New Zealand: Call for more transparency from brokers/advisers
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Nov 2015
Players in the insurance sector are calling for the government to make insurance brokers and advisers be clearer with their clients about the incentives they get to sell certain products.
Insurers, as well as brokers and financial advisers themselves, admit they need to be more transparent in disclosing how they are paid and what commissions they may receive, when providing advice or selling insurance, reported the interest.co.nz website.
The industry bodies representing general and life insurers, insurance brokers and financial advisers and the industry’s complaints resolution bodies, have all highlighted this point in their submissions to a review on financial advice. The review is being conducted by the Ministry of Business, Employment and & Innovation.
Among the industry bodies, the Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ), which represents general insurers, says brokers should have to disclose any conflicts of interest to their clients, irrespective of what “type” of adviser they are.
It said: “In our view, an informed consumer that makes poor decisions is better off than an uninformed consumer making uninformed decisions.”