ASIC acts on practice’s licence breach
27 November 2017
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has cancelled Financial Stewards’ financial services licence for failing to co-operate with its surveillance activity…
Life Insurance
WA practice lands key awards
27 November 2017
Perth-based Capital Partners Private Wealth Advisers won two awards at the Financial Planning Association conference in Hobart last week…
FPA members sweat for charity
27 November 2017
A group of 19 Financial Planning Association members have completed a seven-day, 726km fundraising bike ride in Hobart…
Insurer profits drop 16%
20 November 2017
Life insurers are still struggling to build profits, recording a combined 16% decline to $2.2 billon after tax in the year to September 30, according to the latest Australian Prudential Regulation Authority data…
TAL makes premium gains, but income dips
20 November 2017
TAL has recorded an 8% rise in premium income to $1.79 billion for the six months to September 30, but this has not improved the life insurer’s bottom line…
Opportunities and risks in genetic testing, says Gen Re
20 November 2017
Insurers and customers alike can benefit from genomic advances “where the interests of both are aligned by a shared desire to avoid early death from known genetic risk”, Gen Re says…
Insurers urged to work on product clarity and education
20 November 2017
Insurers must increase transparency and simplicity in their products to win public trust, according to a new report by Zurich and the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford…
ASIC updates guidance on ‘independent’ tag
20 November 2017
Use of the terms financial planner or financial adviser have been included in the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s revised Regulatory Guide 175…
AZ buys Victorian life advice practice
20 November 2017
High-profile life insurance adviser Mark Dunsford has sold his Victorian practice to AZ Next Generation Advisory for $6.1 million…
S&P lifts Challenger Life outlook
20 November 2017
S&P Global Ratings has revised its outlook on Challenger Life from stable to positive and confirmed its “A” financial strength and issuer credit ratings…
Adviser banned for five years over churning
20 November 2017
A Queensland adviser who was found to have churned life insurance policies has been banned from the industry for five years…
OneView portal goes mobile
20 November 2017
ANZ Wealth’s online adviser portal, OneView Life, now offers mobile access to obtain client and policy information…
AMP enhances LIF support for advisers
20 November 2017
AMP has added a practice diagnostic tool and video tutorial series to its Life Insurance Framework resource hub…
Life insurers ‘decline 8% of claims’
13 November 2017
Life insurers admitted 92% of finalised claims last year and declined about 8%, according to pilot industry data released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and Australian Securities and Investments Commission…
Group cover code must have teeth, lawyers warn
13 November 2017
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers says a code of practice for insurance provided within superannuation must be binding and enforceable from the start to be effective in driving higher standards…
Freedom anticipates first-half sales growth
13 November 2017
Freedom Insurance Group expects a 3-11% rise in first-half net revenue compared with the corresponding period last year…
ASIC acts against two NSW firms
13 November 2017
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has cancelled the financial services licence of one company and suspended another following continued breaches…
Ex-CBA planner admits forgery
13 November 2017
Former Commonwealth Bank planner Ricky David Gillespie, previously banned from providing financial services, has pleaded guilty to forgery…
Premium deductions don’t raise many complaints
13 November 2017
Concerns about the deduction of insurance premiums from wages and salaries prompted 6.9% of complaints received by the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal in the third quarter…
AFG announces Lifebroker partnership
13 November 2017
Australian Finance Group has appointed comparator Lifebroker to its life insurance referral program…