AIA fills ‘people and culture’ role
05 February 2018
Charlotte Ward has been appointed Chief People and Culture Officer for AIA Australia and New Zealand, based in Melbourne…
Life Insurance
TAL Risk Academy tops up offering
05 February 2018
The TAL Risk Academy is offering 16 new courses this year, plus a new online learning management system to help advisers create more personalised programs…
Super tribunal welcomes funding to finish job
05 February 2018
About $9.5 million has been allocated to the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal to help it resolve a backlog of disputes by June 30 2020, when it will cease operations…
AFA goes state to state for Connect Tour
05 February 2018
The Association of Financial Advisers will hit the road for its Connect Tour from February 14 to March 2…
Challenger leads industry on profits
29 January 2018
Life insurers made an after-tax net profit of about $2.38 billion last year, with Challenger Life the runaway leader on $445 million, according to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s institution-level statistics…
Kogan adds life to insurance offerings
29 January 2018
Listed online retailer Kogan.com will start selling life and funeral insurance after striking an agreement with Greenstone Financial Services, a distributor and administrator of life policies…
Phone dominates life sales despite drop-off
29 January 2018
The phone still rules when it comes to buying life insurance, even as online sales record the fastest growth among channels, according to a Roy Morgan survey…
OnePath purchase lifts Zurich to leadership status
29 January 2018
Zurich will become the country’s biggest retail life insurer when its $2.85 billion purchase of OnePath from ANZ is complete, which could take up to a year…
ASIC consults on managing adviser conflicts
29 January 2018
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission will consult with the financial advice industry on plans to better manage conflicts of interest…
CommInsure penalised over trauma cover confusion
29 January 2018
CommInsure will pay $300,000 to a consumer advice service and have its advertising sign-off process independently reviewed after an Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigation…
Ex-Commonwealth adviser banned
29 January 2018
A former Commonwealth Financial Planning adviser who left clients without insurance after they switched products has been banned for five years…
Voluntary super code draws fire
29 January 2018
A voluntary code of practice for providing insurance within superannuation has come under fire for lacking teeth and rejecting stronger reforms…
ASIC acts over planners’ advice failings
29 January 2018
Queensland’s Breakaway Finance Group will cancel its financial services licence under an enforceable undertaking to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, as the regulator continues to crack down on planners…
Advisers warned over death nomination process
29 January 2018
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission says financial advisers are cutting corners when witnessing signatures for superannuation death benefit nomination forms…
Insurers switch focus to customer retention
29 January 2018
Life insurers increasingly look to improve value for current customers to deliver long-term profitability, according to Swiss Re’s Sigma study…
Regulator takes Financial Circle to court
29 January 2018
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has started Federal Court action against Melbourne-based Financial Circle over its advice and tactics…
Research explores automated underwriting
29 January 2018
ANZ Wealth is collaborating with the Advanced Analytics Institute at the University of Technology Sydney to explore opportunities for artificial intelligence to improve the life insurance underwriting process…
FPA welcomes clarity on education
29 January 2018
An announcement by the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority on mandatory education pathways for current financial planners has been welcomed by the Financial Planning Association of Australia…
Group life awareness on the rise: MetLife
11 December 2017
Research for MetLife Australia shows superannuation fund members know about life insurance within their funds and levels of default cover…
Industry urged to account for mental illness care advances
11 December 2017
Life insurers must change their thinking on mental health as treatments advance, a doctor has told a parliamentary joint committee hearing on the industry…