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...
Life Insurance
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...
Claims delays: AMP answers consumer group’s broadside
09 December 2019
AMP Life is defending its claims-handling for group insurance after Choice subsidiary Super Consumers Australia labelled delays “abhorrent” in an open letter...
Employees ‘don’t understand life insurance benefits’
09 December 2019
Life insurance policies are rated as key employee benefits, yet only 60% of employees understand how they work, a MetLife report says...
Don’t ignore insurance, ASIC warns funds’ advisers
09 December 2019
The corporate regulator is warning superfunds providing scaled advice to members to address members’ insurance needs, after uncovering a number of cases where advisers inappropriately excluded insurance from discussions...
OnePath must pay more interest in AFCA decision
09 December 2019
OnePath must pay extra interest on a total and permanent disability benefit amount for a claim that it took more than three years to accept, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority says...
High-risk workers also risk being uninsured
09 December 2019
Some superannuation members in dangerous jobs may be left uninsured in a workplace accident if their superfund decides it is too difficult to apply an exemption in recent super insurance legislation, according to a new paper...
TAL continues free pop-up skin clinics for beachgoers
09 December 2019
Life insurer TAL is raising skin-cancer awareness with free pop-up skin check clinics at three of Australia’s most popular beaches as summer gets underway...
APRA slaps capital controls on disability income providers
02 December 2019
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority will impose an upfront capital requirement on all individual disability income insurance providers from March 31 next year until they develop sustainable products and pricing...
Shaky distribution models worsening life profits
02 December 2019
Life insurance industry growth and profits have been badly hit by disrupted advice distribution channels over the past 18 months, a KPMG analysis says...