Today we launch exclusive research to help Advisers understand how to attract and retain new customers. Acquisition of new customers and profitability are critical for practices and we hope this can offer part of the solution. In our early testing of the report, we got some feedback we wanted to address upfront, so here are some questions you may have had…

Are Millennials even profitable to service?

We know that writing risk is becoming an even more significant challenge on small cases (where the compliance requirements are the same as writing a large case) but what we highlight in this report is that Millennials are up to 40 years old, they are a large cohort that spans a wide-range of ages, and they may not be who you think they are. Additionally, as the dominant workforce, they are creating the expectations on which Advisers and their offerings will be compared. So, it’s worth getting across how they think and behave. We also believe there are opportunities to change the way some practices operate that will drive greater efficiency, thereby reducing operational costs (and increasing profitability), while also appealing to how this cohort prefers to engage with financial services. 

Why has Integrity done this research?

We believe that our role in the industry is bigger than just providing products. We believe we have a role in supporting a sustainable industry, in educating clients and Advisers and supporting them personally and in business. This report was commissioned by us because we identified a challenge brought on by COVID-19. As lockdowns happened across the country Advisers found themselves overservicing existing clients while struggling to acquire new ones. We wanted to support new acquisition as a means to help support their businesses.

What do we do next? 

We have a range of ideas and solutions, as well as system features, we have already built to support the strategies and ideas outlined in this research. So, when you’re ready to have a chat, so are we. Download the research paper here.

According to Financy*, just 33% of women reported having any life insurance at all, compared to 48% of men. On this, International Women’s Day, we look at two of the complex reasons why.

Life insurance is calculated by income, not contribution to the household.

The traditional calculation for how much life insurance is needed is based on your current income, the idea being that if you were to be sick, injured, or die, that is what you would need to be replaced. With women still earning less than men overall (13.4%^ – 2020) according to these calculations, women need less life insurance than men.

But the value of our life and role in the family is so much more than income. The primary purpose of life insurance is to replace a lost income when a provider of the family dies. So, in this context it makes sense for women to have less insurance than men, but if you think about a couple where the woman both works and does the lion’s share of childcare and household tasks – then the cost if she was unable to work, or if she died, is significantly higher. In fact, women do 72%# of all unpaid work in Australia.

Therefore, not only would you need to replace the income, but you would also need to replace the work to look after the kids, and the home and everything else that she contributed to the household. This is not something traditional measures take into account.

Stay at home parents may not believe life insurance is for them.

Traditionally women make up most of the stay-at-home parents in Australia and as we have explored, unpaid work doesn’t always factor into life insurance calculations. However, the financial literacy around the role of life insurance could be stopping more women having an adequate safety net in place. 

When it comes to life insurance, Rice Warner’s Underinsurance in Australia 2020` report found the current level of insurance held by Australians covers 92% of basic death needs, but only 29% when it comes to total and permanent disability (TPD) insurance.

As a single parent, experiencing a major injury or illness would have even greater ramifications for both financial, emotional, and logistical support. Having insurance as a single parent, may even be more important than if a partner was available to step in.

1. *https://financy.com.au/should-more-women-be-thinking-about-life-insurance/
2. ^https://www.wgea.gov.au/publications/australias-gender-pay-gap-statistics
3. #https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/women-undertake-72-of-all-unpaid-work-in-australia-the-consequences-are-egregious/
4. ` https://www.ricewarner.com/new-research-shows-a-larger-underinsurance-gap/

We’re pleased to announce that we have added three new paramedical providers to our panel.

This expansion gives you even greater choice in providers, while speeding up the process, and improving the end-to-end experience of your clients who require further health screening tests for us to assess their application. Plus, once you let us know your preferred provider from our panel, we’ll take care of the rest.   

We spoke to our GM of Operations, Bridget Ramunno, about this significant change.

What has brought about this change?

Bridget Ramunno: The application process is a really critical time for Advisers to secure clients for life, so we’re always looking for ways we can improve that experience.

One area we identified for improvement was the process of organising health screening tests which are sometimes required at application. By adding additional providers with complimentary capabilities, we are able to speed up the application process, reduce the advisers’ effort to get applications inforce, as well as improving the health screening experience for their clients.

Who do we have on board?

BR: In addition to Unified Health Care Group (UHG), Integrity welcomes Health Predictions, Prestige Paramedical, and EQ Pathology to provide both medical retrieval and health screening services.

Why is this good news for Advisers?

BR: We have partnered with some of the best providers in the country to give our Advisers even more choice.

The process is designed to take the heavy lifting off Advisers. So we’ll do everything from securely transferring all the relevant information to the providers, and then ensuring Advisers are kept in the loop at every stage. This transparency allows them to keep their clients informed, stay on the front-foot, and in turn, create a better application experience.

Early results show that on average health screening requests are completed end-to-end in just 4.5 days and medical report retrieval services average around 6 days. But we’re anticipating reducing this even further.

What do Advisers need to do to set this up?

BR: Just get in touch with your BDM or our Customer Care team and let us know which provider you wish to use. Then, if tests are required and you want us to organise, we’ll take care of the rest.