nib New Zealand has announced it will grow its presence in the adviser market, having created a dedicated nib adviser support team across the country.
The change comes following the announcement by Fidelity Life and nib last month that they will not be continuing their relationship in its current form when the existing agreement ends on 30 June 2019 (see: Change Ahead For Fidelity Life nib Partnership).
nib will introduce its own Adviser Partner Managers from 1 July 2019, who will work closely with advisers, adviser businesses and dealer groups to help ensure their clients have the appropriate health cover that protects them and their families.
“We’ve enjoyed a successful and mutually beneficial relationship with Fidelity Life over the past five years which has helped us to establish strong relationships with advisers, reinvigorate our products and build our service offering through tools such as the First Choice network, mynib and more,” says nib New Zealand CEO, Rob Hennin said.
“With so much change happening in our sector, we believe there is an opportunity for us to change the way we support advisers and their clients to help more New Zealanders get the benefit of insurance protection,” he added.
Hennin said they will develop and deliver new tools to allow advisers to create nib health insurance solutions.
“The change in distribution model will also expand our capability in the adviser distribution channel in line with our strategic ambitions to grow the private health insurance market, and in turn our share,” he said.
He confirmed that nib will continue its relationship with Fidelity Life however not in its present form.
“We’ll keep advisers posted on these changes as we get closer to 30 June. In the meantime, its business as usual,” Hennin said.