Life industry needs to innovate, Zurich says

Speaking at the Adviser Innovation Summit yesterday, Zurich’s head of marketing and communications for life and investments, Richard Dunkerley, addressed the misconception among those in the industry that good customer experience and good technology are diametrically opposed.

“I do think, as a sector within financial services, I think that the life industry is probably a bit behind the times,” he said.

To further address the point, Mr Dunkerley mentioned a survey Zurich conducted about 18 months ago that found that less than 10 per cent of advisers had truly mobile-optimised websites.

“I’ve spoken to advisers and said, ‘Is your website mobile-optimised?’ and they think that just being able to look at it on the phone is enough,” he said.

“The reality is that we passed that tipping point several years ago where the vast majority of online experiences, online traffic is now done on a mobile device.”

At the same event, Netwealth joint managing director Matt Heine predicted that health trackers will radically change the way insurance operates in the future.

Mr Heine said underwriting will soon be influenced by genomics, among other things, and this will mean that premiums “are going to potentially be charged on a daily basis based on your activity”.

He added that insurance claims “will be linked back to your activity and what you tell the insurance company”.

This story previously appeared under the headline: Life industry 'behind the times', says Zurich

Adrian Flores

Adrian Flores is a deputy editor at Momentum Media, focusing mainly on banking, wealth management and financial services. He has also written for Public Accountant, Accountants Daily and The CEO Magazine.

You can contact him on [email protected].