TAL sees strong response to COVID support measures
07 September 2020
TAL says the pandemic support measures it introduced with seven superannuation fund partners have seen a strong uptake from clients...
Life Insurance
Disability and COVID push life insurance into $1.6 billion loss
31 August 2020
The life industry recorded a “significant” net loss after-tax of $1.6 billion for the year to June, hammered by the “persistent poor performance” of individual disability income insurance and other risk products...
Insurers ‘must champion a digital-first mindset’
31 August 2020
Human connection in the right channel at the right time is the best way to attract and retain financial advice customers, a new report says...
NAB sells MLC Wealth for $1.4 billion
31 August 2020
NAB announced today an agreement to sell its wealth arm for $1.44 billion to IOOF Holdings, more than a year after holding off its divestment plan because of the fallout from the Hayne royal commission...
ClearView Life earnings drop by more than half
31 August 2020
ClearView’s earnings in the year to June 30 took a hit from income protection and death claims, sending net profit in its Life Insurance business down 53% to $10.4 million...
ASIC bans Adelaide adviser for five years
31 August 2020
Adelaide-based financial adviser Francesco Romano has been banned by the regulator from providing financial services for five years...
Celebrity adviser admits to lying about his degree
31 August 2020
Former financial planner Sam Henderson has pleaded guilty to charges laid by the corporate regulator that he lied to clients about holding a Master of Commerce degree...
CBA accused of hawking ‘overpriced insurance’ in new class action
31 August 2020
Law firm Shine Lawyers says tens of thousands of customers have joined the latest class action against Commonwealth Bank to seek compensation for “overpriced insurance policies” allegegedly sold by its financial planners...
CBA hit with new class action
24 August 2020
Commonwealth Bank hit with another class action, with the latest lawsuit alleging the lender’s financial planners sold customers “overpriced inhouse” life insurance products...
New report predicts more changes in group insurance market
24 August 2020
Further shakeups are expected in the $6.4 billion group insurance market, a new report from actuaries and researchers Plan for Life says...
Advisers push industry-wide mental wellbeing study
24 August 2020
The United Financial Advisers Association has called for a study into the mental wellbeing of advisers, who have been forced to grapple with years of reforms covering industry regulations, education and remuneration...
FSC points to retirement savings hit from life taxes
24 August 2020
The Financial Services Council has emphasised to a NSW inquiry that state duties on life insurance products erode retirement savings in superannuation by $235 million a year...
Zurich makes key appointments
24 August 2020
Zurich Life and Investments has made several key appointments in its operational team, combining its underwriting and claims team as well as that of OnePath under one leadership structure...
NZ court cuts Asteron Life’s recovery from dishonest broker
24 August 2020
The New Zealand Court of Appeal has reduced the amount Asteron Life is entitled to recover from a self-employed insurance broker who submitted false information to support his claim for continued payment of income protection benefits...
IOOF advice arm hit with ASIC action over cyber lapses
24 August 2020
IOOF-owned RI Advice Group has been hit with a lawsuit from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which accuses it of failing to properly secure the business against cyber attacks...
AFA conference set for TV treatment
24 August 2020
The Association of Financial Advisers says keynote and panel sessions from its October conference will be hosted on a main stage in a television-style production broadcast live from Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art...
Exams, COVID-19 accelerate financial adviser exodus
17 August 2020
Tighter education requirements and COVID-19 have contributed to the seventh consecutive quarter of decreasing financial adviser numbers in Australia, research group Rainmaker Information says...
COVID-19 ‘driving wealthy Australians to buy life policies’
17 August 2020
The second wave of COVID-19 is driving demand for life insurance products among Australian high net worth investors, according to GlobalData’s 2020 Global Wealth Managers Survey...
Lawyers allege life insurers have 'unresolvable conflict'
17 August 2020
Life insurers cannot resolve their conflict of interest in decisions about rehabilitation and treatment of injured workers and should not be allowed direct influence over medical bill payment, law firm Slater and Gordon says...
Premium discounts producing ‘highly undesirable outcomes’
17 August 2020
The aggressive chase for retail life customers through front-loaded discounts has resulted in “highly undesirable outcomes” for consumers, a study commissioned by PPS Mutual has found...