{"id":191,"date":"2019-11-15T07:30:33","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T20:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/?p=191"},"modified":"2019-11-18T22:25:59","modified_gmt":"2019-11-18T11:25:59","slug":"2019-pacific-life-re-round-table-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/2019-pacific-life-re-round-table-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"2019 Pacific Life Re Round Table &#8211; Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fw plre201901\">\n<h3>In a first for our Riskinfo Round Table series, we welcomed reinsurer Pacific Life Re to the table to share ideas with your adviser peers about the issues of the day and the role that reinsurers can actually play in working with life companies and advisers to enhance the end-to-end life insurance advice process.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1258\" src=\"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-group.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Panelists<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Pacific Life Re Voices<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Andrew Gill<\/strong> \u2013 Managing Director, Pacific Life Re (Asia and Australia), Co-host<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tyson Johnston<\/strong> \u2013 General Manager, Pacific Life Re (Australia)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Adviser Voices<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Marc Bineham<\/strong> \u2013 Adviser, Noall &amp; Co, National President Association of Financial Advisers<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rob Vitnell<\/strong> \u2013 Adviser, Victorian State Manager, Australian Financial Risk Management<\/li>\n<li><strong>Amie Baker<\/strong> &#8211; Adviser, Rekab Advice<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kathryn Fitch<\/strong> \u2013 Adviser, Evalesco Financial Services<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"fw ad\"><!-- Either there are no banners, they are disabled or none qualified for this location! --><\/div>\n<h3>Part 1 \u2013\u00a0How do Reinsurers Add Value for Advisers and Advice Businesses?<\/h3>\n<p>What contribution &#8211; what value &#8211; can reinsurers add to the retail insurance sector? This conversation may help to answer these questions, as it did for some of our panellists.<\/p>\n<p>Getting straight to the point, our panel heard first-up from Pacific Life Re MD for Asia and Australia, <strong>Andrew Gill<\/strong>, who noted that insurers are looking for greater support from reinsurers than the current \u2018vanilla\u2019 services such as capital, pricing and operational support. This is in line with their appetite to further improve their propositions to customers and advisers.<\/p>\n<h3>Simplicity<\/h3>\n<p>In terms of value-add, however, Andrew emphasised the importance of creating a seamless and simple process across the value chain, in supporting life companies, advisers and ultimately the end customer.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Andrew referenced:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The use of current and emerging technologies to try to make the underwriting process more streamlined and simpler<\/li>\n<li>Using similar technology advancements to enhance claims processes for companies, advisers and claimants<\/li>\n<li>For complex cases, enabling the allocation of skilled capabilities of senior underwriters to make new business applications easier and simpler, in an endeavour to get more people covered more quickly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-213\" src=\"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"717\" srcset=\"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-01.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-01-300x120.jpg 300w, https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-01-768x306.jpg 768w, https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-01-1024x408.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Andrew said the combined effect of these initiatives would contribute to making the role of advisers and the services they offer their clients easier. He says the greater efficiencies inherent in these improvements is how reinsurers can deliver added value for the retail advised insurance sector.<\/p>\n<p>He referenced the correlation between the current Australian market and the shake-up of the life insurance market in the United Kingdom as a result of the UK Retail Distribution Review (RDR) recommendations, which came into effect at the beginning of 2013.This resulted in fewer new advisers coming into the sector replacing the greater volume of advisers who were retiring.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew related how UnderwriteMe\u2019s \u2018Protection Platform\u2019 was introduced via Pacific Life Re into the UK market around this time and helped to reduce the impact of the exodus of advisers, as it could accommodate multiple life insurance offers, rather than having the adviser needing to run individual quotations.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>working hard to better understand our customer\u2019s customers holds great value for the reinsurer<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This was a great example of how reinsurers contributed to making the whole process simpler, \u201c\u2026and I really see the role of reinsurers also helping to increase the size of the pie, which is really important for everyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to a question about how reinsurers can work better with or add more value direct to advisers, Andrew said working hard to better understand our customer\u2019s customers holds great value for the reinsurer. He said this applies to both the personal advice sector as well as the group sector via fund trustees. \u201cIf we understand our customers\u2019 customers better, we stand a better chance of serving our customers\u2019 needs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-214\" src=\"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-02.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"505\" srcset=\"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-02.