Industry Updates

Selling policies amid cost of living crisis requires a rethink, insurers admit

As the cost of living pushes life insurance policies into the realm of a non-critical purchase, insurers admit they need to go back to the drawing board to show off the benefits of insurance coverage. 

AFCA defends use of discretion to hear complaints from wholesale investors

Whether AFCA uses its discretion to exclude complaints from wholesale clients comes down to whether the client has been appropriately labelled as a wholesale investor and informed consent is present.

Adviser Ratings acquires ProductRex

Super and platform comparison tool ProductRex has been acquired by Adviser Ratings.

Mutual Limited Income option added to FirstChoice

The Mutual Wholesale Income strategy has been added to the CFS FirstChoice Investment and Super & Pension platform menus, effective 22 May 2023.

‘There’s no conflict’: Levy denies tension with government

With the government response to the Quality of Advice Review potentially only days away, review lead Michelle Levy has shrugged off suggestions there is any bad blood between her and the Minister for Financial Services.

Hayne’s four key concepts to rebuild trust in financial services

Former High Court justice Kenneth Hayne has identified four key things organisations should consider to help them avoid repeating the issues that caused such an undermining of trust in financial services. The comments from the former royal commissioner come amid a strenuous debate about the Quality of Advice Review and the argument it may bring back conflicted advice models.

BT completes round of Panorama updates

BT has updated Panorama to improve the user experience for the most frequent users of the platform – advice practices’ support staff.

Zurich partners with PFAN to extend professional insurance assistance

Zurich Financial Services has partnered with the Pro Bono Financial Advice Network to extend professional insurance assistance to those in particularly adverse or vulnerable situations.

ASIC to extend date for separate adviser registration requirement

ASIC will extend the date for the separate adviser registration requirement again, this time to October 2023.

Previous Government ‘rushed’ reform: Jones

Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones has continued to back his slower-paced approach to advice reform, arguing the previous government rushed through reforms that were ineffectual.

AI tools can only aid advice, not replace advisers: Research

While ChatGPT is transforming financial recommendations with time and cost efficiency, Neilson & Co Wealth managing partner Ben Neilson believes it will not completely replace financial advisers and planners.

AustralianSuper reduces insurance costs for the second year in a row

Over 97 per cent of AustralianSuper members who have insurance through their account will see an average decrease of 11.8 per cent in insurance costs from 27 May.

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