Michelle Lusty

Financial services technology provider Bravura Solutions has reported strong growth of its Midwinter digital advice platform as Australian superannuation funds and enterprises improve member access to real-time financial tools and advice.

Future Group is the latest superannuation fund to partner with Bravura with the initial phase of its digital advice rollout now underway. Offering members pre-retirement personal advice tools, and a public-facing calculator the solution is designed to help members better understand their financial position as they approach retirement.

Roshan Singappuli, General Manager, Partnerships and Advice, Future Group: “We’re thrilled to kick off this important initiative with Bravura. It’s a critical step in supporting our members as they approach retirement. The collaboration and shared innovation between our teams so far has been outstanding.”

AIA Financial Wellbeing, a financial advice business launched by AIA Australia in 2021, has also been collaborating with Bravura to build an Industry-First Digital Insurance Needs Analysis Tool. Using Midwinter technology, the Tool will enable AIA Financial Wellbeing to provide a personalised, adviser-led insurance experience for its customers, including a digital fact find and real-time modelling to streamline the advice process for both advisers and clients.

Pina Sciarrone, Chief Retail Insurance and Advice Officer, AIA Financial Wellbeing: “By integrating data with our advice technology, we’re reducing duplication, saving valuable time, and significantly accelerating the path to a completed Statement of Advice. This intuitive solution empowers advisers to help clients better understand and take control of their insurance needs, enabling them to visualise real-time outcomes in a way that builds confidence and clarity.”

Bravura deepens sector-wide adoption of its Midwinter technology for digital advice

These developments combined with undertakings amongst other major Australian superannuation funds deepen the adoption of Midwinter technology and reflects an intensifying race to deliver accessible, scalable, and personalised financial advice. AMP, Aware Super and Rest have all ramped up Midwinter-based initiatives this year to support members with more accessible, real-time financial advice.

Aware Super is further expanding its suite of digital tools following the exceptional results achieved since launching its My Retirement Planner (MRP) in 2023. Since then, more than 132,000 members have accessed the tool, with a total of 300,000 users. Nearly 100,000 Statements of Advice have been generated and 84% report high levels of retirement confidence after using the tool.

Steven Travis, Group Executive, Member Growth, Aware Super: “We’ve seen positive behavioural changes among members. Members using the tools are growing their contributions and are twice as likely to consolidate their super. We’ve also observed a significant reduction in member exits. These results highlight the power of Aware Super’s digital advice offerings in helping our members engage with their super and feel more confident and in control of their retirement outcomes.”

AMP has expanded its digital advice capability with Bravura and is now offering members 24/7 access to personalised investment and contribution advice, lifetime retirement projections as well as automated production of Statements of Advice – all guiding members to confidently make more informed decisions.

Andrea Boss, General Manager – Advice & Member Engagement, AMP: “Since launching on 31January, over 16,000 members have engaged with our digital advice service, driving a 10-fold increase in the number of members seeking retirement guidance. Our collaboration with Bravura via Midwinter Digital Advice is enabling us to deliver tailored advice at scale.”

Rest Super has scaled up its digital advice for its 2 million members. Building on its collaboration with Bravura that dates to 2017, and the success of its Retirement Health Check tool, Rest has continued to uplift its digital advice offering and personal advice capabilities with automatically generated Statements of Advice (SOAs). Rest has made these available through both member self-service and adviser-assisted channels.

Andrew Ford, General Manager, Brand & Member Experience, says: “Digital advice is central to making super simpler for our more than 2 million members. “The right advice at the right time can have a profound impact on our members’ retirement outcomes. Typically, our digital tools are used by our members around 30,000 times per year, making up around 80% of all our advice interactions. We wouldn’t have seen anywhere near this number of members engaging with advice if it wasn’t available online in a simple, convenient way.”

Bravura says accelerated and sector-wide adoption of its Midwinter technology reflects strong and collective progress towards closing the advice gap and improving retirement outcomes for millions of Australians.

Michelle Lusty, Head of Midwinter Advice Products at Bravura Solutions: “We’re witnessing a transformational shift in how Australians access retirement planning advice. By collaborating with forward-thinking funds, we’re helping millions of Australians to engage advice in a way that suits their individual needs, ultimately improving their retirement outcomes while strengthening trust in the system.”

