More financial planners are advising on risk insurance as they seek to shore up customer-value propositions and plug revenue gaps left by flagging investment markets.
According to market research firm, Investment Trends, 93 per cent of financial planners surveyed in its 2012 Planner Risk Report say they advise on risk insurance – the highest level since the firm began measuring planner involvement eight years ago.
The proportion of planners involved in risk insurance has increased by 20 percentage points since 2005, Investment Trends says, and the amount of time planners spend discussing risk issues has increased from 17 per cent to 20 per cent in the space of just one year.
Investment Trends analyst, Recep Ill Peker, says that as more clients’ investable assets are directed to cash, term deposits and the like, and the longer they stay there, the more pressing becomes the need for planners to demonstrate some other sort of value in their service proposition.
At the same time, the performance of life insurance companies has also improved, at least in planners’ eyes. Investment Trends says the number of planners who consider the insurance companies they deal with to be “good” or “very good” has increased by 5 percentage points to 82 per cent over the past 12 months. Peker says improvements in technology and websites are two of the key factors behind the improvements.
Along with improvements in the insurers’ underwriting performance, planners are well armed and well supported to take the insurance message to the masses.
Look out for the October edition of Professional Planner magazine for a special report on how life insurance companies are seeking to engage with clients.
Top three insurers ranked by overall planner satisfaction:
1. Asteron Life
2. AIA Australia
3. Macquarie Life
Top five insurance providers, by number of primary planner relationships
1. OnePath/ANZ
2. AMP/AXA
3. MLC/NAB
4. Asteron Life
5. TAL
Source: Investment Trends 2012 Planner Risk Report
