Philip Kewin

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) and Zurich Financial Services Australia (Zurich) have announced the semi-finalists in the 2014 AFA Adviser of the Year and Practice of the Year Awards (the Awards).

The Adviser of the Year honour was first awarded in 2003, as a joint initiative between the AFA and Zurich, and is acknowledged to be Australia’s premier advice award. 2014 represents a new chapter in the award, with the best individual adviser and best advice practice to be honoured separately.

AFA CEO, Brad Fox, said the decision to offer two awards reflected the evolution of advice, including new business models characterised by greater separation between entrepreneurial business owners and highly specialised client facing advisers.

“The standard of candidates for this year’s awards has once again been exceptional, and underscores the incredible job advisers are doing in changing lives for the better’” said Mr Fox.

Renowned for the rigour of the judging process, this year’s candidates are also being assessed on their efforts to improve the financial literacy of their clients, prospects and the community overall.

Mr Philip Kewin, Zurich’s GM Retail Life & Investments also acknowledged the quality of candidates this year, and believes it augurs well for the reputation of advisers overall.

“Aside from a strong commitment to client care and self-development, what stands out for me about this year’s candidates is the amazing innovation taking place in how advice is delivered, said Mr Kewin.

“Ultimately these candidates are leading the way in lifting the reputation of the advice profession and making quality advice accessible to more Australians,” he said.

The Semi Finalists for the Adviser of the Year Award are:

• Bill Bracey, Sydney Financial Planning
• Catherine Robson, Affinity Private
• David Clark, Clark Pacific Financial Services Pty Ltd
• Eleanor Dartnall, Dartnall Advisers Pty Ltd
• Finn Kelly, Wealth Enhancers & WE Private
• PJ Byrne, Mr Insurance

The Semi Finalists for the Practice of the Year Award are:

• Complete Financial Balance
• Complete Risk Analysis
• Lighthouse Capital Pty Ltd
• Rising Tide Financial Services
• Robina Financial Solutions Pty Ltd
• Tribeca Financial

The Semi-Finalists now proceed to the next stage of assessment, with three Finalists in each Award to be announced in mid-September.

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Patrick Noble

Zurich Financial Services Australia (Zurich) contests recent commentary on the merits of active management in the increasingly buoyant Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (AREITs) market, instead believing that the uneven performances seen within individual sectors of the economy add a level of risk to a passive approach.

Mr. Patrick Noble, Senior Investment Strategist within Zurich’s Life and Investments business likens the passive approach to buying a whole street.

“In simple residential property terms, why buy the whole street when really what you want is to selectively choose a property in the right location, priced at a discount to your expert market valuation, and which can be moved in and out of quickly?” he said.

“We have a positive outlook for the AREIT market but the opportunities are not uniform in our view.

“For example, we have a preference for REITs with an exposure to residential but are more cautious for securities with exposure to the office market. Residential is benefitting from both recovering markets and improving margins whereas office to us is struggling under high vacancy rates and new construction which is adding to supply.

“Under researched and under owned small cap property securities are also offering some good opportunities,” he added.

The sector has demonstrated strong returns over the past 5 years and yields also remain appealing for investors.

“But simply taking a passive position belies our strong conviction that there will be a wide dispersion of future returns in the listed property sector.  Investors should consider the argument for highly active, nimble management alongside the appeal of the AREIT market,” said Mr. Noble.

One fund utilising such an approach is Zurich’s Australian Property Securities Fund, recently commended by Morningstar Australia in recognition of its “track record for serving unit holders well.”*

Mr. Noble said the fund was highly regarded by other independent research houses including Lonsec and Zenith and has recently been included in the model portfolio for a major listed institution’s private wealth investment lineup.

“The strong message for investors is to seek out active managers with a proven track record as the market requires specialist skills now more than ever,” he said.
Fund wins Model Portfolio Listing

The Zurich Australian Property Securities Fund has recently won a position on the model portfolios offered to clients of Perpetual Limited-owned licensee Perpetual Private Wealth.

Mr Philip Kewin, General Manager Retail for Zurich’s Life and Investments business said it was pleasing to see further uptake of the Zurich Investments’ model to develop strategic partnerships with best-of-breed investment specialists.