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Steve Davison

Midwinter Financial Services Pty Ltd (Midwinter) has announced that AIA Australia has selected its advice software for their Financial Wellbeing business.

AIA Financial Wellbeing is a new advice business offering affordable, reliable, and straightforward solutions for life and health insurance, superannuation, and wealth advice.

Midwinter’s financial advice software will underpin all aspects of advice generation, enable efficiencies, and support compliance at AIA Financial Wellbeing.

AIA selected Midwinter because it offered comprehensive advice software that required minimal customisation to meet their requirements. AIA Financial Wellbeing were operational on the software following an implementation of just over four months.

CEO of AIA Financial Wellbeing, Pina Sciarrone, said “Midwinter has been easy to work with and their comprehensive and configurable software has helped us quickly stand-up our new advice business. We’re excited about the partnership and Midwinter’s ability to support our goal of enhancing the financial wellbeing of Australians.”

Chief Commercial Officer of Midwinter, Steve Davison, said “We’re proud to have been selected as the financial advice software partner for AIA Financial Wellbeing. This is a testament to the completeness of our advice software and vision, and our team’s ability to implement the software quickly and effectively.”

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Pina Sciarrone

Life insurer AIA Australia yesterday announced a number of enhancements to its top-selling Priority Protection product.

Clients can now access a 12.5% discount for lump sum policies purchased with AIA Vitality, up from 7.5%. In addition, a discount of 12.5% has also been introduced on eligible Lump Sum Benefits when Lump Sum cover and Income Protection are purchased together.

Additional product enhancements were made to AIA Australia’s Total Permanent Disability (TPD) Maximiser and IP products.

As a part of the launch, AIA Australia has also updated its AIA Vitality program. More immediate and day-to-day rewards have been introduced for members through a new partnership with Boost Juice. As a part of the ‘Active Benefits’ offer, AIA Vitality members who accumulate 250 physical activity points – the equivalent of 37,500 steps – in one week, will receive a $7.50 Boost Juice voucher.

In addition, improved benefits have been added including gift vouchers with a combined value of $650 that are redeemable at Myer, Woolworths, JB Hi-Fi, Caltex Woolworths and Rebel Sport. AIA Vitality members can also access upgraded discounts to Virgin Active Health Clubs and Anytime Fitness. Further new partner and benefits are planned for the first half of 2016.

Using research in behavioural economics, incentivisation and wellness, the AIA Vitality program rewards members with special rates on everyday purchases when they make positive choices such as buying healthy foods or exercising.

AIA Australia Chief Retail Insurance Officer Pina Sciarrone noted that AIA Vitality’s appeal is reflected in the client retention results.

“We recognised early on how important product innovation was and introducing AIA Vitality has been a game-changer for the industry. Its rewards system encourages clients to be more engaged with their insurance on a day-to-day basis and improves lapse rates, which is a key consideration for advisers.

“By offering a unique program like AIA Vitality, advisers have the opportunity to provide demonstrable value for money to their clients over the life of the policy, which can increase engagement and retention of clients. Indeed, the results to date show that by giving clients the chance to engage with their insurance on a daily basis through the program, they are 40% less likely to lapse on their life insurance policies,” Ms Sciarrone said.

The new Priority Protection enhancements were part of AIA Australia’s regular review process to ensure their product range reflected the changing needs of Australian life insurance customers and their advisers.

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Pina Sciarrone

Leading life insurer AIA Australia yesterday announced that more than 1,000 advisers have now signed on to its popular transition to hybrid program, supporting them as they transition to the new life insurance reforms confirmed by the Government last week.

In the almost two years since the program’s inception, over 1168 advisers have joined to transition from up-front commissions to hybrid, improving the long-term recurring revenue in their business with support from AIA Australia.

The transition to hybrid program is designed to help advisers manage their cash flow as they move to a hybrid commission model, which can provide greater value than up-front commission structures over time.

AIA Australia’s Chief Retail Insurance Officer, Pina Sciarrone, said the popularity of the program to date was testament to advisers’ willingness to transition to a hybrid commission structure but require support to do so to reduce the cashflow gap.

