Acenda CEO says advisers ‘uniquely placed’ to help insurance clients

The life insurance industry has a vital role to play in Australia’s safety net to help address some of the nation’s biggest economic and health challenges, according to Acenda chief executive and managing director Kent Griffin.

Speaking at the Council of Australian Life Insurers (CALI) conference in Sydney on Wednesday, Griffin said the industry has “never had a better opportunity to work together” and build a “new vision” of life insurance in Australia.

“Indeed, Australia needs us more than ever. A strong life insurance sector can play a vital role in Australia’s safety net and address the nation’s twin policy challenges of an ageing population and soaring healthcare costs,” he said.

The CEO added that advisers have a crucial role to play in life insurance, saying they are “uniquely placed to support clients in navigating insurance options that align with their situation”.

“We know there is a large, unmet need for advice and guidance on life insurance. CALI’s latest sentiment tracker shows 33 per cent of working Australians sought or considered financial advice in the past three months but only 7 per cent actually received it,” Griffin said.

“There is universal agreement across the industry and government about the importance of improving access to quality, affordable advice.”

On the back of the recently announced second tranche of Delivering Better Financial Outcomes (DBFO) reforms, he also urged whichever party forms government to “ensure advice reform remains a priority”.

“We must continue to work together as an industry to embrace a comprehensive agenda of reform,” Griffin said.

“The latest tranche of the government’s financial advice reforms, released in March, will help to simplify the advice framework, ensuring more Australians can access advice in a format that is easy to understand and tailored to their individual needs.

“This is a positive step; however, more can be done. The government has also committed to developing the remaining pieces to modernise the best interest duty and create a new class of adviser, and that these, combined with the draft legislation released, will be introduced into Parliament as a single package. With this commitment from government, we are making progress.”

Along with optimism on the reform front, he argued there are positive signs for financial advice as the market begins to stabilise “after a tough few years”.

“The number of advisers writing life insurance also continues to increase. One in two people who received advice about life insurance in the past three months got it from a financial adviser,” Griffin said.