Zurich partners with risk advisers to design ‘LIF readiness blueprint’

Philip Kewin

Financial advisers see product and process innovation as vital if the changes driven by the new Life Insurance Framework (LIF) are to result in better consumer outcomes.

This is one of the headline conclusions from Zurich’s recently completed adviser roundtable program ‘Blueprint for the Future’.

The national program is the latest step in Zurich’s extensive adviser engagement throughout the entire life insurance reform dialogue. With advisers now focussing on the future – and how to position themselves for the proposed changes – the half day workshops were designed to give advisers the tools to examine their business and identify those opportunities to drive increased value, efficiencies and sustainability.

These tools included cash flow modelling software, a business valuation simulator, and extensive risk advice pricing research.

The participants, including some of Australia’s leading risk specialist advisers, were also invited to put forward their perspective on the changes and how they would adapt after January 1st 2016.

Mr Philip Kewin, General Manager, Retail, for Zurich’s Life and Investments business, said the feedback from the sessions reinforced the findings of recent Zurich research into adviser preparations for the LIF transition and more longer-term market disruptions.

“Improving practice efficiency and exploring new market segments are obvious opportunities for advisers seeking to reshape their participation in the life insurance advice market”, he said.

“But the most exciting roundtable outcome from our perspective was the attendees’ thinking on innovation, in terms of both their appetite for new product and service offerings and their creativity around what those offerings might be,” said Mr. Kewin.

“We literally ended up with over 100 innovation ideas, all based on meaningful consumer insights around the complete advice experience,” he said.

“In conjunction with attendees we identified four areas where innovation could drive the most value: Product solutions, efficiency and business management, customer engagement and retention and value proposition.

“These will become the primary focus in helping our distribution partners adapt to and capitalise on the LIF changes, and indeed the many other seismic shifts in culture and technology which are impacting how we live, work and communicate.”