“We developed our transition to hybrid program in response to feedback from advisers, and it is great that the program has been received so well.” said Ms Sciarrone.

Based on AIA Australia’s calculations, advisers who take part in the program could increase the value of their business by as much as 71% by the start of the fourth year, and as much as 93% at the end of year 10.

Adviser Daniel Lane who is authorised with specialist risk Licensee Affinia, signed on to the program 18 months ago, says it has allowed him to grow his business sustainably.

“When you consider what is going to deliver long-term sustainable income for the business in future, a hybrid commission structure makes sense. This type of program is a great way to make the transition, so I’m not surprised it’s been so popular with other advisers.”

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Pina Sciarrone

Leading life insurer AIA Australia has announced the launch of a dedicated Business Growth Hub for advisers, a key pillar of its trusted business partner model.

Available online and through AIA Australia’s Client Development team, the Business Growth Hub aims to provide advisers with the tools to build their business and make strategic business optimisation decisions in the areas such as products including AIA Vitality, services, fee for advice, client insights and technical support. The Business Growth Hub also provides access to key industry experts who will help business owners refine and grow their business.

AIA Australia’s Chief Retail Insurance Officer, Pina Sciarrone, said the Business Growth Hub formed a key part of the insurer’s commitment to helping advisers transition their business in the best possible way to the Life Insurance Framework (LIF) and beyond.

“Advisers have many aspects of their business to focus on. Some may be working through their transition to LIF, others will be focussing on how to further acquire, develop and retain their clients and others will be seeking ways of making advice implementation easier.

“The Business Growth Hub ensures business owners and advisers have quality resources at their disposal to seek advice on all aspects of growing, and refining their business,” said Ms Sciarrone.

Among the first of a series of new items to be launched as part of the Business Growth Hub is AIA Australia’s new iPhone app, AIA Connect, which allows advisers and their support staff oversight of all their clients’ policies or applications. Once an adviser has downloaded the app, they can register their adviser code and start gaining access to reporting options including proposals in progress, dishonoured policies, and policies up for renewal, overdue payments or lapsed policies.

Ms Sciarrone said the launch of the new app would drive increased efficiencies for advisers and their business, allowing them access to client details at any time.

“We recognise that people want access to information in a number of different ways. The new app will ensure advisers and their staff are able to be fully mobile, speeding up the administrative process to reduce business costs,” she said.

The AIA Connect app is now available on iPhone.

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Bruno Santos has been appointed to the role of Senior Client Development Manager (CDM) in Queensland, following the recent promotion of Matthew Wakefield to National Key Account Manager

Bruno joined AIA Australia in 2012 as a CDM in New South Wales and has almost a decade of experience in the in the financial services industry having worked as financial planner and a Business Development Manager (BDM).

Additionally Josh Lawrence and Simon Bennett have been appointed as CDMs in NSW. Josh has seven years’ experience within the financial services industry both in Australia and London, including five years in business development and operational roles for TAL. Simon joins from BT where he worked as a business development officer in the IFA Distribution team.

In Western Australia, Reon Botha has been appointed as Senior CDM, Johnny Ng as Client Development Manager, and Deborah Clayton-Ford will become the State Underwriting and Operations Manager, covering both Western Australia and South Australia.

Mr Botha was previously an adviser and is experienced across the financial services industry. He has previously held BDM positions at Zurich and AXA where he was nominated for the Money Management BDM of the Year award and then went on to be awarded AXA’s BDM of the Year award for Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.

Mr Ng has held BDM roles in Life risk and general insurance and previously worked for Zurich Financial Services, General Insurance and Zurich Life Risk.

Ms Clayton-Ford has over 20 years’ experience in underwriting and has held various senior underwriting and management positions in the UK and Australia, and joins AIA Australia from BT Financial Group in Perth.

AIA Australia Chief Retail Insurance Officer Pina Sciarrone said the appointments are a reflection of the changing dynamics of the insurance industry.

“We recognise that advisers play a crucial role in providing access to quality, affordable and independent insurance advice for all Australians, and are vital to our success as a business.