“Renaissance has been a strong partner to Zurich and our customers since 2005. As we forge new business partnerships with a strategic, long-term focus in mind it is very encouraging to see investors and their advisers rewarded by the diligence we bring to our manager line-up,” he said.

Mr Kewin said listed property investment was the traditional domain of investors seeking reliable income and some capital growth over the long term.

“Australian investors can access a Fund that has convincingly reminded us that a disciplined, rigorous investment approach together with highly active market capability can help to achieve such outcomes”.

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Philip Kewin

Zurich Financial Services Australia (Zurich) – the first life insurer to offer daily data feeds – yesterday announced the extension of this facility to users of the AdviserLogic platform.

Effective immediately, advisers running the AdviserLogic system will be able to easily and efficiently access in-force policy and client information that is updated daily.

According to Mr Philip Kewin, Zurich’s General Manager Retail, Life & Investments, the partnership with AdviserLogic comes at a time of renewed focus on adviser efficiency.

“Our own research showed advisers thought the need to drive efficiency would be the single biggest outcome from the FOFA reforms, and notwithstanding the recent amendments, we believe efficiency remains one of the biggest challenge facing advisers,” he said.

The Zurich and AdviserLogic interface remains one of the few data feed facilities with daily updates, and with the industry dialogue likely to now focus on the recently released Financial System Inquiry Report, Mr Kewin believes that extra transparency data feeds allow will also be welcomed.

“Australian consumers are still seeking more accessible advice and more transparent information about the financial products and services they use.

“In addition to the immediate efficiency gains afforded by daily updated data feeds, this service lays the groundwork on which advisers can build a stronger client engagement and communication platform, including online and digital based solutions, “ said Mr Kewin.

AdviserLogic Head of Product Development, Mr Daniel Gara, agrees that digitalisation has driven a more information hungry, technology savvy consumer, and this has important ramifications for advisers.

“Consumers are demanding more information, and they want it delivered faster and through their channels of choice; access to data which is accurate, comprehensive and up to date is an essential building block for advisers wanting to meet the needs of their clients,” Mr Gara said.

Overview of data feed process

Each Financial Planning System contains full details of each client and their associated risk and investment policies (from all insurance providers) and this information is then used to manage client information and communications, policy information and to varying degrees, to manage business workflows, such as new business processes.

Currently, advisers who don’t use data feeds must manually enter new and updated client and associated policy data into their financial planning system at regular intervals. This is an ongoing and time consuming task for most financial planners and involves contacting their insurers frequently to ensure their client and policy data is always up to date.

Data feeds provide advisers with a number of efficiencies with the management of in force and submitted Zurich policies. There is no need for double entry for example, and advisers can access the most up-to-date client information as they need it.

Mr Kewin said, “Zurich is committed to ensuring advisers have the support they need to become more efficient and more digitally enabled we are extremely proud to be able to provide them with an industry-first interface that provides automatic access to the updated client and policy information that they need.”

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Daniel Clark

Zurich Financial Services Australia Limited (Zurich) has further strengthened its Life Risk sales team with the appointment of two new Business Development Managers and one Business Development Associate across the New South Wales and Victorian teams.

Ms Gee Vas has joined Zurich’s Victorian team as a Business Development Manager, whilst in NSW Mr Daniel Clark has been promoted to Business Development Manager and Mr Matt McDonnell has been promoted to Business Development Associate.

Ms Kristine Brooks, Head of Retail Sales for Zurich’s Life and Investments business, said “Zurich’s Life and Investments business had a fantastic year in 2013. The key to our growth has been tailoring our proposition around the individual needs of our distribution partners.”

“The expansion of our Life Risk sales team to include these talented individuals will help Zurich continue to deliver its market leading solutions and better service the needs of financial advisers,” she said.

Gee Vas comes to Zurich with over eight years experience in financial services – spanning both investments and life insurance – and a passion for helping advisers develop and implement business growth strategies.

Prior to joining Zurich, Gee worked in sales development management with TAL.

“Gee complements our team and encompasses a lot of Zurich’s values. She has an enviable reputation as a relationship focused BDM who gets results, and we are delighted to have a BDM of Gee’s calibre join the team,” said Ms Brooks.

Daniel Clark’s recent appointment to the position of Business Development Manager sees him manage Zurich’s relationships with key dealer groups throughout NSW and ACT regions.

