TAL (formerly TOWER Australia) has been announced as the winner of the 2011 Plan For Life/AFA Life Company of the Year Award.
TAL won the Platinum Award for Life Company of the Year ahead of fellow finalists, AXA and CommInsure.
This highly-regarded Award is based on a ranking of key benchmark criteria that take into account the performance of each of the life companies across a twelve-month period. Feedback received from financial advisers is included in the benchmarking criteria and is an important factor in the final rankings.
In congratulating the winners, AFA President, Brad Fox, said “Our annual review of the life products and services available to our clients, via our Awards process, has once again confirmed that life companies are committed to delivering excellence in both service delivery and product solutions.”
TAL’s CEO Retail Life, Brett Clark, told riskinfo that his company rates this Award as the most important of all those that are given on an annual basis “… because it goes through a rigorous process and it is a very tangible response from advisers about the quality of the products and services we deliver. So we value it very highly and as an organisation we’re extremely honoured to win it.”
AFA CEO, Richard Klipin said the Awards also confirmed that life companies take the needs of advisers seriously and work hard towards delivering products and services that have a real impact on adviser productivity and consumer outcomes:
“Plan for Life analyses the companies in the risk market from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective,” he said. ”Adviser feedback plays a crucial role in that process.”
In other key awards, Zurich was announced as the winner of the Service Quality Award, ahead of TAL and CommInsure, while product and other category award winners were:
Term Life/TPD Award
- Winner: TAL
- Finalists: AXA and OnePath
Trauma Award
- Winner: Axa
- Finalists: TAL, MLC and Asteron
Income Protection Award
- Winner: CommInsure
- Finalists: AIA and TAL
Risk Product Innovation Award
- Joint Winners: Macquarie Online Toolkit and BT Insurance Service for IFAs including Flexible Remuneration Options
Investment Bond Award
- Winner: CommInsure
- Finalists: AMP, One Path
Annuity Provider of the Year
- Winner: Challenger
- Finalists: BT and CommInsure
Long Term Income Stream
- Winner: Challenger
- Finalist: CommInsure
Income Stream Innovation
- Winner: Challenger - Guaranteed Pension Fund
TAL’s 2011 win follows its joint win in 2010 as TOWER Australia, shared with CommInsure. Platinum winners since the inception of this Award have been:
- 2006: AXA
- 2007: CommInsure
- 2008: Asteron/Aviva (Joint winners)
- 2009: CommInsure
- 2010: TOWER/CommInsure (Joint winners)
- 2011: TAL