“We also recognise that when it comes to a long-term approach to the reforms, we believe a partnership approach between insurers and advisers is paramount.

“The new appointments reflect our commitment to assist advisers to grow their revenue streams and retain clients in this environment,” she said.

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Pina Sciarrone

Leading life insurer AIA Australia has announced it will be hosting a series of forums to outline its plans to assist advisers’ transition into the new Life Insurance Framework.

Taking place across all capital cities in September and October, the forums are designed to help advisers understand the potential impacts of the reforms on their businesses in the short to medium term. In addition, the forums will provide an opportunity for advisers to share their ideas and give feedback on future product design, and ways AIA Australia can improve overall service delivery.

Following the forums, AIA Australia will introduce several additional CDM Support and Business Growth ideas to support advisers.

AIA Australia Chief Retail Insurance Officer Pina Sciarrone noted how important it was for advisers and insurers to work together in response to the industry-wide reforms.

“We understand that with the latest reforms, advisers are currently facing a difficult change to the way they do business. That’s why we are fully committed to helping advisers transition in the best possible way to ensure both the sustainability of their businesses, and the ability of consumers to access quality advice and affordable life cover into the future,” Ms Sciarrone said.

The upcoming forums follow recent efficiency improvements made by AIA Australia to the life insurance application process for clients and advisers with the introduction of Tele-Application and Client Complete services. The Tele-Application service enables AIA Australia to complete the application with clients directly, rather than with the adviser, while Client Complete allows clients to complete an intuitive application in their own time online. Both services increase the amount of information that can be submitted online, thereby reducing the administrative process for clients and advisers.

AIA Australia has launched a website where advisers can register for the forums and access information on its initiatives at takingaction.aia.com.au.

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Pina Sciarrone

Financial advisers should segment clients based on their needs to deliver better outcomes for their clients and their business, according to new research launched yesterday from leading life insurer AIA Australia.

AIA Australia commissioned the Beddoes Institute to prepare the white paper entitled “The Advice Challenge”. Almost 450 current advice clients were surveyed in March 2015 to investigate what they want from their advisers, and how advisers and insurers might deliver more value to them.

The research revealed that when it comes to advice needs, clients can be grouped into three categories: ‘value seekers’ (59%), ‘personalised advice seekers’ (27%) and ‘purists’ (14%).

For value seekers, who made up the majority of the insurance adviser base, the top two drivers of value in their relationship with their adviser were ‘significant value for money’ (17%) – with 62% reporting that they received this from their financial advisers – and ‘quality communications’ (13%) – with 79% reporting satisfaction in this area.

For the second biggest group, those seeking personalised advice, the top two value drivers were ‘tailored insurance advice’ (31%) – with 91% of this segment reporting that they received this from their advisers – and ‘claims management assurance’ (9%) – with 56% of the segment reporting that they received this from their advisers. The final ‘purist’ group reported ‘tailored insurance advice’ (44%) and ‘ethical and independent advice’ (23%) as their top two value drivers.

“Overall, the results indicate that advisers appear to be managing all clients uniformly and not addressing the specific needs of each client segment. By taking this approach, advisers are expending resources to delivering services that are not as valued by clients and missing an opportunity to focus on what matters most,” said AIA Australia Chief Retail Insurance Officer, Pina Sciarrone.

“The results of the research reveal that by effectively segmenting their clients, advisers may become more attuned to what each segment wants and provide a more valued service designed specifically to its needs,”, said Ms. Sciarrone. “By meeting the stated need of the each client segment, it’s also likely that adviser-client loyalty will increase for all segments.”

The paper also highlighted that out of all the touch points insurers have with clients, the management of a claim is the area they can add the most value. Respondents said they want to know that it will be easy to make a claim; that the claim will be managed empathetically by their insurer and that the insurer will support them in recovery with rehabilitation, if appropriate.

While 87% of respondents had not experienced a claim before, the assurance that the experience will be positive was paramount.

The paper also reported that 75% of clients highly value being able to reduce their life premiums by participating in a health and wellness program.

Ms. Sciarrone said the findings were a useful guide to better understand what clients’ value and that AIA Australia has already made significant progress in embracing a client-focused culture.

