Queensland adviser cops seven-year ban
10 February 2020
A Queensland-based financial adviser has been handed a seven-year ban for providing advice that put his commissions ahead of his clients’ best interests...
Life Insurance
Synchron appoints new GM
10 February 2020
Synchron has appointed former CommInsure senior executive Ian Knight as GM Operations...
TAL reveals 2020 Risk Academy line-up
10 February 2020
Life insurer TAL has released the 2020 prospectus for its TAL Risk Academy adviser education program...
Gilling to head Pacific Life Re’s Client Solutions
10 February 2020
Pacific Life Re Australia has announced Martyn Gilling will head its Client Solutions, responsible for market strategy and sales and developing solutions for clients...
APRA ready to take more action on ‘unsustainable’ DII covers
03 February 2020
Life insurers could be hit with more penalties if they fail to “take the necessary actions” to improve the pricing and sustainability of individual disability income insurance products...
Colonial faces class action over insurance charges
03 February 2020
A class action has been filed over the cost of insurance selected for members of Colonial First State Investments Limited, the wealth management subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank of Australia...
ClearView drops agreed value income protection
03 February 2020
ClearView will stop selling agreed value income protection from next month and is repricing its products and reviewing claim assumptions after new business premiums dropped by more than a third in the six months to December 31...
MLC CEO David Hackett departs
03 February 2020
MLC Life Insurance says it is embarking on a global search for a new CEO after David Hackett resigned...
NSW adviser hit with four-year ban
03 February 2020
NSW-based financial adviser David O’Brien has been banned for four years over his alleged failure to act in his clients’ best interests...
ASIC takes TAL to court, claiming misconduct
03 February 2020
TAL faces possibly heavy financial penalties of up to $1.7 million over alleged misconduct involving its handling of an income protection claim...
MetLife hires Tse to help deal with regulatory challenges
03 February 2020
MetLife Australia has hired KPMG director Wendy Tse as its Chief of Staff and External Affairs, saying it anticipates more regulatory challenges will be faced by its clients this year...
AFA’s national roadshow gets ready to roll
03 February 2020
The Association of Financial Advisers will kick off its 2020 National Roadshow this month, starting at Wrest Point Hobart on February 19 and ending in Brisbane eight days later...
Advisers urged to trim costs as commissions fall
16 December 2019
Advisers must cut their expenses by 20% to 25% to stay financially viable when upfront commissions are further cut to 60% next year, an MLC Life-commissioned white paper says...
Lump sum sales decline
16 December 2019
Individual risk lump sum new business sales dropped 16.4% to $1.02 billion in the year to September, according to research house Dexx&r...
ASIC finds ‘inconsistencies’ in group cover code adoption
16 December 2019
Adoption by super trustees of a voluntary code of practice that was introduced more than a year ago is not universal, a report by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has found...
Gallagher acquires Sydney income protection adviser
16 December 2019
Leading broker Gallagher has paid an undisclosed amount for North Sydney-based Blueleaf Consulting, a financial adviser for life insurance planning, wealth management and estate planning...
NZ moves closer to enforcing financial conduct
16 December 2019
A bill that would pave the way for a new financial conduct regime in New Zealand has been introduced into Parliament...
Zurich wins Qantas contract
16 December 2019
Zurich-owned OnePath Life has been appointed insurance partner for Qantas Super and will take over from MLC in July next year...
Regulatory scrutiny is life insurers’ highest hurdle: EY
09 December 2019
More stringent regulation is the top challenge faced by life insurers in Australia and scrutiny of commissions here may limit investment in technology, a new report from EY says...
AFCA attacks use of ‘medical jargon’ in policy
09 December 2019
TAL must pay a trauma claim for a customer who suffered a heart attack even though he wasn’t covered by the policy, in a decision influenced by the emerging controversy over universal terms and conditions and criticising the Life Insurance Code of Practice...