The Award, which will be officially launched in May, is an important first step in tackling the gender gap that exists in retirement savings, wealth protection and life insurance.

AFA CEO, Richard Klipin said that the whole gender equity debate is alive and well in the financial advisory profession and the industry needs to focus collectively to address the imbalance.

“What we need is greater female participation in the financial advice sector generally, and in particular, higher rates of participation at a leadership level,” he said.  “The Award seeks to actively encourage more women into the industry so they are better represented within the ranks of financial advisers and better able help women secure their financial future.”

Brett Clark, CEO Retail Life of TOWER Australia said that in bringing this award to life, TOWER Australia is seeking to encourage, mentor and reward female advisers who are exemplars within their field.  “The Award is recognition of outstanding achievement and leadership within the financial advice industry,” he said.

Mr Clark said that research suggests women are significantly underinsured and generally have inadequate retirement savings, yet they often have higher protection needs and can expect to live longer lives than their male counterparts

He cited a 2006 report quoted on the Australian Human Rights Commission website that indicated almost half of women between the ages of 45 and 59 have less than $8,000 in retirement savings.  “Our own statistics show us that although women make up 45% of the Australian workforce, only 12% of TOWER Australia income protection claims come from women,” he said. “These statistics have significant social and fiscal implications for us all.”

The Award will be rolled out around Australia in May, linking to the 100th International Women’s Day calendar and the United Nations ‘Equality Means Business’ agenda.

Lara Jacques, Policy Officer of United Nations Women Australia said the Award is a wonderful initiative.  “It has the buy-in of some very senior people within the sector and the key component is to encourage women into the industry.  We are really excited that the Award is being launched and about the opportunities it creates for women within the finance sector,” she said.

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At the Awards presentation in Sydney today, CommInsure and Tower were both named winners of the Platinum Risk Insurer of the Year Award.  CommInsure also took out the Service Quality and Investment Bond Award and was a finalist for both the Income Protection and Annuity Provider awards. Tower also won both the Trauma and Income Protection awards and was a finalist for the Term/TPD award.

Runners-up for the Platinum award were AXA and OnePath.

In congratulating CommInsure and Tower, Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) National President, Brad Fox said that while Australians generally are under-insured, those who have adequately protected their financial future benefit from the excellent products and services available via the winners of the Awards.

“The AFA/Plan for Life Awards give us an opportunity to annually review the life products and services on offer to our clients,” he said. “It is heartening to see that life companies continue to innovate and enhance their product and service offering, in order to deliver excellent solutions which suit the ever-changing needs of ordinary Mums and Dads.”

AFA CEO, Richard Klipin said the Awards reflect the fact that life companies in Australia are fully focussed on providing better outcomes for consumers and equipping advisers with the tools they need in order to do it.  “This made choosing ultimate winners in all categories extremely difficult,” he said. “When it came to choosing an overall winner, it was impossible to choose between the excellent products and services offered by both CommInsure and Tower.”

Life companies are analysed  by Plan for Life from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective and adviser feedback plays an important part in the process.

Speaking on behalf of Plan for Life, which was bought earlier this year by Asset International’s Strategic Insight division, Senior Vice President, Operations of Asset International, Mike Rosenthal said the risk market represents a huge growth opportunity. “In Australia, there has been 18-20% growth per annum over the past six years. While the GFC has had some effect on this industry, now is the time to invest in product development and service to advisers, ensuring your sails are there to catch the wind as it picks up shortly and we return to double digit growth again.”

Mr Rosenthal also said that Plan for Life was looking forward to partnering with the AFA to take advantage of this growth and grow the adviser market.

In accepting the Platinum Award on behalf of CommInsure, Managing Director Paul Rayson said, “It’s an honour to win this award for the second year in a row. We have been working hard to improve our product and service offering to advisers and customers and this is welcome recognition.

“We will also continue to promote the vital role that insurance advisers play in helping to address underinsurance in Australia. Insurance advisers play a critical role in raising awareness of the need for adequate insurance cover and doing the hard work to follow up and ensure customers actually get cover.”

In accepting the Platinum Award on behalf of Tower, Brett Clark, CEO Retail Life, paid tribute to his team. “I would like to thank our hardworking team who have brought a compelling value proposition to customers in a very competitive market place,” he said. “We too believe that current remuneration models work. It is very important that all advice and manufacturing networks are aligned on this vital issue.”

For a complete list of winners, please click here

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