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-02-300x84.jpg 300w, https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-02-768x215.jpg 768w, https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-02-1024x287.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Andrew said that in the UK today, retail advised customers can answer a single set of underwriting questions \u2013 reflexive questions, offering access to multiple life insurance offers, which can lead to a \u2018Buy Now\u2019 button. \u201cBut we haven\u2019t got that in Australia as yet,\u201d observed Andrew, where instead each life company runs its own underwriting rules engine. \u201cIn the UK,\u201d says Andrew, \u201c\u2026it took a while to get to that model. That\u2019s been a five-year journey, where now in the UK, most retail insurers are using that model.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>we\u2019re trying to make the whole life insurance advice process simpler<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>General Manager, Pacific Life Re (Australia), <strong>Tyson Johnston<\/strong>, told the adviser panellists that while Pacific Life Re is two steps removed from the advice process, \u201c\u2026a big part of our strategy is to better understand advisers so we can provide greater value to our insurance partners..<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur purpose is to be an enabler for our clients to help them in turn to facilitate selling more insurance. We\u2019re trying to do that in a few ways, such as being able, as a global reinsurer, to access insights from around the globe and in having access to capital, which allows us to write larger, more unusual risks. But in particular, we\u2019re trying to make the whole life insurance advice process simpler,\u201d said Tyson, effectively reinforcing Andrew\u2019s message about the critical importance of simplicity.<\/p>\n<p>How does a reinsurer go about achieving this aim?<\/p>\n<!-- Either there are no banners, they are disabled or none qualified for this location! -->\n<h3>Purpose Built Technology and Targeted Efficiency<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cWe generally try to make this happen through technology that understands the needs of the whole value chain and those that support it,\u201d said Tyson. \u201cIt starts with the advice process and flows into underwriting and claims.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/evalesco.com.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Evalesco Financial Solutions<\/a> adviser, <strong>Kathryn Fitch<\/strong>, indicated her surprise by all the levels of activity in which Pacific Life Re add their expertise. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not sure that many advisers know that either,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Kathryn suggested advisers should get more involved directly with reinsurers during the product testing phase, to which <a href=\"http:\/\/rekabadvice.com.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rekab Advice\u2019s<\/a> <strong>Amie Baker<\/strong> responded that she recently had that experience with Integrity Life. She referred to testing that was undertaken with advisers by Integrity Life for underwriting pre-assessment which took place before the quotation was created.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-219\" src=\"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-04.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"815\" srcset=\"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-04.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-04-300x136.jpg 300w, https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-04-768x348.jpg 768w, https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/files\/2019\/11\/plre-roundtable-04-1024x464.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Amie thinks this is a more efficient way to go, because she said in her earlier years as an adviser, she would get through the quotation processes only to discover her client wasn\u2019t insurable or would be subject to significant exclusions or loadings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo now I get it done upfront \u2013 now that we\u2019ve got all the tools and software that will allow us to be more efficient in what we do, including being prompted by the software as I go through the process,\u201d said Amie.<\/p>\n<p>Tyson said this was a great example of how reinsurers add value because this particular preassessment tool that Amie references, UnderwriteMe\u2019s Underwriting Rules Engine, was something developed and introduced to the Australian market by Pacific Life Re. The platform brings some of the more challenging underwriting questions upfront to allow information that was more critical in the assessment process to be provided nearer to its beginning, leading to greater time efficiencies and less time wastage.<\/p>\n<p>Amie told her peers she has developed her own initial preassessment fact find over the years but had kept adding questions to it to the point where it became half the size of an application itself. She\u2019s now happy that a simple, online preassessment tool exists so she doesn\u2019t have to keep evolving her own preassessment questions.<\/p>\n<p>Kathryn and Amie agreed they did not appreciate the extent of the influence of reinsurers on their day-to-day operations and processes.<\/p>\n<p><em>Part II in this Round Table series will be released shortly and will reflect on the various product issues demanding attention, including pricing and sustainability challenges impacting all parts of the life insurance and advice sectors&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/2019-pacific-life-re-round-table\/\" class=\"woo-sc-button  custom small\" style=\"background:#f90;border-color:#f90\"><span class=\"woo-\">Back to 2019 Pacific Life Re Round Table Main Page&#8230;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a first for our Riskinfo Round Table series, we welcomed reinsurer Pacific Life Re to the table to share ideas with your adviser peers about the issues of the [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4247],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/roundtable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}