The TAL Imaginarium will give people the chance to bring their futures to life…

Australia’s largest life insurer TAL is hosting the ‘TAL Imaginarium’ in Sydney next week as part of MoneySmart Week.

The TAL Imaginarium will give people the chance to bring their futures to life through personalised illustrations completed in real time by professional artists. The drawings will come to life on large digital screens as people talk about the lives they’ve created and the futures they imagine.

The event is part of MoneySmart Week’s efforts to improve financial literacy in Australia and aims to persuade people to “protect what’s precious.”

MoneySmart Week runs from 1-7 September, and Thursday 4 September focuses on insurance. The day’s theme is “protect what’s precious” and the TAL Imaginarium has been created to help people stop, think and reconnect with what’s really important to them.

TAL Group CEO Jim Minto said: “We invest a lot of time and energy in building our lives and working towards our dreams. At TAL, we are passionate about helping Australia to sleep better at night, so we are right behind MoneySmart Week’s campaign to persuade people to protect what’s precious to them. Many don’t realise that their ability to earn an income and maintain their future lifestyle is their most important asset that needs protection.”

“The Imaginarium is a fun and engaging way to get people to focus on the important things in life.  Financial literacy is an essential life skill but one that too few Australians have. Whether you are struggling to make ends meet or have plenty of money to spare, financial literacy and financial protection are hugely important.”

Additional event

On Thursday 4 September, from 6pm-7.30pm in its Sydney office, TAL will host an event for women called “Life Lessons 101: How to have it all.” We are excited that best-selling author Megan Dalla-Camina will share her life success story at this event, while founder of women’s adviser network 10thousandgirl Zoe Lamont will also talk about the importance of life insurance to female financial fitness. The Imaginarium will also be in operation and more details including registration are available here.

The Imaginarium theme extends online and will see TAL giving away ten $100 Red Balloon vouchers through a competition to be run on its TAL Life Facebook page.

As part of the Imaginarium, TAL is calling on people to take a quick quiz to compare their levels of financial protection to the average Australian: Financial protection quiz.

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Deborah Kent

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) and leading life insurer TAL have jointly launched and opened nominations for the 2014 Female Excellence in Advice Award (the Award) at the AFA Inspire ‘Stand up and step up’ event.

The Award, developed in 2011 as a joint initiative by the AFA and TAL and supported by the Macquarie Graduate School of Management, recognises and showcases the talents and contributions of women in financial advice to their profession, community and their clients.

AFA Inspire Chair Deborah Kent said the Award is another step forward in the AFA’s quest to give women the tools and the inspiration they need in order to achieve excellence in the financial services market place.

“The aim of the Award is to not only recognise women doing well but also to act as a catalyst for change in financial services and in the lives of everyday Australians,” she said.

“Attracting and inspiring women to seek senior roles, including the role of financial adviser, will eventually mean that we have more women addressing the financial situations of female Australians, especially when seeking advice about their own retirement and insurance needs.”

TAL Life CEO Brett Clark said the Award was important in raising the profile of financial advice as a career choice for women and to promote greater involvement by women obtaining financial advice and protection.

“The award is now in its 4^th year and TAL is really proud to have been part of it with the AFA.  In the initial design and thinking our ambition was for this to be much more than another award, but a wide ranging program and a reason to have an ongoing dialogue about diversity in the planning profession, and how we provide greater awareness and access to financial advice to women across Australia.”

Guest speaker and media personality Tracey Spicer hosted the launch and ‘Stand up and step up’ event. She provided insights on how to challenge the status quo, how women can ensure they have a passion and a purpose, and led a panel discussion on insights into success, leadership and what it takes to be a winner in the financial services industry.

Panellists included 2013 AFA Female Excellence Award winner, Catherine Robson; AFA Director/Treasurer and Inspire National Chair, Deborah Kent; and TAL General Manager Retail Distribution, Niall McConville.

“We are urging female advisers who demonstrate the ability to change the lives of everyday Australians, whilst also providing inspiration to other women seeking a career as a financial adviser, to apply, ” Ms Kent said.

The 2014 winner of the Female Excellence in Advice Award will be announced at the AFA National Conference on 14 October.

Macquarie Graduate School of Management is offering this year’s AFA Female Excellence
in Advice Award winner a full scholarship (valued at $12,000) to complete either a Postgraduate Certificate in Management or an Executive Education Leadership Development Program, of their choice. All semi-finalists will have the opportunity to participate in a Leadership Master Class as part of the Award Program.

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Jim Minto

Australia’s largest life insurer TAL has finished the financial year maintaining profit levels amid record claims payouts.

Financial results released by TAL’s Japanese parent, Dai-ichi Life, show net profit after tax (NPAT) was down 1% to $90 million for the 12 months to 31 March 2014, compared to an NPAT of $91 million the year before.

There was an increase in underlying profit by 6% to $131 million while premium and other revenue rose 24% to $2.3 billion.

Total claims for the period paid rose 38% to $885 million.

TAL Group CEO Jim Minto said: “In each year of the three years of full ownership by Dai-ichi Life, TAL has grown its underlying profit in what has been a very successful growth period for the company in a market that is going through significant change.

“Our specialisation in life insurance with a team focussed on our core business including operational risk management and strong business partnerships are behind our good results again this year.”

Mr Minto said TAL was proud to have delivered record claims payments to help families and individuals in times of need as well as providing peace of mind in protecting what people have created in life and what they dream of for the future.

As a company with a 150-year history providing financial protection, TAL has grown to become Australia’s largest life insurer by market share over this past year

Mr Minto said: “We are paying more claims than ever delivering tremendous social purpose for the people of Australia. We have maintained our profit levels through effective risk management and long term planning as we look to the decades ahead.

“Long term sustainability is critical for the life insurance industry and that is why we work closely with our business partners to help ensure benefits are affordable and sustainable for our customers well into the future so we are there for them when they need us.”

New business for the year grew 128% to $728 million while TAL’s embedded value grew by $195 million to $1.957 billion in the period.

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The Award, which is offered annually, recognises female financial advisers who are making a significant contribution to their profession, their community and particularly to female clients.

AFA CEO, Brad Fox, said the Award is a positive change catalyst for financial advice, with more women being encouraged to join the advice profession; Australians having greater choice when selecting an adviser and more women experiencing positive outcomes from receiving quality financial advice.

“We are delighted to have received an amazing number of entries for the Award again this year,” he said. “Boosting the number of female advisers in the profession is essential. It is a well-established fact that Australian women face significant challenges when trying to grow and protect their wealth and many feel more comfortable seeking advice from another woman.”

Brett Clark, TAL Life CEO, spoke of the high calibre of entrants.

“At TAL we understand the benefits that diversity brings to our industry and the wider community, so we are delighted to be partnering with the Award for the third year,” he said. “The quality of the nominations this year was again very impressive and a great indication of the calibre of women seeking to make a difference in financial services.  Congratulations to the finalists and thank you to everyone else who entered or nominated an adviser.”

Now in its third year, the Female Excellence in Advice Award is a joint initiative of the AFA and TAL. The winner of the 2013 Award will be announced at the AFA National Conference on the Gold Coast, Tuesday 15 October 2013.

The Award finalists are:

• Adrienne Rush, Bendigo Financial Planning Ltd
• Dominique Bergel-Grant, Leapfrog Financial Pty Ltd
• Catherine Robson, Affinity Private Pty Ltd
• Eleanor Dartnall, Dartnall Advisers Pty Ltd
• Justine Back, Back to Back Financial Planners
• Dianne Charman, Jade Financial Group Pty Ltd

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