Adviser survey reveals key business placement drivers

The results show that efficiency and strong relationship management are the most important factors for advisers.

The message seems to be: “make it easy to do business with you, or we’ll take clients elsewhere.”

"Not surprisingly, the most critical driver of business placement for advisers is the perception that an insurance company is 'easy to do business with"; says NMG Consulting partner Sam Tremethick.

“While this term can mean different things to different advisers, it generally refers to insurers who reduce friction across the value chain; particularly in underwriting, new business administration, and claims.”

Key insights

Advisers provided qualitative feedback across ten key dimensions, including pricing competitiveness, relationship management, products, claims, and remuneration.

Chubb was rated highest for remuneration, Fidelity Life for underwriting, Asteron Life for relationship management, AIA for pricing, and Partners Life for products.

Tremethick noted that product pricing and suitability were identified as primary concerns for advisers. However, when it comes to actually placing business, relationship management emerged as the more important factor.

Tremethick said that the success of top-performing insurers in this category often came down to the strength of their BDMs.

“Advisers valued ease of access to BDMs, the quality of support provided, and whether BDMs added tangible value to their business,” he explained. “Beyond BDMs, insurers who foster strong adviser relationships with underwriters, administrative contacts, and even executives rank more highly in this category.”

Digital tools are also becoming a must. These include tools that allow them to self-serve admin tasks and get issues resolved quickly.

Optimism despite a tough year

Despite 2024 being challenging, advisers are surprisingly upbeat about 2025. The survey showed adviser sentiment improving across the board, with better experiences in claims handling, underwriting turnaround times, and general responsiveness.

"One surprising finding was the high level of optimism among advisers for 2025," Tremethick notes. "Regardless of practice size, most expect double-digit growth in new business following a challenging 2024, signalling renewed confidence in the market."

The survey was commissioned by all of New Zealand’s leading life insurance companies. While the bulk of the results are proprietary, Tremethick notes that there's still work to do, and no insurer nailed it across every part of their service.

“While advisers did not highlight specific pain points, they did identify several areas for improvement that insurers must address in 2025 to deliver a more complete and competitive service experience for both advisers and policyholders,” he explained.
“These areas of improvement were specific to each insurer, highlighting that no insurer is delivering a consistently high service proposition across all elements of the value chain.”