The life insurance sector needs to move away from focusing on ‘death benefits’ and should concentrate on improving the life and health of those insured as well as those unable to obtain insurance according to MetLife senior executive.
In doing so insurers will not only increase the number of people accessing insurance but will reduce the social costs of insurance claims according to MetLife Asia, Chief Innovation Officer, Zia Zeman.
As part of this he predicts that insurers will move away from selling products and begin to focus on selling services related to health and well-being in an effort to engage with those who do not have insurance and younger people who may consider it expensive.
“Currently, products are too complex but simpler products will cause a shift as they will be linked to honey pots that attract clients. This is about growing the pie of insured people,” Zeman said.
“A good digital front end will trump an average adviser. However, a good financial adviser will help clients be themselves”
He believes these new forms of insurance will be delivered digitally but says there is a place for advisers who interact with clients instead of selling to them.
“New consumers will interact with digital and a good digital front end will trump an average adviser. However, a good financial adviser will help clients be themselves,” Zeman said.
“Financial advisers can dip into this area of health and wealth because it is about life and fulfilment and a great adviser does this type of work all the time.”
“When people live longer everyone wins. Making the healthy even healthier does not change the bottom line that much but getting riskier people and reducing their risks- making the uninsurable insurable – that is where the money is made.”
“We can grow the pie by targeting people with higher risk and targeting financial inclusion and using technology to allow more people to benefit from our financial services.”
In related news MetLife Insurance in Australia will provide its new Fund Intelligence Dashboard to superannuation funds looking for data on marketing, sales, administration and member engagement after the completion of testing.
MetLife, Chief Executive, Deanne Stewart said the use of data by super funds allowed them to better engage with their member base through real-time digital analytics and insights.
Stewart said MetLife was moving away from quarterly reporting with the dashboard providing interactive data to better manage group life costs and improve product design.
“The Australian superannuation industry is facing significant challenges, not just from regulatory changes but also from decreasing member involvement and engagement, particularly given the growing popularity of SMSFs,” Stewart said.
“In order to differentiate, funds are becoming more member-centric in their approach, with greater customer segmentation and more distinct, customised value propositions. Leveraging data will be a priority for those funds that want to be a disruptive force within the sector.”
“There is a clear opportunity for group insurers to add value to their super fund clients by providing real-time data to inform evidence-based business decisions, all in the cause of helping funds remain agile in a challenging operating environment.”
Zia’s remarks make sense. How though do we advisers get into this space? I’m not aware that such services are available. While we are advisers first, our main incomes at this stage are derived the sale of products which will deliver the expected benefits he’s talking about.
I must have missed something in the translation. Life insurance has always been about protecting assets, both financial and two legged ones,… just in case.
There are very few Olympic athletes out there who want insurance but for the bulk of the others who do, most are healthy and will be prepared to invest in protecting their families and their assets.
Perhaps it’s just me,…. but I don’t come across too many unhealthy people.
99.0% of client’s now, don’t or have never smoked, so I’m not sure how those at MetLife think that Australians are unhealthy.
Sure obesity is a problem but many of those don’t want insurance.
Getting hit by a bus, being involved in a car crash, being injured or getting too sick to work happens to many fit people because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Like all statistics,, if you torture them long enough, they’ll tell you anything you want to hear !!.
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