Zurich Australia touts ‘experience-oriented’ architecture
Zurich Financial Services is looking towards analytics, mobile services, cloud computing and APIs in a bid to win customer loyalty through improved, personalised services. Speaking at an FST conference last week, Zurich enterprise architect Sid Sanyal described the challenge of winning and retaining customers to life insurance – a “discretionary buy”.

Life insurance market should welcome regulatory changes: PwC
The upcoming Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) standards for life insurance companies should be welcomed by the industry as an opportunity to embed better practices, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers partner Scott Fergusson.
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Shonky planner banished for life
A Sydney planner has been banned for life from giving advice after being accused of masterminding over 60 insurance policy frauds.

Australians unready for the worst-case scenario: CommInsure
The CommInsure Life Insurance Survey, which gauged the attitudes of 1,220 Australians aged 18-64, found that 70 per cent of respondents would be forced to sell their personal assets – including their family home – in the event of a death or terminal illness.

Synchron accuses FSC of misrepresenting churn figures‎
Dealer group Synchron has accused life insurance companies and the Financial Services Council (FSC) of deeming all discontinued life policies as churn, and presenting figures as such to the Federal Government.

MLC Insurance gets upgraded
As part of the product upgrade from MLC, the two insurance offers have received five new features including a 12 month Life Cover Buy Back option which allows customers to restore their life insurance benefit in the event of a TPD claim, double benefits which restore a customer’s life insurance benefit in the event of a TPD or Critical Illness claim and Type 1 diabetes coverage.

Life insurance profits up 65 per cent in December
Life insurance industry profit jumped 65 per cent from $433 million to $714 million in the December quarter, according to the latest quarterly life insurance report from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

Asteron revamps technology platform
Asteron Life has spent $10 million on an overhaul of its technology platform as part of a move to reduce costs to its financial advisers and end clients.

Zurich updates Life Risk product
Zurich Financial Services has made further enhancements to its life risk product which it said is aimed at speeding up the insurance process for advisers and their clients.

AIA Australia premiums rise 21%
Life insurer AIA Australia has unveiled premium growth of 21 per cent and a rise in total assets of 27 per cent for fiscal 2011 as it reaped the benefits of increased investment in its products and services.

PJC calls for life insurance shadow shop
The PJC has called on ASIC to conduct shadow shopping surveys on financial advice linked to Australia’s life insurance sector.

Asteron Life launches adviser friendly package
Life insurance specialist Asteron Life has launched a new insurance package aimed at making life easier for independent financial advisers in the life risk business.

Life companies take adviser needs ‘seriously’
The AFA’s Richard Klipin said life insurance companies were taking the needs of advisers more seriously, and delivering the goods on products and services.

Macquarie Life appoints national underwriting manager
Macquarie Life has appointed Marcello Bertasso to the newly created role of National Underwriting Manager. Bertasso has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, 10 of which he spent in reinsurance.

ClearView eyes IFA expansion
ClearView Wealth has signalled its intention to pursue further opportunities within Australia’s IFA market.

Insurance insult
A gay Melbourne couple who were forced to undergo blood and medical tests as part of an application for income protection insurance have labelled the requirements ‘invasive’ and ‘insensitive’.

CommInsure executive joins Zurich
CommInsure chief financial officer and chief life actuary Greg Della has departed the group to join rival Zurich Australia. Zurich Australia life and investments chief executive Colin Morgan told InvestorDaily Della would return to Zurich in the role of chief life actuary for Zurich’s life and investments business. He will start with the firm in May.

Zurich reveals internal shake-up
Zurich Australia has announced a shake-up to its life insurance and investment business which sees a key senior management position made redundant. Under the restructure, the position of executive general manager, investments will no longer exist, a role held by Matthew Drennan since last year.

Segmentation: Like insurance in the 80s
A financial services consultant has branded current bank strategies for broker market segmentation like the insurance channel of the 1980s. “Once again the banking channel is doing what the life insurance channel was doing in the 1980’s , working at winning the channel not the end customer.”

Wealth managers tighten belts
IT’S been described as ”the perfect storm” hitting professional wealth managers: market turmoil, regulatory challenges and a flight from investments to the safety of cash. Earnings from life insurance and income protection rose 56 per cent to $215 million, while earnings from AMP’s funds management arm fell slightly to $83 million.

New Specialist Risk Advisory Group Launched
A new advice group delivering specialist life insurance advice to individuals and businesses has been launched. The group, called Risk Advice Specialists, aims to provide appropriate life, trauma and disablement insurance cover for individuals, and to offer advice on life insurance as a component of estate planning and business succession planning.