ClearView Wealth’s refreshed strategy is focused on leveraging its competitive advantage in life insurance to achieve its goal of becoming a top player in the Australian market, according to newly-installed MD, Nadine Gooderick.
In announcing a 41% increase in group underlying net profit after tax of $36.5m for the year to 30 June 2023, the company said this reflected “…strong growth across all key financial metrics and improving life insurance market conditions.”
The company says the strong FY23 operating results and growth prospects are driven by its ongoing “…business simplification”, noting that the life insurance focus has driven strong momentum, including a 25% increase in new business, which in turn has seen the insurer attain a 9% share in all risk new business written during FY23.
It says the successful execution of ClearView’s simplification and transformation strategy “…now sees the business emerge as a life insurance business that is focused on protecting and optimising its position as a dynamic challenger.”
The insurer says the divestment of its Wealth Management business, targeted to complete in FY24, will result in a simplified, focused business. This follows the sale of ClearView’s Financial Advice business to Centrepoint Alliance in 2021 (see: Centrepoint Alliance to Acquire ClearView Advice Businesses.)
“ClearView’s strategy is to increase its share of the life insurance market; achieving operational excellence in the core life insurance functions of product, underwriting, claims and rehabilitation; and exploring potential growth and diversification opportunities.”
It adds that as an “…agile, purpose-driven company, ClearView is poised to take advantage of reforms designed to make advice accessible and affordable to more Australians.”
Gooderick says the group’s decision “…to re-set and transform the business in early 2020 by simplifying and investing in our systems, processes and technology, as well as expanding our people capability, is starting to deliver benefits and growth through efficiencies, productivity gains and scale benefits.”
It has set itself some key goals that it’s looking to achieve by FY26, including a new business market share of up to 14%:
Gooderick said key business highlights in FY23 included:
- Building out the functionality of the Group’s Policy Administration System
- Enhancements to ClearView ClearChoice
- A refreshed customer claims journey
- Ongoing customer retention and lapse management initiatives
- Improvements in underwriting
- A range of employee wellbeing programs
The firm also noted that plans “…are underway to increase ClearView’s exposure to underwriting risk for new business. This will reduce reinsurance costs, lift sum insured retained and drive higher new business profit over time.”
ClearView says this confidence to increase the underwriting risk exposure “…is due to the increased size of the in-force portfolios, improved industry profitability and product sustainability measures, seen in the Group’s financial performance this year.”
