Advisers do not prioritise life insurers by size when considering moving their business, according to Investment Trends Senior Analyst King Loong Choi.

While there is a trend to pick the larger insurers, this is based on service levels rather than their scale, he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“Advisers are moving their insurance based on insurers [offering] better service.

“The focus on improving underwriting by some insurers during the past year has made it an essential component of success in acquisition of new relationships.”

Mr Choi says one in five advisers are in the market for a new insurer relationship, according to research.

In the past year AIA Australia, BT Life and TAL have all added new tie-ups with advisers, he says.

The top four insurance providers by number of primary planner relationships is now OnePath, AIA Australia, BT Life and TAL.

“Despite the top four being larger insurers, there are still opportunities for the smaller insurer,” Mr Choi said. “We are seeing advisers using 3.9 insurers on average, compared with 3.7 in [last year’s analysis].”

Switching remains common, with 35% of advisers saying they have stopped using at least one life insurer in the past year.

“Insurer relationships remain in a state of flux,” Mr Choi said.

“While advisers are stopping use of insurers that aren’t exceptional, they are still expanding the number of insurers they use.”