The regulatory regime in New Zealand is far easier to work with than in Australia, and financial advisers here have a world of opportunity, says Bronwyn Kirwan, Fidelity Life’s recently appointed Chief Sales and Service Officer.
Having just returned from Sydney, where she was Head of digital insurance firm iptiQ ANZ, Kirwan says the advice regime across the Ditch is too restrictive for advisers.
“It is taking access to advice away from those who really need it,” she says. “Fortunately here in New Zealand the regulatory structure is not quite as punitive.
“Obviously there is still some evolution of those [regulations], but I think generally the spirit is that people still want to access advice and the regulators want to make sure that’s not problematic – so that’s good.
“I think in terms of the future of advice and where things can be better in New Zealand is the commitment to always putting the customers’ interests above anyone else’s. And that applies not just to advisers but to insurers, and even the back-end of the value chain in the re-insurers as well.”
Despite this year’s changes and tightening of the regulatory landscape, Kirwan says the advice industry here is “…laden with opportunity”.
“There are new types of consumers emerging that truly believe they need support and assistance to understand all-things financial services – not least life insurance,” she says.
“And that’s why I think we need to continue to maintain and invest in a really vibrant advice community.
“For me, advice is absolutely essential with really good life assurance outcomes, and I say that with some experience.
“For the past ten years I’ve been working across all different types of distribution channels. When you compare claim outcomes, the highest percentage of claims paid has always sat in the advice channel.
“And that’s really at the heart of why I believe advice is so central and important to a life insurance purchase and policy holder.”
Kirwan says she can’t stress enough how important financial advisers are to the firm.
“Advisers play a critical role in Fidelity Life, and they will continue to do so – advice is absolutely core to our business,” she says.
Turning to the firm’s recent acquisition of Westpac Life NZ for $400 million, Kirwan says insurers can do better things when it has scale.
“The acquisition of Westpac Life NZ ticks a number of boxes, but certainly helps Fidelity Life scale up,” she says.
“And when you have scale you are able to invest, you have access to capital, you are able to do really interesting things with technology, develop customer insights, and new product innovation. We see this as really good for Fidelity Life and its advisers.
“There is always going to be a part of the community for whom access to financial services products will be through their bank or another financial institution, and that’s okay, we’ll have a footprint there – referring to the partnership the insurer has with Westpac NZ.
“But that doesn’t threaten or in any way diminish the importance of advice and the role that financial advisers play in making sure life insurance solutions are available to New Zealanders.”