AMP makes hybrid commissions switch
04 May 2015
AMP will pay hybrid commissions on new life policies sold by its advisers from July 1, and it will limit advisers to a single one-year payment every five years…
Life Insurance
Report ‘will force advisers out of life market’
04 May 2015
Premium inflows from advisers could drop by 30-40% if the Trowbridge report’s recommendations on life insurance remuneration are adopted, a research house has warned…
Direct life sales dip following recent growth spurt
04 May 2015
Direct life insurance total premium inflows fell 3.6% to $538 million last year, according to researchers Plan For Life…
WA dealer groups join forces
04 May 2015
Dealer groups Sentry and WealthSure, both based in WA, have confirmed their merger…
TAL payouts up as more consumers claim
27 April 2015
TAL paid more than $947 million in claims last year, up 12.5% compared with 2013…
AFA backs industry to solve its own problems
27 April 2015
Advisers will develop their own solutions on remuneration and standards rather than waiting for regulation, according to the Association of Financial Advisers…
CommBank coughs up more compensation
27 April 2015
Commonwealth Bank has been ordered to pay possibly more than $13.7 million to clients short-changed by a compensation scheme it set up…
FSC rejects product intervention power for ASIC
27 April 2015
The Financial Services Council supports giving the Australian Securities and Investments Commission more power to ban individuals, but not the power to ban products…
CommBank outlines adviser-monitoring program
27 April 2015
Commonwealth Bank says it has tightened up its monitoring of life insurance advisers following the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s report on the life industry last year…
Ex-Aon Hewitt man joins Countplus dealer group
27 April 2015
Countplus’ new dealer group Advice389 has appointed Pierre Kraft as its first CEO…
Ministers will step in if industry dithers on reform
20 April 2015
The life insurance industry risks feeling the “heavy hand” of the Government if it refuses to take the initiative on urgently needed reforms…
Trowbridge threatens direct insurer model
20 April 2015
Direct insurers may have to revisit their pricing models under recommendations made in the Trowbridge report on retail life insurance advice…
Frydenberg roundtable to speed up adviser reforms
20 April 2015
Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will lead a roundtable to further explore suggestions for lifting financial adviser standards…
PI cover ‘failing as compensation mechanism’
20 April 2015
Professional indemnity insurance is limited as a compensation mechanism for poor financial advice, the Financial Ombudsman Service says…
ANZ to refund clients, as ASIC launches crackdown
20 April 2015
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is investigating major financial planning companies after finding many cases of planners charging clients for advice that is not provided…
Frydenberg urges life industry to seize reform chance
13 April 2015
Life insurance industry leaders must act while they can to restore public confidence, Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says…
FPA rejects FSI on level commissions
13 April 2015
Ensuring the life insurance industry operates effectively for advisers and clients alike requires more than banning upfront commissions, the Financial Planning Association says…
Advisers want Trowbridge proposals put to test
13 April 2015
Financial advice groups have called for the recommendations of the Trowbridge report on life insurance to be modelled and their impact costed…
AIST says general advice could be renamed sales
13 April 2015
The term “general advice” could be changed to “sales”, but only where this is conflicted advice, such as with general insurance or banking products, according to the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees…
‘Sluggish economy’ fuels life claims in super
13 April 2015
The rising number of claims for life insurance held in super could be partly driven by a sluggish economy, according to TurksLegal partner Alph Edwards…