The glass is half empty for most advisers when it comes to whether they see light at the end of the tunnel for a solution to the industry’s sustainability challenge.
As we go to press, almost eight in ten respondents to our latest poll (79%) disagree with the proposition that a resolution to the sustainability dilemma is around the corner. Only around one in ten (11%) agree the industry is on the right path, with the rest unsure.
Panellists at the Zurich Sustainability Round Table confronted and addressed all of the key issues that have contributed to the industry’s present sustainability environment, which continues to see upward pressure on premium base rates, and which remains one of the few ‘solutions’ currently available to insurers to help right the sustainability ship.
The response to this poll seems to indicate that while the Sustainability Round Table panel identified the main issues and offered solutions – offered a pathway – most advisers are effectively saying they currently lack confidence in the industry’s ability to deliver the changes and outcomes articulated during the Round Table discussions.
…the industry knows where the solutions lie, but it’s more a case of whether it can deliver those solutions
Those initiatives variously relate to:
- Introducing more fit-for-purpose product solutions that can better insure against mental health-related and other episodic total disability conditions
- Instilling in financial advisers the confidence to trust and embrace these new offers in sufficient volumes to make a difference
- Doubling the number of authorised representatives who can serve the life insurance needs of Australian consumers
- Advocating for and succeeding in delivering regulatory reforms that will give insurers more flexibility in funding claimant rehabilitation costs and reduce both the cost and complexity attaching to delivering life insurance advice
- Genuine open-ness and collaboration across the entire sector in a united approach to driving an outcome that will achieve and maintain greater sustainability
It seems the industry knows where the solutions lie, but it’s more a case of whether it can deliver those solutions.
Our poll remains open for another week as we continue to look ahead – to identify and report on those future initiatives that will make a meaningful contribution to addressing the sustainability dilemma…