Since joining Zurich in 2009, Daniel has built his experience and expertise through time in both customer service and business development associate roles.

He holds a certificate in Specialist Risk Management, and is currently completing a Bachelor of Business in Financial Planning at RMIT, and a certificate IV in Financial Planning Practice Management.

“Dan is a valuable addition to our team and we are confident that his industry knowledge and extensive experience in adviser relationship management will be invaluable in his new role, and in helping us to continue delivering a market-leading proposition to financial advisers,” said Ms Brooks.

Matthew McDonnell joined the NSW Life Risk sales team in June 2014 as its newest Business Development Associate.

Matthew started with Zurich in 2007 and has over 10 years experience in the financial services industry, gained through roles in banking, client services and key adviser relationship management.  Most recently, Matthew was the team leader of Zurich’s Key Account Consultants team, overseeing premium service and relationship management offerings to our platinum advisers, nationally.

“These new appointments come during a period of sustained growth for Zurich’s Retail Life business, driven by a highly talented and committed team and a philosophy of working with advisers as true business partners,” said Ms Brooks.

“Our ability to attract top performers from around the market is an endorsement of the strength of our brand and culture, whilst our two internal promotions are testament to the depth of our own talent pool,” she said.

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A new strategic partnership announced yesterday between leading national accounting and financial services firm, Crowe Horwath, and Zurich Financial Services Australia (Zurich) will seek to reduce the high proportion of small businesses without adequate levels of business expenses insurance.

The partnership is designed to improve awareness among the SME sector that business expenses insurance is equally as important as other types of insurance.

Under the arrangement, small business clients will be advised on appropriate risk management strategies, including business expenses insurance, which will allow business operations to continue in the event of temporary injury or illness.

Crowe Horwath Head of Insurance, Maurice Thaung, said many SMEs have not considered the material impact that sickness and injury could have on their business with the Zurich partnership focused on drawing attention to the importance of business expenses insurance.

“We advise more than 200,000 SME clients and while most acknowledge the need for income protection, insuring fixed business expenses specifically is often overlooked.

“Without proper risk management strategies in place, many of these businesses would be forced to cease operating if the business owner were to suddenly fall ill or injure themselves for a prolonged period,” he said.

With the end of the 2013/14 financial year approaching, business expenses insurance is increasingly forming part of client discussions and cited as a key business risk needing to be addressed.

“In the lead up to 30 June, our financial advisers will work with our accountants to provide advice to clients on the most appropriate business continuity and protection strategies. Planning is an important part of any business and business expense cover could be the difference between a business being forced to close or remain running while the owner recovers. The partnership with Zurich will help us put the right strategies in place for our clients,” he said.

According to Zurich’s Head of Sales Strategies and Research – Life Risk, Andy Marshall, Australia already has a huge underinsurance problem and business owners are failing to understand the difference between other types of insurance and business expenses insurance.

“Many people believe that workers compensation, business interruption insurance, or even an income protection policy will cover fixed business expenses if they are unable to work due to sickness or injury. Personal income replacement cover is designed to cover up to 75 per cent of an individual’s taxable income from their business. If they have fixed business expenses and no business expenses cover, then they only have half the protection needed,” he said.

Research shows only 3.3 per cent [1] of new annual premiums are for business expenses cover with 92 per cent [2] of small business owners without expense cover. Business expenses insurance is used to cover fixed business expenses if you are unable to work due to sickness or injury.

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[1] Source: Plan for Life 2010

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In his new role Marc will be based in Zurich, Switzerland, but have a global mandate to drive the evolution of distribution strategies within Zurich’s markets around the world.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr Colin Morgan, CEO of Zurich’s Australian Life and Investments business, said “Our Australian business has forged a reputation for innovation, particularly in the evolving area of digital technology and social media, and Marc has driven our work in that space”.

“Over the last three years, Marc has spearheaded our development of a suite of market leading mobile apps for advisers,” said Mr Morgan.

“He has also been instrumental in initiatives which help advisers leverage technology to drive both efficiency and improved customer experience, and is recognised as true pioneer within the local market.

“His innovative approach has been recognised as one which Zurich can leverage globally, and we are delighted that one of our own has been appointed to such a pivotal role”, said Mr Morgan.

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