Listed wealth manager ClearView has increased its adviser numbers by 46 per cent during a time when its fiercest rivals have struggled with deteriorating lapse rates and mounting claims on legacy products, according to the group’s managing director Simon Swanson.
ClearView also established distribution agreements with 53 new dealer groups in the year ended June 30, 2013.
Speaking at the group’s 2013 Annual General Meeting on November 6, Swanson blamed legacy products, pricing and systems for the broader industry’s woes, adding that ClearView had little to no exposure to the poor performing group life and income protection segments allowing it to build for profitable growth and execute its distribution strategy.
He described product legacy as the “Achilles heel” of the industry with companies “grid locked with legacy systems and struggling with legacy products and their pricing”.
ClearView, which was formed in 2010 through the acquisition of the life insurance and wealth management businesses of Bupa, will shift its focus from recruiting risk advisers to recruiting wealth advisers over the next few years while investing its direct sales and marketing capability.
The group will leverage its relationships with Bupa Australia and other strategic partners to sell non-advice products through direct channels.
“We will continue recruiting experienced financial advisers into our network and thereby expanding our distribution footprint,” Swanson said.
“ClearView can offer such advisers the opportunity to participate in the overall performance of ClearView through ownership of shares through the ClearView Executive Share Plan.”
Swanson’s comments followed a disappointing full year result from National Australia Bank’s wealth arm, NAB Wealth & MLC, and AMP’s second profit downgrade on October 26.
NAB Wealth & MLC recorded a 5 per cent drop in cash earnings to $493 million for the full year to September 30, 2013, impacted by deteriorating lapse rates and claims experience. AMP shares nosedived last month after the company announced further losses in its wealth protection business.
Despite recording growth in new life insurance business sales, inforce premiums and funds under management, ClearView reported a 17 per cent drop in underlying profit after tax for the year to June 30, 2013.
