- ASIC Imposes Conditions on MyPlanner Licence;
- TAL Offers Insurance Education to Super Funds;
- MLC Life Announces First Roll-Out of Group Life Platform
ASIC Imposes Conditions on MyPlanner Licence
ASIC has imposed additional conditions on the licence of MyPlanner Australia after finding it was providing poor financial advice, and lacked adequate monitoring and supervision of its representatives.
The regulator also imposed the same conditions on a related AFS licence, MyPlanner Professional Services, after a large number of advisers and staff moved to that licence.
Surveillance undertaken by ASIC found that some MyPlanner advisers had not undertaken adequate inquiries into clients’ relevant circumstances, nor completely determined the suitability of strategies, or clearly defined the scope of advice, and had used generic reasons to support advice. ASIC also found MyPlanner’s pre-vetting and audits did not sufficiently identify these issues.
Under the conditions imposed, both licensees will be required to engage an independent expert to assess, make recommendations and report on the monitoring and supervisory arrangements of the licensees, and undergo a series of reviews over a 12 month period to measure the implementation and effectiveness of the recommendations.
ASIC stated MyPlanner assisted in the surveillance and acknowledged the steps taken by both licensees to address ASIC’s concerns.
TAL Offers Insurance Education to Super Funds
TAL has extended its life insurance education offering to superannuation fund partners by offering a dedicated platform focused on group insurance, underwriting and health issues faced by fund members.
The new platform – the TAL Insurance Academy – will launch with 10 modules developed by TAL’s technical experts which can be accessed by registered partners.
TAL General Manager of Group Insurance, Jenny Oliver said the Insurance Academy follows on from the success of the adviser focused TAL Risk Academy and both programs were developed to support business partners in making better decisions when dealing with TAL policy holders.
MLC Life Announces First Roll-Out of Group Life Platform
MLC Life Insurance has announced that Energy Super will be the first superannuation fund to roll-out its’ new group insurance digital platform LifeView.
The platform, which was launched in July, (see: MLC Life Launches Group Life Platform) will allow Energy Super members to apply for and increase their cover online as well as lodge and track claims.
Fund trustees and administrators will be able to access real time data and analysis of their funds’ claims experience and LifeView will be integrated with the MLC Life Insurance underwriting rules engine – Underwrite Me – to simplify the underwriting process for members.
The announcement continues an eight-year relationship between MLC Life Insurance and Energy Super with the roll-out of the platform to members set to take place in early 2018.