“In line with the findings, we are constantly looking at ways to assist advisers in better meeting the demands of their clients.

“When it comes to handling claims, this involves looking at what we can do to support, assist and encourage claimants so that not only do they feel confident and reassured by the process, but also that they are able to think about returning to the workplace in some form if that is possible for them.

“In terms of health and wellness programs, we are the first life insurer to adopt this system in Australia with the introduction of AIA Vitality.

Our customers’ health and protection has always been the core focus of AIA Australia’s business and introducing AIA Vitality was part of our continuous commitment to provide our clients with innovative tools to help ensure that they can lead healthy and fuller lives with their families,” said Ms Sciarrone.

Click here to download “The Advice Challenge” white paper.

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Pina Sciarrone

Leading life insurer AIA Australia today announced a number of enhancements to its top-selling Priority Protection product, including a new option for business owners to quickly and easily top up their cover without a medical assessment.

The new Business Safeguard Forward Underwriting Benefit (FUB) allows business owners to increase their life, total permanent disability (TPD) and crisis recovery insurance when they start a business, increase their equity holding in an existing business or are promoted to a position where they are critical to the business’s operation. In each case, cover can be topped up without providing evidence of health.

AIA Australia’s Chief Retail Insurance Officer,

, said the new option was designed for time-poor business owners looking for a flexible and simple way to top up cover at key stages in the life cycle of their business.

“We are constantly looking at how we can assist advisers to grow their businesses by better tailoring products to meet the changing needs of their clients,” said Ms. Sciarrone. “With over two million small businesses operating across the country it makes sense for us to look at ways to better service the SME market.

“The Business Safeguard FUB option allows business owners to purchase additional cover that ensures their commercial assets are fully protected, without having to go through the extra administrative step of sourcing and submitting a health assessment.”

To provide peace of mind for customers who have already made a TPD or crisis claim, AIA Australia has also added the option for these claimants to purchase life cover up to a year after their original claim was paid without undergoing medical assessment.

“Having an accident or significant illness can often alert people to the fact that they need to have their family protected in the event that the worst happens, but health issues like this can also make it more difficult or expensive for consumers to access life cover.

“Our new Life Cover Purchase option ensures TPD or crisis recovery claimants will face no obstacles in getting the cover they need as simply and efficiently as possible,” Ms. Sciarrone said.

The new Priority Protection enhancements were part of AIA Australia’s regular review process to ensure their product range and premium rates for lump sum products reflected the changing needs of Australian life insurance customers and their advisers.

Priority Protection is also available on more platforms than any other provider in the market and is attached to leading health and wellness program AIA Vitality.

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AFA CEO Brad Fox said the AFA is looking forward to working with Ms Sciarrone who has a career in financial services spanning more than 20 years.

“We are delighted to now have Pina working with us to lead the work of the AFA Foundation both within and outside the financial advice community,” he said. “As a professional association, we share with our members a collective responsibility to act for the greater good of the community and the AFA Foundation provides one way in which we can do this. The role of the AFA Foundation chair is integral to making sure AFA members and corporate partners are involved in the charitable spirit of the AFA and are given the opportunity to make a difference in new ways within their local and national communities.”

The AFA Foundation has raised around $600,000 for various charities, including Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia, Red Cross (Tasmania Bushfires), Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, Cure for Life Foundation, Christchurch Earth Quake Appeal, Save the Children Fund, the Ipswich Community Fund, Make a Wish Foundation, Green Gecko, Beyond Blue and the Black Dog Institute.

Ms Sciarrone said, “The AFA Foundation does a tremendous job in raising money with the support of Australia’s financial advisers for some great causes and I want to build on this success as a part of the role. Many financial advisers I work with do a lot of charitable work, often unnoticed, in their communities. If we can continue to harness this spirit, we will make a huge difference to the lives of those Australians who need our support the most.”

Ms Sciarrone has held senior roles with AIA Australia since 2010 and has also worked at management level for Tower Australia. She is currently AIA Australia’s Head of Adviser Services.  As AFA Foundation Chair, she succeeds former AFA Victorian State Director, Esther Althaus who held the position for the past year.

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