Risk Product, Company and Regulatory Updates as at 4 April 2017
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Company Updates
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Elders adds another practice
Elders Financial Planning has added Saltbush Financial Services to its list of practices, the third addition this year. Saltbush offers business succession planning and SMSF insurance advice. Karlee Hoog-Antink (Mackay) and Andrew Lane (Bundaberg) have also been added to the dealer group network this year.
Franklin Templeton launches global online adviser training portal
The Franklin Templeton Academy has launched its online training hub for advisers, offering education in financial planning. Advisers can earn CPD points, and the FPA has certified the program. There are many tools available, including virtual classrooms, videos, and web-based educational modules in multiple languages. Content is country-specific.
Evari: New digital insurance platform for SMEs
Three Aussie executives have set up a new company, Evari, offering business insurance on a digital platform, to make buying company insurance online simpler. Daniel Fogarty, Robert Jeffrey and Brack Norris are setting the insurtech firm up in the Australian market to service SMEs.
Regulatory Updates
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Rebate Financial Services and Capstone Capital AFSLs cancelled
ASIC has cancelled the Australian financial services (AFS) licences of Rebate Financial Services Pty Ltd and Capstone Capital Pty Ltd for failing to comply with their key obligations under financial services law. Both failed to lodge annual financial statements and auditor's reports, and maintain membership with an external dispute resolution scheme.
ASIC: CommInsure investigation results out
ASIC has publicly released its report into its investigation of CommInsure, after reviewing 60,000 documents and interviewing staff.
Key outcomes include:
- CommInsure had trauma policies with out-of-date medical definitions, particularly for heart attack and severe rheumatoid arthritis. CommInsure has since updated its definitions and has agreed to apply the definitions retrospectively to May 2012.
- ASIC found no evidence to support allegations that CommInsure claims' managers applied undue pressure on doctors to change their medical opinions.
- ASIC identified a few key areas that CommInsure needed to improve in regards to claims' handling processes.
- Investigations continue into some advertising and promotion of life insurance policies that may have potentially contained misleading or deceptive information.
