amendments now behind us and implementation less than 12 months away, many life risk advisers will soon be tackling an important decision. Over the past several years there has been strong encouragement for commission-based models to transition to fee-based, or fee and commission-based, advice.
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Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup

September 3rd, 2012 | Posted by Editor in News - (Comments Off on Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup)

Suncorp consolidates on IT Building Blocks
Suncorp is ramping up work on a second modernisation program after bedding down its three-year Building Blocks program ahead of schedule. Building Blocks aimed to simplify Suncorp’s banking and insurance businesses by removing duplicate CRM, HR, finance, claims, and pricing systems with an annual savings target of $235 million from 2013. Pancino said the company planned to consolidate 14 insurance policy mainframe systems into one, while re-engineering platforms to support a 2.5-year-old push to drive more life insurance sales through direct channels.

Why insurance is critical when SMSFs borrow to buy property
Damian Revell explains the importance of insuring the members when a SMSF borrows to buy property and assesses the policy ownership options. Many self-managed super funds (SMSFs) that have used a Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement (LRBA) to acquire a property have little or no other assets in the fund.

Crescent Capital lifts bid for ClearView to 55c a share
AUSTRALIAN private equity firm Crescent Capital Partners today lifted its $245 million takeover offer for listed financial services firm ClearView Wealth, a person familiar with the matter said.
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Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup

August 26th, 2012 | Posted by Editor in News - (Comments Off on Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup)

ClearView takeover bid ‘wholly inadequate’
Mid-tier life insurer ClearView Wealth has urged shareholders to reject a $220 million takeover bid from Crescent Capital Partners, labelling the private equity offer as “inadequate” and substantially undervalues the company.

SELF-MANAGED SUPER’S HOUSE OF HORRORS
The 867,000 members of self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) are a pretty independent lot. They’ve foregone the services of public-offer superannuation funds in preference for trusting their accountant or financial planner and backing their own abilities. However, it seems many of them are foregoing insurance as well – especially those that have been advised by accountants – and in so doing may be putting their nest egg at risk. Only about 13 per cent of SMSF members have life insurance through their funds.

Brokers credited for Suncorp’s strong results
Suncorp has reported a rise of nearly 60% in its net annual profit and was quick to credit the involvement of brokers for the success of its Commercial Insurance (CI) business. Net profit for the 2012 financial year came in at $724 million, compared to $453 million last year. Profit for the insurance division was $493 million, with life insurance earning $251 million, and the banking arm just $26 million – down from $84 million last year.
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Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup

August 20th, 2012 | Posted by Editor in News - (Comments Off on Weekly Life Insurance News Roundup)

Challenger suffers 43% FY profit slide
VOLATILE investment markets have pushed Challenger’s full year profit down 43 per cent, but the financial services group is confident it can improve earnings in fiscal 2013. Chief executive Brian Benari said ongoing volatility affected Challenger’s statutory profit because life insurance accounting standards required the statutory net profit result include movements in the value of assets and liabilities.

Churning up a heated debate
There are mixed views and few facts concerning precisely how much “churn” occurs within the life/risk sector, and how many advisers might be deemed serial offenders where the “churning” of policies is concerned.

Life readies for new cap increases
Insurers are preparing for the impact of the Life and General Insurance Capital (LAGIC) reforms, increasing their capital reserves. Challenger yesterday revealed that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) had proposed transition arrangements to its life business, for the new capital requirements that will be required after APRA’s review.
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