Synchron says progress is being made in its quest to deliver a new fixed term level premium product option for the Australian market.
In collaboration with AIA Australia, this initiative, inspired by the need for greater product innovation within the Australian life insurance environment, was originally announced in early 2016 (see: Synchron/AIA Lump Sum Product Initiative).
Speaking to his colleagues at a recent round of Professional Development days, Synchron Director, Don Trapnell, reinforced the value and benefits he envisages for this product option. He noted that advisers will be able to offer their clients policies with an extended fixed term (eg five, ten or 15 years), which is:
- Affordable
- Suitable to the client’s immediate needs
- Able to deliver guaranteed renewability, meaning no additional underwriting will be required to continue the policy once the specified term has expired
From the life company perspective, AIA Australia’s National Manager Retail Products, John Ashton, noted the offer (which is still under development) will not be a new product as such, but an alternative approach to policy structure and pricing.
Ashton said Synchron adviser feedback had indicated the business client market was one particular segment that may be well-suited to a fixed term level premium product option: “…it won’t just be a case of putting an older client on stepped premiums and a younger client on level. They will really be able to match up a business client’s exit strategy with a particular term of five, 10 or 15 years, with premiums priced in line with that term.”
Originally slated for a 2016 release, Synchron is projecting the official launch of Term Level Life to take place later this year.
Most innovative of Synchron. It’s no surprise then that it is the fastest-growing dealer group in the country.
What we really need is a Whole of Life policy, not new versions of temporary insurance designed to be out of force when most of us die. Whole of Life is still the greatest insurance product ever. What good is term insurance, on level or stepped premiums, to people who still need life insurance protection into and past their seventies? The insurer who gives us a 2017 version of a working Whole of Life product will have my undying love forever. That of my clients too, although most will have to wait a few decades from product purchase to realise it.
Hope you’ve done your research. The North American experience with these products (especially guaranteed cover after the end of the period) has been disastrous.
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