Job done for retiring IFSA boss
20 April 2009
Investment and Financial Services Association CEO Richard Gilbert is confident he will leave the life insurance industry in good shape when he retires from the top job in September...
Life Insurance
Aviva offers 12-month life premium waiver
20 April 2009
Tapping into community concerns about the economy, Aviva is offering to waive premiums for up to 12 months cumulatively on lump sum life policies held by clients who lose their jobs...
Macquarie slashes executive bonuses
06 April 2009
QBE CEO Frank O’Halloran’s changed retirement arrangements aren’t the only ones coming under scrutiny as governments and shareholders get toey...
Zurich tackles life underinsurance
06 April 2009
Zurich Financial Services Australia has enhanced its life risk policies to encourage financial advisers to recommend products to customers and help overcome problems of underinsurance...
ANZ sheds financial planners
06 April 2009
ANZ will get rid of 58 staff in its financial planning division, saying current market conditions have lowered the demand for investment advice...
Aussie optimism cruels life sales trends
06 April 2009
ING Australia’s life insurance sales were up 25% in the first quarter of 2009 compared with a year earlier, but the company says underinsurance remains a cyclical long-term problem for Australia...
Financial planners to develop beyond compliance
30 March 2009
The Financial Planning Association of Australia expects members to embrace higher-level training and professional development standards from July 1 when its new...
Storm goes into liquidation
30 March 2009
Storm Financial will be wound down after the Federal Court in Brisbane ordered the investment company be placed into liquidation...
Life industry tackles underinsurance
30 March 2009
As reported in this week’s LOCAL news section, the life insurance industry is tackling underinsurance head-on with an industry-funded awareness campaign that aims to boost life cover take-up rates...
Pearce maintains his faith in twin-peak regulation
30 March 2009
Shadow Corporate Law Minister Chris Pearce has suggested a parliamentary inquiry is unlikely to find the local financial services sector is in need of reform and has credited...
ASIC spells end of Storm
23 March 2009
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has applied to put collapsed financial planning group Storm Financial into liquidation...
Australia on brink of recession
23 March 2009
Australia is well on the way to a recession, with a leading index of economic activity falling to its lowest level in almost 20 years...
Axa Asia Pacific raises $660 million
23 March 2009
Axa Asia Pacific plans to raise up to $660 million in capital following the trend of fellow insurers AMP, Suncorp and IAG...
Tower wins battle over NZ insurance sales
16 March 2009
NZ insurer Tower has won the right to continue insuring ANZ National bank customers following a High Court decision...
We’re on top of genetic issues, say life insurers
16 March 2009
Life insurers have hit back at a report which identifies them as the main players in genetic discrimination...
Financial advisory associations form government taskforces
16 March 2009
The nation’s peak financial services advisory bodies have formed taskforces to work with regulators and the Federal Government amid close scrutiny of the financial services sector...
FPA goes online to close talent gap
16 March 2009
To overcome the looming talent crisis as baby boomers look to retirement, the FPA is trying to break into the next generation of planners through the internet...
Industry roundtable scrutinises ratings agencies
09 March 2009
Financial services industry representatives have met to discuss how they can improve the quality of ratings handed out by credit ratings agencies...
Actuarial group sees place for two financial advice models
09 March 2009
Actuaries Rice Warner has clarified statements made by a client comparing fee-for-service financial advice offered by superannuation funds and commission-based financial planning...
Asia-Pacific helps stem Aviva losses
09 March 2009
Earnings from the buoyant Asia-Pacific market have helped stem losses for UK insurer Aviva, which has posted an annual loss of £885 million ($1.95 billion)...