- Macquarie Life Enhances Online Application Process
- Women Putting Partners’ Advice Needs Ahead of Their Own
- Securitor Joins AFA
Macquarie Life Enhances Online Application Process
Macquarie Life has launched a new online service, called WebConnect. The service enables advisers to commence an insurance application on behalf of their client, and then forward the personal statement to the client electronically to complete in their own time.
The insurer says WebConnect is just one option open to advisers via Macquarie LifeConnect, which also provides a tele-interviewing service and online application process, designed to reduce the time advisers need to spend on data entry and administration.
Speaking about the initiative, Head of Macquarie Life, Justin Delaney, said WebConnect was about giving advisers greater choice and flexibility.
“Advisers’ business models are constantly evolving and we continue to invest in developing services that enable the advice process by making it easy for them to do business with us,” Mr Delaney said.
Women Putting Partners’ Advice Needs Ahead of Their Own
The primary barrier to women seeking advice, according to a recent poll of financial advisers, is the emphasis placed on their partner or spouse’s finances.
The survey, conducted by AMP, found that 41.8% of financial advisers believed women did not seek advice because they placed the needs of their spouse or partner ahead of their own when it came to finances.
Speaking about the results, AMP Head of Technical Strategies Wealth Protection, Chris Kirby, said: “In some cases, women take care of the day-to-day financial management of their household, but aren’t involved in making major financial decisions with their partner. They often put their family or partner’s needs first, neglecting their own.”
Securitor Joins AFA
BT Financial Group’s Securitor has joined the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) as a licensee partner.
Head of Dealer Groups at BT, Matt Englund, said the decision was based on the group’s ongoing commitment to supporting professionalism in the financial planning industry.
“All of our authorised representatives must be members of a professional association,” Mr Englund said. “We want to provide Securitor practices with access to professional industry associations that can represent their interests. We have been impressed by the quality of the AFA’s membership program, their commitment to the industry and their passion for representing advisers.”
AFA CEO, Richard Klipin, said the Association has experienced membership growth of over 25% during the 2011 calendar year.
“Given all that is happening around the Future of Financial Advice reforms, recruiting more licensees to the AFA is part of the ongoing mission,” Mr Klipin said.
