Podcast News Wrap For 19 August 2020

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Podcast News Wrap For 19 August 2020

Partners Life

Partners Life has forfeited more than $5 million in premiums as a result of its Covid-19 premium holiday support package.

So far it has helped 4,800 customers with premium holidays, paid out more than $500,000 to policyholders whose policies were on a premium holiday, and paid financial advisers $500,000 in commission payments for policies that were operating under a payment holiday.

Poll result

The majority of financial advisers are finding it harder to place new business with insurers as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic according to the latest Risk Info NZ poll.

Of the votes cast so far; 61% of you agree it is more challenging to have new policies accepted, 32% appear to be placing business as normal, and 7% are unsure if there has been any change.

Where there’s a will

Insurance broker Aon is partnering with online wills and financial literacy provider Footprint to offer a free will service to corporate clients.

Aon says it is the first company in the sector to provide and cover the cost of wills to clients with a life insurance policy through employee benefits – potentially saving employees an average $5,000 in estate administration fees.

Bounce conferences

The Bounce conferences being organised and hosted by Financial Advice NZ are going ahead in September, despite Covid-19 alert levels.

The organisation’s CEO Katrina Shanks says the four events, in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, have been designed so they can be delivered online “so we continue regardless of the Covid-19 alert levels”.

Customers first

Speaking at the MDRT 2020 Global Conference, financial adviser and professional speaker Sol Hicks told a global audience that what those working in the insurance sector offer consumers is a bridge over troubled financial waters.

He says families want to feel secure and that those who want to continue working in the business should never forget it.

Aussie high rollers buy insurance

High-net-worth Australians panicked by the spread of Covid-19 are buying life insurance. However, trust in insurance providers remains low, says data and analytics company GlobalData.

The company’s 2020 Global Wealth Managers Survey shows the pandemic is driving demand for life insurance products with 88 per cent of wealth managers reporting increased demand for life products – the highest proportion among the 19 countries surveyed by the firm.

Get ahead of the curve

David Whyte, Managing Director of DCW Management, says in an opinion piece that early adopters of the incoming regulatory regime will find it less of a challenge when it arrives in March next year.

He says that to defer or delay implementation of an agreed strategy runs the risk of the unexpected occurring and that balancing operational activity with strategic implementation is an investment that will pay dividends.