Asteron Life has announced it will launch its first SME Index for New Zealand’s life insurance market on 11 April.
The Index aims to support life insurance advisers in tailoring their offering for small and medium sized enterprise owners (SMEs).
Asteron Life’s Executive Manager Distribution, Trevor Longbottom said Suncorp has consulted with close to 1000 SMEs, enabling Asteron Life to draw on the insights uncovered.
“SMEs represent 97% of New Zealand businesses, and we’ve discovered that those customers face unique challenges that affect their purchasing decisions across both their business and their personal insurance,” said Longbottom.
He said their research included asking SMEs about the types of life insurance cover they hold and how they feel about advisers, to gauge the attitudes of businesses who take out insurance on behalf of their employees.
“SMEs are a key customer segment, and I think that there is a lot of room for Asteron Life and advisers to work together to better understand and meet their needs,” said Longbottom.
These insights will help advisers understand how SME customers may differ from their other customers, and tailor an offering to meet their needs
“By shedding some light on the attitudes and behaviours of SMEs towards life insurance and financial advisers, this report takes the first step towards that.”
The launch of Asteron Life’s SME Index follows the successful launch of the Vero New Zealand SME Index in 2017, after similar research had been conducted in Australia for six years.
“Last year Vero brokers indicated that the insights were incredibly helpful and relevant for developing their offer to SMEs, and we believe that life insurance advisers will also benefit from these insights,” said Longbottom.
The survey found that 21% of brokers thought the 2017 Vero Index had helped them bring on new clients while half indicated that the Index had been useful in deepening their understanding of SME clients.
“These insights will help advisers understand how SME customers may differ from their other customers, and tailor an offering to meet their needs,” concluded Longbottom.